42 pages • 1 hour read
Carlos Fuentes, Transl. Alfred J. MacAdamThe Death of Artemio Cruz
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1962A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 7-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 7 Summary “1915: October 22”
In 1915, 22-year-old Cruz is fighting in the mountains as a Carrancista, the US-backed General Carranza’s forces, against the Villistas, the deteriorating but undaunted forces of Pancho Villa. Cruz’s battalion has run out of food, and he is taken prisoner by a merciless lieutenant named Zagal. Zagal puts Cruz and his Indigenous assistant (Yaqui) on a horse to be taken to Perales prison in Chihuahua. Zagal throws the Yaqui into prison but gives Cruz an opportunity to spare himself by giving Zagal information. During their interview, Zagal acknowledges that Villa’s forces are likely to be defeated any day, but he nevertheless refuses to surrender. Cruz refuses Zagal’s offer to switch sides, and Cruz ends up in prison alongside the Yaqui and another former soldier wearing civilian clothing, Gonzalo Bernal. The three expect to be executed within a few days. While in prison, the Yaqui explains how his family was deprived of their land by the government and forced into exile in the state of Yucatán. Gonzalo explains that he was sent by Carranza, who fully expected him to be taken prisoner or killed, since Carranza thought that Gonzalo was a traitor. A despondent and disillusioned Gonzalo explains that he did, in fact, support Carranza and Obregon, but he just as well might have supported Villa, as each of the caudillos fights for his own self-interest rather than their professed ideals. When Gonzalo asks Cruz why he didn’t choose to switch sides when Zagal gave him the opportunity, Cruz says that he doesn’t fear death. For his part, Gonzalo says that he refused to switch sides because he doesn’t believe any caudillo will enjoy power for very long.
During the conversation, Gonzalo relates that he has a wife, Luisa, and child Pancho. He mentions that he also has a wealthy father, Gamaliel Bernal, and a sister, Catalina, who live in Puebla. When Gonzalo expresses that it is a shame that men, dying so young, will miss the many sexual acts that young men should enjoy, Cruz thinks about Regina and beats Gonzalo violently against the prison wall. Cruz decides to leave a nearly dead Gonzalo to his fate and takes advantage of Zagal’s offer to betray Carranza by telling Zagal the plans of Carranza’s forces. Suddenly, Carranza’s forces break into the camp, and Cruz takes Zagal prisoner. At first, Cruz gives Zagal an opportunity to spare his own life (as Zagal had given him) by challenging him to a duel. Eventually, Cruz decides to shoot him.
Back in the present, Cruz’s granddaughter, Gloria, visits Cruz in the hospital. He cannot speak audible words but admires her youth. He recalls that she is dating the son of Padilla, and he imagines the details of their courtship. Padilla himself offers to take control of Cruz’s business dealings after his demise, something that makes sense to Cruz as a reward for Padilla’s unwavering loyalty. Padilla speaks about a visit to Mexico from a US ambassador.
In the second person, Cruz posits that all people are obstacles that stand in the way of desire, and that memory is desire that has been satisfied.
Chapter 8 Summary: “1934: August 12”
The year 1934 finds Cruz in the richly appointed apartment of an upper-class woman named Laura. The two listen to classical music on a gramophone and drink Scotch. Laura has recently decorated her home, which includes a painting by French Impressionist Claude Monet. They make plans to see one another in France in the following month. During the visit, Laura receives a phone call from Cruz’s wife, Catalina, who is Laura’s friend. Laura and Catalina make plans to see one another the following Thursday. When Laura hangs up, Cruz assures Laura that Catalina does not know about their affair. Laura, 35, demands that Cruz choose between her and Catalina. For Cruz, Laura’s demand for marriage means that the affair has run its course, and he leaves her apartment in silence.
The present day finds Cruz in a wretched physical state: He can feel a mix of gasses in his stomach, and he begins to vomit. He notes the intolerable smell of his own breath. The doctors contemplate administering morphine, but one doctor warns it may be too dangerous and advises seeking another medical opinion. Cruz hears the doctors murmur to one another, speculating about the onset of gangrene. The doctors collect a urine sample, aided by Catalina.
In the second-person section, Cruz explains that he took Lorenzo at age 15 to run his hacienda in the town of Cocuya, in part to spite Catalina. For this same reason, he sent Teresa off to Catholic boarding school. Cruz and his son are eating lobster by the sea when Lorenzo admits to his father that he booked passage to go to Spain in 10 days, where he will fight in the Spanish Civil War.
Chapter 9 Summary: “1934: August 12”
The third-person section from 1934 gives Lorenzo’s perspective. Lorenzo fights on a rooftop in Madrid alongside a Spanish soldier named Miguel. The two young rebels are fighting against the fascists, whom they can identify based on their clothing. They discuss the extent to which the city, now destroyed by artillery fire, has changed since the beginning of the war.
Miguel and Lorenzo, separated from their unit, ask for directions from three rebel girls (former university students) with whom they decide to flee the city. When they reach a river crossing, they cannot decide whether to cross for fear there is a minefield on the bridge. They ultimately realize that they are without resources and must cross the bridge to escape from the fascists. Dolores and Lorenzo hold hands as they cross. The group makes camp on the other side, where Lorenzo and Dolores make love. On the following day, Lorenzo is killed by an enemy plane.
Back in the present tense, Catalina and Teresa blame Cruz for Lorenzo’s death. Catalina claims Cruz never should have taken her son away. When Cruz doesn’t respond to Catalina’s accusation, Teresa accuses him of faking his unconsciousness. Cruz remembers the letter sent to him by Lorenzo’s friends announcing his death, but he cannot remember his son’s face.
In the second-person section of the narrative, Cruz professes that he wishes to die alongside Gonzalo and the Yaqui. He imagines avoiding the decisions that he made in his life, like abandoning the fallen soldier, rejecting Laura’s proposal to leave Catalina, and sending Lorenzo to Cocuya. Cruz vividly remembers the luxurious objects that surrounded him during his life, and he recites a Catholic prayer.
Chapters 7-9 Analysis
These chapters feature clear allusions to the Mexican Revolution. Additionally, several major developments have taken place since Cruz’s last flashback to the year 1913, when he met Regina. First, at the Convention of Aguascalientes of 1914, the moderate Governor Carranza and the renegade Pancho Villa proved too different to fight for the same cause. Obregon decided to give his support to Carranza. By 1915, President Huerta had been killed and Carranza became president of Mexico, despite not having completely defeated Villa, who continued to wage guerrilla warfare in the north of Mexico until 1920. Parallel to this, and on the other side of the ocean, a civil war is raging in Spain.
As Zagal notes, the Villistas are nearly defeated, making it ironic that Cruz and Gonzalo Bernal become prisoners at this moment, and all the more tragic that Gonzalo dies. Fuentes does not make clear the specific circumstances surrounding Gonzalo’s death, but, though he is alive when Cruz leaves the prison, Cruz has clearly beaten him. Fuentes writes only that “the two men separated after their violent embrace. [Gonzalo] Bernal dropped on the floor; Cruz walked toward the cell door, his mind made up: he would tell Zagal a cock-and-bull story, he would ask him to let the Yaqui go and would leave Bernal to his fate” (189). The reader is left to understand that Cruz was so distraught by the memories evoked of Regina that he mortally wounds Gonzalo. Fuentes’s ambiguity is doubly powerful, as Cruz has been portrayed as a man capable of switching allegiances. This section is the first chronological instance of a young Cruz betraying another for personal gain. As such, this instance can be considered a turning point in Cruz’s character arc. Because the narration does not unfold chronologically, the reader already knows that Cruz will marry Catalina and inherit Gonzalo’s father’s fortune.
This section also features Cruz in the midst of another love affair. Fuentes does not reveal the identity of the woman as Catalina’s own friend until the phone call that interrupts the couple’s evening. When Laura forces Cruz to accept that the love affair may have run its course, this portends the ending of his life. Though Cruz’s approaching death is conveyed in such vivid detail through the novel, it seems especially vivid in these chapters, wherein the doctors consider administering morphine. Cruz’s perception of the doctors’ discussion in this instance is unclear; he cannot attribute the voices to specific people, but instead hears a steady stream of conjectures concerning his ailments—none of them optimistic. Moreover, the narrative departure in Chapter 9, which recounts Lorenzo’s experience, further represents how Cruz is losing control of his life.
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