The colonel has no one to write to him

The colonel has no one to write to himis a short novel written by the Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez in 1961. It is one of the most famous books written by the author and the protagonist of it is considered one of the most endearing characters of twentieth-century Spanish-American literature. Do you want to meet this old colonel who is waiting for the pension that never comes?

In this lesson of a PROFESSOR we want to make you a summary of The colonel has no one to write to him, since it has been considered one of the best novels in Spanish of the 20th century.

The Colonel is a war veteran who served under the orders of Aurelio Buendía, a famous character in the work of García Márquez de one hundred years of solitude. Throughout the work, we will never know the name and surname of our protagonist, but this is what that confers mystery to the work and makes us think that it could be any person of our around.

The colonel lives with his wife in the closest utter poverty, in a modest house on the Colombian coast. the novel of

The colonel has no one to write to him, begins a day in which the colonel gets up early because he has to attend a funeral. This is the first burial he has attended after 20 years, which has been by natural death. The colonel goes alone, since his wife has asthma and does not leave the house.

The protagonist goes to the town square to join his friend you know, the only one who managed to escape military persecution when the war ended.

The colonel has more than 15 years waiting for a pension to which he is entitled for having fought in the Civil War, so every Friday he heads to the office post office in order to receive it, since his economic situation is so bad, that sometimes he doesn't even have to eat. The bad thing is that the man still does not receive the pension that would allow him to live with dignity.

The colonel's wife, already desperate, asks him to change lawyers because of the pension issue and he agrees. He composes a letter in which he announces the change of lawyer and the book sinks into a gloomy atmosphere. The colonel begins to write the lines in which he explains that he has been serving his country all his life and now he has nothing to put in his mouth.

On November 2, the colonel's wife, while she is taking flowers to the grave of her deceased son, suffers a relapse of asthma, which keeps her in bed for several days. both are stunted, so the colonel's friends decide to get down to business and feed them.

Sabas insists to his friend so that sell the fighting cock, since he could earn about 900 pesos. The colonel does not agree, since the rooster is the only memory he has left of his late son, but he finally agrees because of the dramatic situation in which he finds himself. The colonel and his wife have a heated argument because of his financial situation and this culminates with the colonel leaving home to go and sell the rooster to his friend Sabas.

The colonel arrives at Sabas's house and he realizes how comfortable his friend lives. This is because Sabas made some agreements with the government after the Civil War, so he can maintain various businesses and enjoy good economic stability.

His friend offers him 400 pesos for the rooster and the colonel says that he has to think about it. When he consults with the town doctor, he tells him not to, as Sabas will buy the animal for that price, but will sell it for a higher price later. However, when the colonel comes home and discovers that his wife has pawned her wedding bands in order to eat, he decides to do business with Sabas.

Sabas goes on a trip and gives the couple an advance of 60 pesos, until his return, which is when they will close the final deal. With the advance of Sabas, the colonel and his wife reorganize his life and they buy food and some shoes for the colonel. One day, when the colonel was on his way to the post office for his routine Friday visit, a townsman told him about a cockfight of his.

He quickly went to the cockpit, where he saw his rooster fighting with another skinny and sad rooster. Seeing the ovations of all those present in front of the battle of his rooster, he feels very alive again and decides keep the rooster and not sell it.

The story ends when the colonel's wife watches in disbelief as he returns home with the rooster in his arms and reproaches him for her attitude. They have a discussion again, for economic reasons and in the last sentence of the play, the woman asks him what are they going to eat now, to which the protagonist replies: "shit".

What did you think of him? summary of The colonel has no one to write to him? We encourage you to go to the library and delve into reading this book by Gabriel García Márquez, because it is a real delight, as well as being very easy and quick to read. If you are interested in continuing to learn relevant books of Spanish literature, do not hesitate to consult our reading section.

In a Teacher we leave you a summary of One Hundred Years of Solitude, the best-known novel by the Colombian author.