All discovery is in some way transformative.
An individual’s discovery is transformative on their perceptions of the world. This is the case for the book ‘The Motorcycle Diaries’ by Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara and Keats’s sonnet “On first looking into Chapman’s Homer”. In this book, we are taken on Che’s journey as he travels Latin America as a young man, before the fame. His diary entries lead the reader into his own eyes, as a typical young man on an adventure, not the revolutionary figure we all associate him with. Through his descriptive entries of the landscape he journeys across, we discover his deeper connection to the land of South America and the love he has for its people. As well as the beautiful things that South America has to …show more content…

Argentina is a relatively wealthy country compared to the rest of South America and it is most likely that Che came from a wealthy family considering he was studying medicine. For example, Che says “The standard of living in Chile is lower than in Argentina”, which reinforces the difference between his wealthy background in a prosperous country compared to the poverty that exists amongst the population in Chile. Che also came across indigenous Indians whilst exploring Peru, witnessing firsthand their lifestyle and condition of living. Che describes the children as malnourished with “distended bellies and rather scrawny”. This again highlights the poverty that devastates parts of South America as well as the inequality that existed. These natives weren’t provided with sufficient housing and food which explains the state in which the children live, lacking proper nutrition. Che’s emotive language conveys his empathy that he has developed for the people of South America. For Che, this was an eye opener and another reason for him to connect to the land, culture and people of South America, affecting his perception of the world around him.
Upon Che’s journeys through South America, he discovers a need to address the injustice and poverty that plagues the continent. Through the other discoveries that Che has made throughout his travels of South America, like establishing his spiritual connection to the land and its people as well as the