Santiago by Ann Nolan Clark

First published: 1955

Type of work: Moral tale

Themes: Emotions, friendship, and race and ethnicity

Time of work: The mid-twentieth century

Recommended Ages: 10-13

Locale: Guatemala, Central America

Principal Characters:

• Santiago, a preadolescent Guatemalan Indian boy striving to find his true identity
• Tia Alicia, a sophisticated Spanish aristocrat and guardian of Santiago since his birth
• Jim, a sixteen-year-old white American boy, Santiago’s friend and role model
• Jim’s Parents, white Americans who see Santiago as their “Little Jim” and who try to fashion him to their culture
• Junana, an old Indian man who provides Santiago with his first lessons in being a true Indian
• Eduardo, Santiago’s Indian friend who helps dispel some of his loneliness
• Adrian, ,
• Pedro, and
• Cipriano, workmates of Santiago who teach him desirable traits of humanity: honesty, caring for others, and the dignity of labor
• Old Indian Woman, who teaches Santiago the meaning of real freedom

The Story

It is Santiago’s twelfth birthday, and Tia Alicia is giving him a lavish party. Santiago views the party with the eyes of an aristocrat, forgetting for a moment that he is worlds apart from his Indian culture. Yet Santiago is not to stay with Tia Alicia. The next day, Junana, an old Indian, comes to take Santiago back to his Indian clansmen. Tia Alicia pleads, “Let him stay. His skin is dark, yes, but not too dark. He could pass.” At this point Santiago realizes that perhaps his place is with his Indian heritage. He chooses to go with Junana, prepared to accept a new life.

During the long journey to the village of Atitlan, Santiago learns valuable lessons from Junana about the life of an Indian. Neither the journey nor life in Atitlan is smooth for Santiago. Despite his efforts, Santiago cannot fully accept the Indian life. Symbolically he clings to the shoes he wore at Tia Alicia’s, rejecting Indian sandals. He also rejects the “cacaste,” a pack carried by his people, symbolic of their being burden bearers. Santiago does not believe that he was meant to be a burden bearer. Conflict arises between Santiago and Junana because Santiago cannot learn the ways of the Indian and carry the “cacaste.” Additionally, he continues to wear his shoes.

Santiago is further discouraged by what he believes is non-Christian worship. He has been reared as a Christian devoted to God. He questions why he is Indian but so unlike the Indians and why he cannot gain acceptance. Facing reality, he knows that he cannot accept authority and thus is still a boy at twelve while the Indian boys of his age are men. He resolves to prove himself by conquering the cacaste. He falls beneath the heavy load, however, breaking all of Junana’s pottery. Junana is berated by his wife for trying to bend Santiago to his will. As a result of the accident, Santiago knows he must pay for the pots in some way, but he has no money. He decides to sacrifice his shoes to show Junana that he will become an Indian. Meanwhile, Junana realizes that Santiago must be left to find his own way. Thus, Santiago leaves the village to follow his own trail.

A long journey into self ensues for Santiago. His travels enable him to explore his true feelings concerning his Indian heritage. He works at many jobs and finds friends in Eduardo, Adrian, Pedro, and Cipriano, who prepare him for the responsibilities he must later take for his people. He becomes a man as he experiences revolution and its impact on the poor Indian. He picks coffee, slashes his way through the chicle forests, and finally goes to the city to find work. His life comes full circle when he once again meets Jim’s father, who has been searching for him since he left Tia Alicia’s pension. Santiago, however, is not the same, he has matured and come to an understanding of who he is and what he owes to his Indian clansmen. He does not follow the plan set for him by Jim’s father and Tia Alicia. In so doing, Santiago fulfills an old Atitlian women’s saying, “When the nightingale is caged it loses its songs. When it has been given freedom it returns with sweeter singing.” Of his own free will, Santiago returns to his roots to be a modern Indian among his own people.

Context

Santiago is important for minority culture adolescents, because it teaches the importance of being proud of one’s heritage. Though written in 1955, this theme is still universally current, especially since so many adolescents seem to be in need of role models to channel them in the right direction. Ann Nolan Clark’s Santiago does not need any role models. He is proud and confident, knows exactly what he wants, and does not allow for any impediments in the pursuit of his goals. Santiago is consistent and intent on pursuing his goals as he grows into manhood, personal traits that make Clark’s book so significant to adolescents today.

In Lucille Clifton’s All Us Come Across the Water (1973), this same theme is explored through the characterization of Jim, named Ujamma by his great-grandmother. Ujamma does not participate in class discussions, because he does not know from where in Africa he comes. Once his great-grandmother tells him he is a descendant of the Ashanti tribe in Ghana, his attitude changes. He acquires a new sense of direction as he finds himself, and proudly he stands up to the teacher and tells the class who he is and where he came from. This is a new Ujamma, because he found his true identity.

A similar theme is found in Bitter Herbs and Honey (1976), by Barbara Nash Cohen. The parents of Becky, an adolescent Jewish girl, arrange for her to marry a young Jewish man. Yet she has fallen in love with a Gentile and resists marrying the man her parents have picked for her. Through a series of events, she learns that the relationship with the Gentile cannot work because of their differences in heritage. After much agonizing, Becky learns that she can never be anything but a Jew and could never want to be anything else. Accepting this self-identity is what eventually brings her fulfillment and true happiness.

Clark has delved into the theme of self-exploration and self-identity and the importance of finding oneself as one matures and grows into adulthood. That Santiago overcame what appeared to be obstacles in his path of self-enlightenment is a message that can be passed on to generations of adolescents who face what seem to be insurmountable odds as they struggle to find themselves. Santiago is a true role model for the molding of one’s character despite the societal ills faced by young people as they strive to become adults.