La barraca

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La barraca ("The Floe ") is a novel by the Spanish writer Vicente Blasco Ibáñez .

The novel was written between October and December 1898 in Valencia ( Spain ). It takes place in the Huerta de Valencia (fertile area near Valencia) and shows the never-ending struggle between large landowners and their simple tenants, who can only survive through mutual and neighborly support. However, as the already tense situation escalates, major conflict, violence, destruction and death ensue.

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Chapter 1
Introduction to the Huerta of Valencia (fertile area near Valencia). A new family settles in Barret's land.

Chapter 2
Flashback:
Don Salvador terminates Barret's lease, whereupon Barret finally kills Don Salvador. Since then, according to the residents of the Huerta, there has been a curse on the former "land of Barret", as it is always called. Don Salvador's sons are desperately looking for new tenants.

Chapter 3
The von Batiste family moves to the Barraca (Valencian farmhouse) on Barrets land. She restores the overgrown fields and gets the barraca going. The residents of Huerta feel disturbed by this and hate the new family. They behave relatively calmly, but constantly watch the family suspiciously and completely exclude them from community life in the Huerta. Pimento, the Huerta's bully, gives Batiste a warning and advises him to move away.

Chapter 4
In Valencia a trial of the water tribunal takes place in front of the cathedral. This decides on disagreements among the farmers in the Huerta and communicates the judgments verbally on the spot. Batiste is fined for Pimento accused him of illegally draining water for his fields. On the same day (but only after the court hearing), Batiste actually illegally drains water on his fields, otherwise his seeds will dry up. It would actually be his turn again after two weeks. But nobody summons him to the tribunal because everyone knows that he has a shotgun ready.

Chapter 5
This chapter is told entirely from the point of view of Batiste's daughter Roseta. There is another flashback. The storylines from this and the last chapter come together again until the end.

Roseta is excluded from the silk factory in Valencia, where she works, as is the whole family in the Huerta. She has to put up with a number of pranks and nasty insults from other factory workers because she earns a lot through her hard work. In the evening on the way home, when it is already dark, she is always very afraid of the people from Huerta, who she might encounter and possibly rape her. One evening, the shy boy Nelet, the grandson of the old shepherd Tomba, accompanied her home without many words. With him she felt much safer at night. The next day, the same thing happens again as by chance. Only then did Roseta realize that it was no coincidence. Other situations occur to her in which Nelet has observed and followed her several times before. Your life seems to have changed fundamentally from now on. Two days later, Nelet confesses that he loves her. Since then they have always run to the Barraca together in the evening. Everything goes well until Batiste gets wind of the secret relationship. He orders Roseta to run home alone. On a Sunday when Roseta does not have to work, she is beaten up at the public fountain by the Huerta girls gathered there. The girls previously provoked her by lying about her father that she could not help beating one of the girls.

Chapter 6
Don Joaquin, the Huerta teacher, teaches the children from the Barracas in the area in a derelict mill. Among others, the three boys from Batiste. The teacher is very strict, he often uses the “pipe” to discipline the children. They do not see the need for education and are not particularly gifted. Don Joaquin lives on the money the parents pay for the children. Often the parents pay too late or not at all. Batiste's three sons also have to fear on the way home. They often have to fight other school children. The most important thing is to defend and protect the smallest of them, Pascualet.

Chapter 7
The disaster continued to haunt the Borrul family: The eldest son Batista was wounded everywhere from a fight with his own age. The youngest son, Pascualet, had also fallen victim to a fight and almost drowned in the swamp. In addition, the donkey Morrut died. Now Batiste's father goes to the city of Valencia to buy a donkey in the drained river bed of the Guadalaviar. To do this, however, he had to borrow a small sum from the sons of Don Salvador. To do this, he has his beard trimmed beforehand in an open-air hairdressing salon. Instead of a new donkey, he buys a pretty good horse. Little Pascualet is already doing so badly at home that he will soon die. So everyone gathers around him in the house. Meanwhile, the horse that is standing alone outside is stabbed. It is not certain that it will survive. Batiste then takes his shotgun and, in anger, wants to kill the supposed enemy, Pimento. But he holed up in his barraca, whereupon Batiste, exhausted from his fit of anger, collapsed in the grass and wished he could die like his son. Soon afterwards, the shepherd Tomba comes and explains to him that he had already warned him about the curse that had been on Barret's land at the beginning. Batiste should now, before he kills someone and ends up in prison, disappear and lead a good life somewhere else.

Chapter 8
During the night the news of Pascualet's death spread in no time at all. The next morning, although only hesitant at first, more and more women come to the Barraca of Batiste who have real sadness and compassion (sometimes also a guilty conscience). The family allows this and the longer they are, the more pleasantly surprised. Because even Pimento's wife comes and expresses her real sorrow. Later some men from the Huerta also come. Meanwhile, Pimento is a little bent and confused because he did not have the courage to face the justifiably angry enemy the night before. The teacher Don Joaquin explains to Batiste that, apart from the sad death, this is a very good moment. The people have overcome themselves and show their affection for Batiste's family. Batiste's misfortune changed her mind. Batiste takes stock of the evening. He can now live a better life without the hatred of the entire Huerta population. But the price for that was his son Pascualet.

Chapter 9
The following time is a pleasantly quiet and beautiful time. The day of San Juan comes, which heralds the harvest of the fields. Batiste can bring in a large harvest and is no longer hated in the Huerta. People greet him, if not like someone else. In addition, you leave your children alone. He could enjoy life again and was very happy with the rich harvest. At the end of the harvest season, Pimento and two other drinking brothers make a bet in the well-known tavern "Zum Vollen Glas". They want to play cards and drink nothing but brandy until two of them are on the ground. The one who is left should be the winner. This bet lasted over two days. So Batiste also wants to take a look at the spectacle that was attended by many farmers in the Huerta. This is the first time he comes to the tavern. During the conversation the other farmers have with Pimento, the hatred of Batiste's family reappears. Pimento makes it clear to his audience that the only reason the big landowners behaved so strangely when the last rent was paid was because they were less afraid of the farmers. In the past, when the fields of the old barrels were still fallow, they were repeatedly reminded of the brutal murder of Don Salvador. But now that a strange family has settled in, the landowners are much less afraid and threaten many tenants with being sent away if they don't soon pay the full rent. Batiste is now threatened with death if he does not leave Barret's land, the floe. When asked whether he intends to leave her now, he replied: No. Pimento slapped him on the face. Then Batiste, in his anger, grabs a stool and hits Pimento so hard that he has a bad wound on his skull and sinks to the floor. There is a huge commotion, but nobody had the courage to attack Batiste. This one can sneak away and go home.

Chapter 10
The Batiste family has to withdraw to their land again and live in fear. Only Batiste still takes walks outside of his property. He is not greeted by the residents of the Huerta, but neither is he insulted, as was the case at the beginning. He always carries his shotgun with him. He's also starting to find it interesting to revolt against the pawns and keep them in check with his rifle. (He's still awaiting revenge for being hit on Pimento's skull.) Batiste's family is always scared when Batiste leaves the house. On the one hand because he could kill someone, on the other hand because someone could kill him. One evening, when Batiste returned late from hunting in the swamp, he was shot by Pimento. He followed it immediately and fired two shots at him. According to the traces of blood, he had also hit. At home you have to connect it. But half of Huerta caught the four shots that night. So the next day people come from everywhere to see Pimento. Batiste had wound fever and watched the goings-on at Pimentos Barraca. In the evening he learns that Pimento has died. The next night Batiste has bad nightmares, but when he wakes up and comes to himself he realizes that something was true: his barraca was on fire. He wakes the whole family and they just manage to escape from the soon to collapse Barraca. The horse will soon run out too. Nobody wants to help Batiste's family because they are hated by everyone. So they are homeless again and have to roam endlessly plagued by hunger. Their dreams of peace and a home have been cruelly crushed.

Movies

  • Roberto Gavaldón (Director): La barraca . Mexico, 1945
  • León Klimovsky (Director): La barraca . Divisa Home Video, Valladolid 2003 (4 DVDs, approx. 480 min.)

literature