Motivation- What is Ernesto's motivation for such a journey in motorcycle Diaries

Essay by alikingCollege, UndergraduateA+, April 2005

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In the journal Motorcycle Diaries, the main character and author, Ernesto Cuevara, embarks on a journey to North America from Córdoba. Riding along side his companion, Alberto Granado, they set off on their motorcycle, La Ponderosa II. Throughout the first part of the book Ernesto never explains his motivation for such a long and treacherous journey. Though it is clear, through his diary, that he wanted to take this journey to bring him closer to the land, his family and to find himself.

Through his notes the reader is able to understand that Ernesto has a personal relation to the land. For example, Ernesto wrote, "my head rested in the lap tying me to this land, lulled by everything around" (37). He is always thinking of himself and how he fits in with mother earth. He feels a close connection with the land, and he only wants to make it stronger.

In addition, when Ernesto writes about the land, he does it so vividly and beautifully as in the passage, "The full moon is silhouetted against the sea, smothering the waves with silver reflections" (34). For being just notes on his journey, he puts in such detail. No matter how busy he is, he always spends the time to explain how beautiful the earth is. Furthermore, Ernesto is constantly relating his life to the earth when he says, "Yet afterwards I doubted whether driftwood has the right to say, 'I win', when the tide throws it on to the beach it seeks" (36). The metaphors he uses are always about the earth. His respect for mother earth only makes him want to know more. What better way is there to experience the beauty of the earth than riding a motorcycle across South America. Ernesto will learn many lessons...