Mario Conde : Detective by Roise Mc Cormack

Modus operandi en el proceso de investigación

roise_mccormack — 2019-02-12 15:09:00 UTC

Detective Conde's non-conforming attitude is what makes him a fantastic investigator.

His favourite song is “Strawberry Fields” by the Beatles. This band was dismissed by Cuba ́s cultural commissars in the 1960s due to its decadent imperialist nature, meaning it was disrupting Cuba's customs. He is not afraid to contest social norms. Conde's skeptical approach to investigating, often following instinct before evidence, matches the lyrics of the song; "misunderstanding is all you see..it doesn't really matter to me."

Conde's motives to uncover the truth in both Netflix series and text are typically Padurian in the sense that he accesses information legally and illegally- through institutional processes of the police force and through his anti-institutional, black-market savvy friends from his school days in the 1970's.

Although he, for example, questions Josefina's large amount of (clearly unrationed) food and Candito's motives with his much younger lover, he does not assert them like he should in respect to his police officer duties.

Moreover, his intolerance for violence is evident on screen, in the narrative and an unlikely trait of a policeman. Nostalgically reflecting on his past, Conde "se ve obligado a tomar el camino inesperado, que lo aleja de la belleza y la imaginación y lo lanza, con una pistola en la cintura, al mundo tenebroso de los malos"(Padura, "Vientos de cuaresma" : 91). His wishes to be a writer were slashed when he made the decision to become a detective. Empathy is felt for Conde. Padura enforces the financial and social struggle of Cubans, through Conde, insinuating that the Revolution's promise of freedom was not sincere.

Estereotipo detective

roise_mccormack — 2019-02-12 15:09:05 UTC

Conde shows many characteristics of a typical hardboiled detective throughout this novel and TV series.

In the opening of one of the first paragraph we learn that within Conde ”La certeza de la soledad se había desbocado y resultaba más difícil de localizar en algún rincón de su cuerpo”(Padura, "Vientos de cuaresma" : 2). This sentence emphasises how truly lonely Conde feels at times, a key characteristic often seen in hard boiled detectives. He displays a detachment from friends and family. Furthermore, Conde undoubtably struggles with alcoholism, which is clearly seen in many scenes through out both medians of this story, such as when he declares that the pleasure of intoxication is the best escape from his real life struggles and self hatred. Some form of addiction to drugs or alcohol is often a part of hardboiled detectives’ lives, adding to their imperfect and flawed character, in contrast to a classic detective such as the famous detective Holmes. Crucially, this addiction alters his work performance and often puts him at conflict with his fellow police workers. This is seen when Major Rangel tells him “Me hace falta que te metas de cabeza en este caso y que te portes bien, Conde; no quiero oírte rezongar, ni lamentarte, ni que te tomes un trago, ni un carajo; quiero que lo resuelvas ya”(Padura, "Vientos de cuaresma" : 14-15) while appointing him on the case. Another key trait of the hardboiled detective is constant pessimism and gloom. This is best seen when Conde is speaking about his job as a police man. When Conde asks Manolo “De verdad te gusta ser policía?”(Padura, "Vientos de cuaresma" : 27), and Manolo replies that he does indeed enjoy his job, Conde decides that the only way that is possible is because “[está] loco”(Padura, "Vientos de cuaresma" : 27) and that Conde must be suffering from some form of delusion also. This self-hatred and lack of contentment continues throughout the novel. Another key feature that Conde, and other hard boiled detectives, exhibit is their readiness to break the law in order to secure justice. In the scene where Conde and Candito re-unite, Candito asks the policeman "si hay líos tú me vas a ayudar,
¿verdad?"(Padura, "Vientos de cuaresma": 27) to which the narrator informs that
"el Conde sonrió y pensó que sí. Iba a ayudarlo."(27) Conde decides to maintain the secrecy of Candito's illegal business activity as he needs Candito to "sirviera de informante"(27) . This a prime example of how a hardboiled detective is willing to break the law to ensure long term justice, which in this case is the solving of Lissette's murder.

Conde en la novela

roise_mccormack — 2019-02-12 15:09:12 UTC

Mario Conde is the protagonist in this novel. He is a deeply complex character. The novel is written in the third person narrative, however the narrator has access into the mind of Conde.

From the aspect of the novel, a deeper insight into the character of Conde is given. From the opening page of the novel an introduction to Conde's drinking habits is made as the narrator describes "la adridez de su garganta podían ser obra de un poder superior, capaz de moldear su destino"(Padura, "Vientos de cuaresma": 11).

Similarly, Conde believes that an antidote for his melancholia is "una botella de ron y una mujer" (Padura, Vientos de cuaresma: 12). This gives us, as readers, an insight into the type of person Conde is outside of being solely "un policía" (Padura, "Vientos de cuaresma" : 19). Therefore it is evident that Conde has an important relationship with alcohol in the novel in contrast to the series where the presence of his drinking habit is there but somewhat less existent than the reference to it in the novel .

Additionally, we get an insight into the character of Conde as a detective as Major Rangel warns Conde "portate bien" (Padura, "Vientos de cuaresma" : 33) upon investigating this case. This comment made by Major Rangel perhaps indicates that Conde can be a reckless detective.

One of the most important scenes in the novel is the crime scene. In this scene, there are a number of differences to the crime scene in the series in relation to the character of Conde. In the novel the crime scene is described to through the eyes of Conde. As Conde walks into Lisette's apartment he "observó un escenario donde sólo faltaban una víctima" (Padura, "Vientos de cuaresma :33). This is in contrast to the series where Lisette's body is visible at the crime scene. In the novel, Conde's thoughts are present as he examines the crime scene. He is drawn to "una hilera de libros" (Padura, "Vientos de cuaresma : 33) and he mentions one book of particular interest to him "Poesía" by Pablo Neruda. He mentions how "tenía esa misma edicíon en su casa". (Padura, "Vientos de cuaresma :34) Padura is creating a link between Lisette the victim and Conde as well as portraying Conde's keen interest in reading.

El Conde y el scenario

roise_mccormack — 2019-02-12 15:09:18 UTC

Detective Conde is one of the most complex characters of the text, his relationship with Havana is both of high interest and relevance.

There is an ambience of hopelessness present surrounding the setting in the text and this echoes the discontent of both the people in Havana and of course Conde. The melancholy heavily associated with the character is portrayed through his frequent drunken state. His passion is writing and yet he has no desire to obtain his goal of becoming a writer, and thus a pathetic fallacy is created by Padura, which binds the disenchanted city of Havana with a disillusioned Conde.
We see this at the end of the first chapter when Padura vividly depicts the negative atmosphere of Havana "Fuera el viento maldito está quemando la tierra." (Padura, "Vientos de Cuaresma" : p.25).

Padura's illustrative power is evident in the way he crafts a cyclical structure. This serves to highlight the correlation between Conde's bleak outlook and the general ambiance evoked by the location he finds himself in. Padura makes reference to the deflated nature of the character in both the opening and closing chapters by depicting the setting, "goma desinflada" (P15) "alma desinflada" (P224). This shows the transient nature and consequently the permanence of Conde's state of mind.

Conde en la serie de tv

roise_mccormack — 2019-02-17 13:27:03 UTC

Mario Conde is played by actor Jorge Perugorría. Jorge was born in Cuba in 1965.

In the series, Conde is a dominant figure. As a detective he likes to do his own thing and go by his instinct or forebodings. In the series, Conde makes frequent references to "un presentimiento"(Vientos de cuaresma, episode 1 1:05:38) he has about the case. From the Netflix series, it is evident he is more superior to Manolo as he regularly tells Manolo what to do in the investigation of the murder. For example, Conde gives Manolo the boring, administrative jobs such as requiring the lists of Lisette's pupils from the current year and the previous year.

Also, on screen, Conde can be seen as being somewhat of a hero in his relationship with Candito. In the series, Conde saves Candito from being arrested. However this scene isn't in the novel at all. Similary the scene where Conde saves Candito life isn't in the novel also. The addition of these scenes in the tv series are important as they illustrates Conde as a hero and gives the viewers an insight into his personal relationships as he is loyal and protective of his friends.

One key difference between the novel and the tv series is Conde's behavior while talking to his informer Jose Luiz. In the novel Jose Luiz has followed Conde and Conde puts pressure on him and guilts him into release information. However, in the tv series Conde follows Jose Luiz as he is trying to escape and threatens to bring him to the police station if he doesn't release the information. This change in the tv series is very important as it portrays the difference between Conde in the novel and Conde in the tv series.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7h8tIU21jg

El remolque del serie de Netflix

roise_mccormack — 2019-02-17 13:38:52 UTC

Conde y Karina

roise_mccormack — 2019-02-17 13:47:22 UTC

Karina :"escogí al peor hombre del mundo... te enamoras, Conde" (Padura, "Vientos de Cuaresma" : 202)

Literary scholar Clemens A. Franken contrasts Conde's long-lasting relationships with men against his short lived female relationships. Like the nature of his occupation, where he quickly investigates crime upon crime, his relationship with Karina is just as fleeting and ephemeral, although he desires it to last longer.

Conde is a frustrated writer, locked into the career path of a policeman, where his intelligence and wits have been challenged, however the role of policeman proves to be too demanding on his mentality. In the final chapter of the book, as he lies awake, submerged in his thoughts, he is self-pitying, “Nadie sabe cómo son las noches de un policía” (Padura, "Vientos de cuaresma" : 224). Without Karina, whom he has known and blindly fallen in love within the span of three days, he; “casi no podía vivir [sin ella]”(Padura, "Vientos de cuaresma" : 224). If this inhibits his mentality so forcefully, one must question his stability insofar as the effect of crime cases on his psychology. His further dependency on alcohol and excess smoking imply that he does not enjoy his work.

Femme fatale, Karina is portrayed as the stronger, more independent character who torments Conde by leaving him with no one to love and no one to remind him of how his youthful days felt.

Fuentes segundarias

roise_mccormack — 2019-02-17 13:57:22 UTC

Stalinger :

Yazdanjoo, Morteza, Mahmoud R. Ghorban Sabbagh, and Hesamoddin Shahriari. "Stylistic Features of Holden Caulfield's Language in J. D. Salinger's the Catcher in the Rye: A Corpus-Based Study." English Studies, vol. 97, no. 7, 2016, pp. 763-778.

Strawberry Fields:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwip-7_2rNfgAhWIRhUIHTWHBTcQyCkwAHoECAYQBQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D8UQK-UcRezE&usg=AOvVaw0y8eNEz81Jp4ZAaD3tFXnK

CONDE

roise_mccormack — 2019-02-20 15:46:22 UTC

Anti-heroic qualities

- Loneliness
- No sentimental relationship
- Not majorly patriotic
- Frustrated professionally, socially and as a writer
- Nostalgic
- Current lifestyle is the polar opposite of dreams he had in his adolescence

MARIO

roise_mccormack — 2019-02-20 15:47:08 UTC

"Mario Conde no es mi alter ego, pero sí es en muchos sentidos la forma en la cual yo veo la realidad cubana y veo incluso la interioridad de un persona"- Padura (Wieser, Doris. 2005. 'Leonardo Padura: 'Siempre me he visto como uno más de los autores cubanos'. En: Espécuio. Revista de Estudios Literarios.)

DETECTIVE

roise_mccormack — 2019-02-20 15:47:15 UTC

El policía Mario Conde es "un personaje de validez literaria"

(Epple, Juan Armando. "Entrevista: Leonardo Padura Fuentes". Hispamérica 24. 71 (Aug. 1995): 49-66. )

"Dos huevos prehistóricos...Puro realismo socialista, se dijo". (Padura, "Vientos de cuaresma" : 148)

ANÁLISIS DEL

roise_mccormack — 2019-02-20 15:47:24 UTC

Heroic qualities

- Excellent detective despite his shortcomings
- Pro-active in discovering answers
- Ability to differentiate his generation from the younger 80's generation
- Romantic
- Uncomfortable with violence ideology

Reflexiones

roise_mccormack — 2019-03-02 10:19:05 UTC

Róise McCormack :

Aprendí mucho durante este proyecto. Por lo general, mi nivel de español ha mejorado, además de mi comprensión de Padlet y también mi capacidad para alcanzar profundos conocimientos.

Pienso que Padlet era una buena forma de analizar, explicar y presentar nuestro carácter Mario Conde. Sin duda, toda la información es accesible – se puede mirar un video o expandir una imagen, ¡en sola un clic! Padlet guarda toda la información y todas las imágenes automáticamente. Lo que más me gusta de Padlet es que todo el equipo podía trabajar juntos al mismo tiempo sin la preocupación que la información habría perdido. Sin embargo, si tuviera que volver a hacer este proyecto con Padlet, haría varias cosas de manera diferente. Por ejemplo, cambiaría cosas pequeñas como el color de los postes y el fondo. Otros grupos cambiaron los colores de los postes y me pareció interesante.

Además, el trabajo no se dividió igualmente, había algunas informaciones solapadas. Una cosa que me molestó sobre Padlet, era el facto que el formato cambió cada vez que se agregó un mensaje. Esto problema ralentizó nuestra eficiencia durante el proyecto.

En la lectura y la observación del detective, aprendí que Conde fue la personificación de la sociedad cubana en esto época en lo que respecta sus hábitos de consumo y su esperanza perdida. Fuentes secundarias y las dos fuentes primeras me ayudaron comprender el modus operandi en la investigación y también la humanidad de Conde.
La comprensión de estos mensajes subliminales sobre Conde fue un éxito personal para mi.

En mi opinión, disfruté utilizando esta forma de medios de comunicación por la presentación. Esta valoración me dio una idea más profunda de su carácter, de Padura y de Cuba del siglo XX.

Louise Glynn :

As Mario Conde is the main protagonist in “Vientos de cuaresma”, we felt that there was a number of ways in which we could discuss his character in our padlet. Some of the aspects we thought were important to include in our padlet were the characteristic of a hard boiled detective and to discuss whether Conde related and shared these characteristics, Similarly, the portrayal of Conde in the novel versus in the tv series, Conde’s relationship with Karina the femme fatale and the setting. As our padlet progressed we began to add more information such as Conde as a detective and some of his character qualities.

I enjoyed this task as I found both the novel and the tv series interesting. I enjoyed the storyline and I was happy to engage with it. As padlet was a new concept to me, I enjoyed using it and I feel it was an effective way to present our presentation on Mario Conde.

As aspect we found difficulty was staying within the allocated time for our presentation. We found that there was so much information of the character of Conde and so much we could have discussed further and would have liked to do so.

I liked doing this task as I feel it was really beneficial. As my part in the padlet was comparing the portrayal of Conde in the tv series and novel, I had to deeply analyse the text. I found this was very beneficial though as I managed to get a good insight into “Vientos de cuaresma” and the character of Conde.

Luke Guy:

I truly enjoyed partaking in this project. As a team, we efficiently explored many thought-provoking, educational and exciting aspects of literature and novels that we had not known previously.
I particularly enjoyed researching the fundamental and principal characteristics of a typical hard-boiled detective such as Condé. Not only did I find out about the Spanish detective's stereotypical traits but through relentless online researching on various types of detectives, I uncovered the personalities of many key detective characters. I was informed of how each detective's differing personalities and stereotypes categorise them as a certain detective type, such as a classic detective.

The use of Padlet was definitely challenging but often rewarding in many ways. The positioning of our paragraphs often changed randomly which proved to be inconvenient when trying to find my block of text. However, this was a minor issue and I feel the positive aspects of Padlet far outweigh the sole negative aspect. Such positive aspects include the ability to change the background colour and images, upload our own images andneven being able to 'doodle'. As a team we worked quite well. To echo Louise, the only problem we ran into was the 10 minute time constraint. We were equipped with so much knowledge that we found it hard to stay within this time constraint however we managed to roughly stay within these parameters on presentation day.

Jake Pickering

I found padlet to be both useful and helpful while carrying out the group project. I personally loved how padlet integrated media. We used media to enforce the points we were making, having a visual image or video made the content more approachable and appealing to the eye.

Padlet was easy to use. When we first started the project, I felt like I had used it before. This enabled us to focus on the content itself rather than figuring out how to use the software.

I plan to use padlet again when I'm studying as I feel it would also be great for brainstorms and getting a general idea of a topic. If I am unsure of a particular part of the text, I can revisit the padlet and the topic will quickly become fresh again.

It was difficult to present with Padlet, I wasn't liking the idea of moving the page up and down to show our content as we spoke. In presentations, PowerPoint is definitely a much more useful tool to get your point across and support what you are reading out.