ZORRO

"The books became an addiction for Diego and Bernardo; they read them so often that they could recite them by heart. The world they lived in grew very small, and they began to dream of countries and adventures beyond
​the horizon."

​— Zorro, Allende
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STORY

In 1919, Johnston McCulley first introduced the world to Zorro in his weekly serial, The Curse of Capistrano. Since then, there have been many book and movie adaptations, but I prefer Allende's treatment of the subject matter most. In Zorro, she draws the origin story of 'The Fox', a masked avenger dedicated to fighting the corrupt Catholic church and politicians in Old California. But for most of her story, Zorro is a hero-becoming; Diego de la Vega, the son of a conservative-minded aristocrat, who sets out on a journey to become his own person and live his own life.

Diego's independent spirit leads him to befriending Bernardo, a Native American boy, insisting against his parents' and priest's prejudice so that Bernardo be allowed to come to Sunday Mass, sit at his father's dinner table, and join Diego as a schoolmate at Padre Mendoza's mission. The friends grow up as close as brothers, continuing to press back the adult-enforced boundaries and expand their world, not just on race relations, and other moral issues.

Bernardo's grandmother White Owl gives them moral instruction in the labyrinth of caves on her tribe's five sacred virtues: honor, justice, respect, dignity, and courage. These act as a North Star for both the young men throughout the rest of the novel. And later, "Captain Jose Diaz, a pirate tasked with giving the boys passage to Spain, shows them that there are "many ways to think," with his "Renaissance mentality" that "doubted nearly everything that formed the intellectual and moral world of [Deigo's father], Padre Mendoza, and Diego's schoolmaster." 

WHY I LOVE IT

First off, I loved Allende's command of language. Her descriptions of the settings — towns, ships, haciendas, forests, palaces — her ability to quickly show and tell the thoughts and feelings of the two boys, the main love interest, Julianna, and minor characters is remarkable. Choosing only ten favorite quotes and passages below was extremely difficult. 

But really, the romantic coming-of-age story of a hero — one told with so much panache and exuberance was pure escapist fun for me. If you want to get lost for an afternoon or two and feel like a kid again, read Zorro. Long live the Fox!  {JG}

FAVORITE QUOTES

{ * } "A man with good hair has a head start in this life." (180)

{ * } "Diego's words fell like a healing balm on his bruised spirit." (371)
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{ * } "Halfway to town they came across the de la Vega hacienda. The large adobe house, with its red roof tiles, and purple bougainvillea creeping up the walls, its orange grove, its unmistakable air of prosperity and pace, was irresistible..." 

{ * } "...[children] have no power; adults decide for them, and they do it badly; they drive home into their little ones their own mistaken ideas about reality and then their offspring spend the rest of their lives trying to break free from those beliefs." (93)

{ * } "The most revealing thing to Diego, who was accustomed to absolute truths, was that this man with a Renaissance mentality doubted nearly everything that formed the intellectual and moral world of Alejandro de la Vega, Padre Mendoza, and Diego's schoolmaster...He was amazed to discover there were many ways to think." (105)

{ * } "Julianna's younger sister made fun of her books, but did not miss a word, and Nuria sobbed uncontrollably. The girls explained to her that none of these things had really happened, that they were only the lies of the author, but she didn't believe them. The unhappiness of the characters caused her such distress that the girls changed the plots of the novels so as not to sour her on life." (127)

{ * } "[Diego] missed the open spaces of his early years, but he also liked the patina of centuries: the narrow streets, the stone buildings, the dark churches that reminded him of Padre Mendoza's faith." (145)

{ * } "I would swear that as soon as he jumps from the balcony to terra firma, he forgets the lady he was embracing only moments before. He himself does not know how many times he has fought a duel with a vindictive husband or offended father, but I have kept count — not for reasons of envy or jealousy, but because of my thoroughness as a chronicler. Diego remembers only women who tortured him with their indifference — like the incomparable Julianna." (168)

{ * } "Bride? He laughed aloud. He would never marry — foxes are solitary animals." (376)

{ * } "She went down to the ocean to swim with the dolphins that came long distances to mate near the beach." (29)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Isabel Allende is a Chilean-American author, whose first novel House of the Spirits written in 1982 brought her initial success. I really enjoyed her TED Talk from a few years ago titled Tales of Passion, where she explores the role that stories can have to affect us for the better. If you've read any of her books and have a recommendation, let me know. 
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OTHER POSTS YOU MAY LIKE

{ * } Zorro: The Complete Pulp Adventures {My Rec}

{ * } Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand {My Rec} 

{ * } Ninety-Three by Victor Hugo {My Rec} 

{ * } The Best Books I Read In 2016

"[Diego de la Vega] had a thousand different things on his mind,
​the main one being contemplation of Julianna." (117)
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