Carazamba

Carazamba is a 1953 criollista novel by the Guatemalan writer Virgilio Rodríguez Macal. The work was the first novel written by the author, and gained first prize in the Central American Floral Games in 1950, although it was not published until three years later. The plot takes the reader on a violent journey through the jungle. The novel is set during 1940s Guatemala, and its central themes are race and nationality. Characters The narrator is a Criollo from the city of Quetzaltenango, in the Guatemalan Highlands. He is described as being of pure European descent in contrast to the mixed-race Carazamba. He is of a middle-class background, and is highly educated. The narrator is hard-working, and has amassed substantial wealth as a result of his personal labours and self-control. Carazamba is beautiful Caribbean woman who gives her name to the title of the novel. Her real name is Maria. She is described as being of mixed ancestry, descending from a combination of Indigenous, Black, and European, and is originally from somewhere along the Motagua River. She dominates those who succumb to her beauty. Carazamba is from a humble background, but has managed to educate herself sufficiently to entertain her lovers. Pedro is a native of Petén; he is the narrator's steward, and his devoted and loyal friend. He and Carazamba share a mutual dislike.