Saint Manuel the Unhappy, Deceiver
“Look, give this poor little one a father, for he only has the one in heaven…” “But Don Manuel, I’m not the guilty one!” “Who knows, my son, who knows….! And especially because it’s not a question of guilt” (Unamuno 2). This dialogue represents the internal conflict going on within Don Manuel. The first and last lines represent the side of Don Manuel that thinks he should keep his revelation to himself, while the second line represents the side of Don Manuel that wants to speak out, that does not know why he must feign belief in an afterlife. With this in mind, the conversation would read: “Look, give these poor villagers a Father, because they will only have one if there is a heaven.” “But I am not to blame for the lack of an afterlife!” “Who knows if you are to blame? Besides, it is not a question of your guilt.” The final line is what convinces Don Manuel, just as it did Perote, to obey the command of the first line—which, in Don Manuel’s case, is to spread the word of God despite his disbelief. This clash with the lack of transcendent meaning in the world is the reason why Don Manuel preaches even though he is a nonbeliever; he feels compelled to give the villagers hope of an afterlife, to give meaning to their lives. It is for this reason that Don Manuel is a tragic hero. If he were to preach that there is no afterlife, the villagers would believe him, and then he would
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Miguel de Unamuno’s short story “Saint Manuel the Good, Martyr” is the tale of one man’s recognition that there is no transcendent meaning in the world, and his struggle to cope with this realization. The man, Don Manuel, is ironically a parish priest in the village of Valverde de Lucerna. The people of this humble town love him, and word of the “real live saint, of flesh and bone” quickly spreads to other towns (Unamuno 2). Despite his saintly image, Angela Carballino suspects that a conflict is occurring within the holy man. Through time spent with Don Manuel, Angela begins to suspect that he does not believe in an afterlife, and this fact is confirmed when her brother Lazaro confides in her the secrets that Don Manuel entrusted to him. So it appears that we are in a quandary. How can this man of god, who makes the town “reek of holiness,” possibly not believe in Heaven or Hell (Unamuno 1)? Furthermore, if Don Manuel does not believe in God or an afterlife, then why does he preach these things to the villagers? In this paper, I will show how Don Manuel acknowledges the lack of transcendent meaning in the world and I will also explain his response to this recognition—becoming the tragic hero—and how this response is detrimental not only to himself, but to the entire village as well. The first confrontation Don Manuel has with this lack of meaning can be seen when he convinces Perote, the former boyfriend of Rabona’s daughter, to marry her and accept her child as his own. Angela remembers their conversation:
aegis 2008
Zachary Hopper
