Horacio Quiroga: Analysis of Nature’s Ability to Take Away Life as Demonstrated in Various of His Short Stories

Abstract

Horacio Quiroga has often been labeled the Edgar Allan Poe of Latin America. He experienced many tragedies in his life that tremendously impacted his literary works. In 1879, Quiroga’s father accidentally shot and killed himself. In 1901, while he was cleaning his friend’s gun, he accidentally fired a shot that immediately resulted in the death of his friend. In 1915, his wife committed suicide due to a long and debilitating depression. These are only a few of the tragedies that plagued the life of Horacio Quiroga. His experiences influenced the way he saw the world and they were often mirrored in his short stories. In many of his stories, Quiroga displayed his lifelong struggle with trying to come to terms with death. Although, death is inevitable for all people, it seemed to come suddenly for so many of those in his life. For Quiroga, death and nature seemed to be continually intertwined. Often, the jungle sets the stage for his short stories that consistently end in tragedy. Surrounded by so much life and color in the jungle, many of his characters often meet a dark and unexpected end.