Imperialism in Pablo Neruda's "United Fruit Company"
The poem “United Fruit Company “talks about the dreadful control of the powerful country, United States of America, to the economic system of some regions in the Central America. It was an act of Imperialism in a more direct way.
Central America’s principal crop and in demand export product is banana. Because the place is rich with a well- cultivated land, most of the people living in there are settled with farming as main source of living. In the 9th line of the poem, “banana republic” is mentioned. This means that the founding of “United Fruit Company” was built to intently control the foreign trade and eventually the economic shape of the regions. “Sleeping dead” and “restless heroes” these all pertains to the populace who worked hard to bear those products yet in the end, they are deprived to cultivate their own greatness because someone bigger is holding back to do so. People no longer had the independence. As the poem went on, there came a mentioning of names of prominent people, associated with the word “flies” in them. “Flies” refer to insects that are found anywhere there is food. Like them, people who are thirsty for power and have greed for money are pests. They caused obliteration to the society of those years. Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina, a dictator from Dominican Republic, had a strong tie to the United States. During his time, economic sanctions were brought up. Tiburcio Carías, also a dictator, governed Honduras with an iron fest. Jorge Ubico Castañeda, a liberal general, though regained the economic prosperity of Guatemala; still he became an oppressing leader and imposed repressive military rules to everyone on his time. All of the men mentioned had something to do with the United States. They collaborated with the powerful country in order to get budget and spread their power. They are well trained in tyranny, as the last line in the first stanza said. Turning into the second stanza, “ships” were already mentioned. This happened because in
Central America’s principal crop and in demand export product is banana. Because the place is rich with a well- cultivated land, most of the people living in there are settled with farming as main source of living. In the 9th line of the poem, “banana republic” is mentioned. This means that the founding of “United Fruit Company” was built to intently control the foreign trade and eventually the economic shape of the regions. “Sleeping dead” and “restless heroes” these all pertains to the populace who worked hard to bear those products yet in the end, they are deprived to cultivate their own greatness because someone bigger is holding back to do so. People no longer had the independence. As the poem went on, there came a mentioning of names of prominent people, associated with the word “flies” in them. “Flies” refer to insects that are found anywhere there is food. Like them, people who are thirsty for power and have greed for money are pests. They caused obliteration to the society of those years. Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina, a dictator from Dominican Republic, had a strong tie to the United States. During his time, economic sanctions were brought up. Tiburcio Carías, also a dictator, governed Honduras with an iron fest. Jorge Ubico Castañeda, a liberal general, though regained the economic prosperity of Guatemala; still he became an oppressing leader and imposed repressive military rules to everyone on his time. All of the men mentioned had something to do with the United States. They collaborated with the powerful country in order to get budget and spread their power. They are well trained in tyranny, as the last line in the first stanza said. Turning into the second stanza, “ships” were already mentioned. This happened because in