Independent Reading Post #6: "Two Lives Running Parallel for a While" (Prompt 16, Ch 11-13)

This section of the book summarized Bryson's travels away from Melbourne into a more quaint town called Macksville. On his way to Macksville, Bryson writes about several topics that relate to The Motorcycle Diaries and the topics we are discussing in class.

At the beginning of the section, Bryson gives a brief history of Ned Kelly, an Australian outlaw who had a few similarities to Che Guevara. Although Che was an upper class medical student from Buenos Aires and Kelly come from a family of Irish squatters who survived by stealing livestock, both made it their mission in life to become "heroes of the oppressed." Bryson tells the story by stating the popular belief that Kelly's deeds were in no way noble and that Kelly's victims were often killed for no apparent reason. Despite these claims, in many regions of Australia, Kelly is still seen as a hero who "had taken down the mighty from their seat and driven the rich empty away." Kelly's legend is remarkably similar to that of Guevara. The opinions held about Che and Ned vary widely by region can range from infamous murderers and heroes worthy of glorification. Regardless of which opinion is held about either hero, both are undoubtedly iconic and have been permanently engrained into their respective cultures.

The abuse of the Aboriginees was another topic presented in this section that relates to The Motorcycle Diaries, especially to the section in which Ernesto and Alberto are traveling through Peru. The Australian Aboriginee people lived without disturbance from European invaders for an extremely large portion of their existence before the arrival of the British settlers and Captain James Cook. The British immigrants viewed the Aboriginees as a primitive and vastly inferior people, and thus initiated mass murder against them while continuously escaping punishment for their abuse and killing. Although the treatment of the Aboriginees has obviously improved significantly since these times, there is still a cultural boundary dividing the Aboriginees from those of European descent. A similar scenario is seen in the relationship between the indigenous Incans of Peru and the rest of the population. Although the Incans were not murdered in mass numbers like the Australian Aboriginees, they were, and are still to this day, exploited and oppressed. The same type of cultural boundary exists in Peru because most of the indigenous people cannot live under the conditions that the European settlers have established.

Bryson also mentions how once peaceful areas have become disgracefully built up with businesses and other sites meant to attract potential residents and tourists. This is similar to Ernesto's thoughts on how the Incan Empire was transformed into the current Peruvian towns that exist today. SEE CLIP BELOW.