The very broad theme of 'The Censors' is that government censorship and authoritarianism can cause profound psychological changes in an individual. What tone or attitude do idioms create? Idioms add color to the characters in the story. The combination of figurative and literal meanings sparks the imagination of the audience.
What is the main idea of the story the censors?
What is the theme of the story the censors? The very broad theme of 'The Censors' is that government censorship and authoritarianism can cause profound psychological changes in an individual. Click to see full answer. Similarly one may ask, what is the tone of the story the censors? The tone of the Censors is mocking and ironic.
What is the theme of the censorship bureau?
Theme: Power that is not shared by many corrupts the few who possess it. Juan's hasty decision of joining the Censorship Bureau was caused by his fear of being being caught by the censors. His new job made him extremely devoted and loyal to the Bureau, which later caused him to censor his own letter, resulting in Juan being executed.
What is the theme of the censors by Luisa Valenzuela?
Luisa Valenzuela's 'The Censors' explores real-world parallels between the fictional life of the young Juan in authoritarian-ruled Argentina and her own experiences. Analyze a summary of the story and identify the themes, use of satire, and Valenzuela's personal writing style.
What is the tone of the censors?
The tone of the Censors is mocking and ironic. Censorship is when you analyze something and make sure nothing is unacceptable. "Day after day he crossed out whole paragraphs in red ink, pitilessly chucking many letters into the censored basket" (Valenzuela 176).
What is Valenzuela's purpose for writing The Censors?
Theme: The theme of The Censors is one of distrust. Luisa Valenzuela's message with the writing of this book was to trust no one. In the world she once lived, there was no one who could be trusted, not even yourself.
What is the story censors about?
Argentinian-born author Luisa Valenzuela published the short story "The Censors" in 1976. The Censors tells the story of a young man, Juan, living in Argentina under authoritarian rule and his race to intercept a letter he wrote before the government deems it subversive.
What is the tone of the story The Censors?
Tone. The tone of the Censors is mocking and ironic. Censorship is when you analyze something and make sure nothing is unacceptable.
What is the irony in the story The Censors?
Irony of Situation: Juan is against the censors, yet he becomes a censor; Juan censors his own letter. This is ironic because his original intention for becoming a censor was to avoid having his own letter censored; Juan's motives for becoming a censor were not checked.
What is the conflict of The Censors?
What is the main conflict in the story? Is the conflict internal or external, and why? Juan tries to go around the censorship laws of the government by becoming a censor only to find his letter and get rid of it (man versus society -- Juan versus the censorship rules).
What happens at the end of The Censors?
What happens to Juan at the end of "The Censors"? He censors his own letter, getting himself in trouble, and is executed. "The Censors" takes place in a country ruled by a dictator.
Why was Juan executed in The Censors?
Lesson Summary 'The Censors' is the story of a young man named Juan who gets a job censoring letters for an authoritarian government. He's great at it - so great that he censors his own letter and gets himself executed.
Why do Juan's attitudes about censorship change?
Juan's attitude transforms from considering his letter “harmless” and “irreproachable” to censoring it because he finds it dangerous. 18.
Why does Juan take a job as a censor?
Why does Juan apply for a job as censor? He wants to intercept the letter that he wrote to Mariana.
Why does Juan censor his own letter without regret?
Why does Juan censor his own letter to Mariana “without regret”? He is no longer in love with her, and he doesn't care about her safety. He knows that if he does not censor the letter, his mother may be in danger. He is so committed to censorship that he doesn't consider his own well-being.
What is the author satirizing in The Censors?
Luisa Valenzuela's “The Censors” employs satire to comment on government censorship. The protagonist, Juan, enrolls in his local censorship facility after he mails a letter to his companion in France, hoping to intercept it before it can be censored.
Why did Mariana move to Paris?
What can you infer about the reason Mariana moved to Paris? She wanted to escape her country's oppressive regime.
Plot Details
Juan writes a letter to Mariana, who is living in Paris. Juan takes careful consideration to avoid anything deemed inappropriate by the authoritarian government in power as those who write letters with such messages are censored.
Historical Fiction
Luisa Valenzuela wrote the story of The Censors as a historical fiction, yet it takes place in Argentina during the Guerra Sucia. Also known as the dirty war, it took place between 1976 and 1983 after President Peron died.
Why Does Juan Take the Job as a Censor?
Juan takes a job as a censor to intercept and discard of a letter that he wrote to Mariana, his lover in Paris. He notes that others have gotten jobs at the Censorship Division for this same purpose, but the government benefitted from the volume of censors and was not concerned with any hidden agendas.
