Chac Mool is a short story by Carlos Fuentes. A chac mool is a sculpture that was originally found in Mesoamerica, Southern North America and Central America. It depicts a reclining figure with a bowl on its stomach. It is associated with ancient cultures. the name chac mool was coined by a British archeologist and photographer, Augustus L. Plongeon, who along with his wife,Alice Dixon were among the first to document the Maya sites of Chichen Itza in Yucatan, Mexico. Chac Mool is said to represent the god of rain and water, Tlaloc. He was worshipped as a giver of life and feared for his ability to create thunder, earthquakes, and lightning. The cult of Tlaloc is one of the oldest in the Aztec world.
Chac Mool is intensely Mexican. We who live and think in the present may find the blend of past and present in Mexico as curious. But it permeates the Mexican way of life in a land of contrasts. You see the ancient past daily in the grandiose monuments (especially pyramids) throughout the country especially when during 21st century an excavation for a new subway may find an ancient pyramid or religious center, treasures from the Aztec or Mayan past. The modern Mexican, like the protagonist of the story, Filiberto, unites the duality of past and present.
Question:
Study the development of magical elements in the story. Do you think that Chac Mool is taking revenge against the modern world? How does Chac Mool (story) combine elements of the past and present? There is also an interesting element here of the collection of antiquities by consumers of Latin American culture. Comment.
