By Night in Chile by Roberto Bolaño
**By Night in Chile** is a novella by Roberto Bolaño that centers on Father Sebastián Urrutia Lacroix, a renowned literary critic and poet, who reflects on his life as he lies on his deathbed. The narrative unfolds in a single, sprawling paragraph filled with a blend of personal anecdotes, literary references, and dark humor, all while exploring themes of guilt, complicity, and the intersection of art and politics in Chile. Urrutia's journey begins with his early entry into the seminary, where he grapples with his conservative upbringing and his aspirations in the literary world. He becomes entangled with influential figures, including the poet Pablo Neruda, and navigates the complexities of being a cultural critic in a politically charged environment.
As Chile experiences political upheaval under General Augusto Pinochet, Urrutia’s role shifts; he is drawn into the machinations of power, tasked with understanding Marxism to advise the ruling generals. This involvement leads to comical yet unsettling reflections on his own intellectual vanity and the nature of literature as a shield against societal decay. Ultimately, Urrutia confronts his own conscience, represented by a mysterious youth, and acknowledges the moral compromises he has made throughout his life. **By Night in Chile** serves as a poignant critique of the artist's place in society, the seductive allure of power, and the often painful quest for self-awareness in a world rife with moral ambiguity.
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By Night in Chile by Roberto Bolaño
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published:Nocturno de Chile, 2000 (English translation, 2003)
Type of work: Novella
The Work
By Night in Chile opens with Father Sebastián Urrutia Lacroix, a celebrated literary critic and poet, on his deathbed confessing to the reader that although once at peace with himself, he no longer is. He is tormented by accusations from a mysterious “wizened youth” and struggles to justify his life. What follows, printed in a single paragraph, is a turbulent montage of images, anecdotes, stories, allegories, laments, and delusions.
Who the wizened youth is and the exact nature of his accusations provide the tension. There are hints of illicit sexuality, beginning with Urrutia’s own father, who is remembered only in shadowy, phallic imagery, yet sex is but one of several diversionary leitmotifs. Urrutia enters the seminary at age thirteen, against his father’s will, and soon after graduation in the late 1950’s decides to become a literary figure. He allies himself to Chile’s preeminent literary critic, who writes under the pen name Farewell. The mentor is indeed an old-fashioned example of the Western literati, effete, independently wealthy, and sterile. Through Farewell, young Father Urrutia socializes with the cultural elite, meeting such luminaries as poet Pablo Neruda and eventually becoming a prominent critic and university professor himself.
However, as he seeks to foster Chilean literature in the patronizingly European mode of his mentor, Urrutia himself is suborned by politics. A conservative, he joins Opus Dei and is recruited by a Mr. Raef (fear) and Mr. Etah (hate) on a secret mission to save the great churches of Europe from deterioration. There follows black comedy, variously hilarious, touching, and outraging, as Father Urrutia travels through Europe and discovers that the greatest danger to the physical church is from the excrement of pigeons and doves, traditional symbols of peace.
Father Urrutia returns to Chile in time to witness the coup by General Augusto Pinochet Ugarte and the subsequent rule by a military junta. Again, Mr. Raef and Mr. Etah recruit him on a secret mission, this time to lecture the ruling generals on the fundamentals of Marxism, so that they better understand the mentality of their enemies. Another episode of dark comedy ensues as the generals behave like teenagers.
Meanwhile, Father Urrutia has to cease publishing his own poetry because he discovers, to his own horror, that themes of desolation, heresy, and despair irrepressibly emerge. At this point in his recollections, Father Urrutia comes to recognize that like many of his literary compatriots, his appreciation of Chile’s underlying culture is selective, often precious, and self-deceiving. It is the Catholic Church and the voracious, militant conservatism of people such as Pinochet Ugarte that represents the real motive force in society. “Is it always possible for a man to know what is good and what is bad?” he asks piteously, understanding at last that the answer is no and that he, like other intellectuals, has let himself be used, out of vanity, by those in power for the maintenance of power. Two final recognitions come, both devastating to the priest: that “what we call literature” is simply a means to avoid a collapse into barbarity and that his mocking nemesis, the wizened youth, is his own conscience.
Bibliography
Andrews, Chris. “Varieties of Evil.” Meanjin 66 (September, 2007): 200-206.
Corral, Will H. “Portrait of the Writer as a Noble Savage.” World Literature Today 80 (November/December, 2006): 4-8
Deb, Siddhartha. “The Wandering Years: Roberto Bolaño’s Nomadic Fiction.” Harper’s Magazine 314 (April, 2007): 99-106.
Ocasio, Rafael. Literature of Latin America. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2004.
Zalewski, Daniel. “Vagabonds: Roberto Bolaño and His Fractured Masterpiece.” The New Yorker 83 (March 26, 2007): 82-88.