I thoroughly enjoyed reading “Réquiem por un campesino español” for a variety of reasons. When I first flipped through the pages, I was a little worried that there were no chapters because I thought it would be difficult to keep up with. However, the book truly read like a stream of consciousness, jumping from memory to memory similar to how we think.
In terms of how we think, I was very intrigued with how Sender explored the role of memory in the telling of this story. Sender tells much of the story through the memories of Mosén Millan, which gives us a biased and altered perception of the actually story. We cannot even be sure just how true these memories were because Mosén Millan would mentally block certain emotions or memories that brought a negative light towards himself. The fact is, this occurs everyday and with everyone. No one is above the limitations of our memories. While we may truly think and believe we have the true account of a past event, it is truly amazing how much that perception is skewed by our own feelings, expectations, and how we have been raised. We all see and feel different things when we look at a painting, which causes us to interpret it differently. In the same way, we view reality and events like a painting. Interpretations differ and I find that to be the root cause of so many conflicts among people. At the end of the story, Mosén Millan is confused as to why no one has attended the mass. To the reader, it is obvious why, but Millan is blind to his wrongful deeds. To him, he has done nothing wrong. Reading this book has made me introspectively look at myself and consider the factors that go into how I perceive reality. What shapes my memory? What shapes yours?
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