World Literature: The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging the Migrant trail

The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging the Migrant trail
Name
Institution
Date
The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging the Migrant trail
The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging the Migrant Trail is a story by Oscar Martinez, a Salvadorian journalist. Originally published in 2010 in Spanish as Los migrantes que no importan (The migrants that don't matter), the Beast was translated into English in 2013 by Daniela Maria Urgaz and John B. Washington. The story reflects the journey of Central American immigrants who trek across Mexico to the Northern border and the US on a trail of death (El tren de la muerte). The analogy follows a voyage by Oscar Martinez, who goes to a place where no other journalist has dared to, exploring the routes taken by migrants, in a series of trips which include the train called 'The Beast' (la Bestia) and the deserted byways trekked on by foot; where the worse things happen. The Beast is deemed as a nonfiction work by Goldman in the Foreword (Martinez, p.8). For The Beast to be referred to as an epic, the character must portray unusual heroic ability. The story itself must be long and the setting vast; it must also address society about sociocultural issues. Martinez depicts features that fit the classification of an epic narrative.
To begin with, Oscar Martinez recounts his story in vast settings. The excursion towards El Norte starts in an immigrant shelter known as Oaxaca, where Martinez meets Auner and his two Salvadoran brothers, who embark on an obscure mission, devoid of the hazards they are presenting themselves to, and a lack of a plan. The brother's problems arise from El Salvador, where a gang wants them. The Alfaro brothers grew up in different towns, Auner in El Salvador where he worked as a farmhand, and Pitbull and El Chele in Tapachula, a town along the Guatemala border. It is in this town that Pitbull gets entangled in the web of crime and resolves to escape together with his brothers (p.25). It is in a small Salvadoran ejido, where they receive a threat in the form of their mother's assassination by gang members. The choice of this setting acts as a window through which the reader understands the underpinnings of the immigrants' run from various Central American countries. Gang violence, insecurity, and abject poverty are driving factors, which become catalysts for such en masse immigration towards the US. In the first chapter, Auner says, "I'm running, so I don't get killed (p.17)." La Arrocera also gives the reader the feel of macabre and ominous dangers. Murderers, robbers, and rapists distinguish the place. "For years, undocumented migrants have considered robberies and assaults as inevitable tolls of the road (p.30). It is in this territory where the precarious nature of the journey is encountered. Considered as an anarchist territory (lawless territory p.29) due to the lack of law enforcement, horrendous crimes are endured including sex trafficking, rape, murder, and suicides among others. Martinez betokens the bizarreness of the trip as they tread across the dangerous trail of La Arrocera. Martinez says, 'The most dangerous part of the migrant trail through Mexico, where undocumented Central Americans have no protection and where the horrors seem ceaseless and locals s...