The first half of the book legends of Guatemala seems to be a compilation of various magical legends which depict Guatemala's past.
The book can be viewed as a work of history or anthropology talking about the various cities and the sacrifices as mentioned in the first tale Guatemala as well as the way the natives were and their types of beliefs in the past. The various legends in this story talk about different beliefs they have in gods, sacrifices and nature and help us visualize what life must have been like in their time.
The book uses a lot of visualization in its depiction of nature and the way the natives lived in Guatemala. Nature seems to be a key component in almost all the tales; the use of so many descriptions and metaphors creates a vision of what the world Asturias is describing in these legends. A world where nature appears to be of the greatest importance and influences both the natives lives and mystical beliefs.
The legend I liked the most would have to be "Leyenda del Volcan" the co-existence with nature and the presence of only 6 people. 3 that could see in water and 3 that could see in the air, half sharing the land above and the other half sharing the land under the water. The depiction of a state of harmony with nature is what I like about this story. Near the end where the volcano ravages the land and water destroying everything is tragic and the flow of magma destroying everything in its path could also be viewed as a symbol of the destruction caused by the conquistadors when they came to Latin America.
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