214 The Three Rs
in the ‘‘sound aims behind this book’s conception.’’
≥
What follows is an emo-
tional (and somewhat backhanded) appeal to the text’s intended audience.
The authors open by expressing their sympathies to the intended reader-
ship. Using the vosotros grammatical form, which relays respect, Prado and
Torres tell readers they understand the ‘‘suffering’’ and ‘‘involuntary errors’’
of workers and that ‘‘you are our blood brothers of our heroic race, in a battle
for life and for the happiness of the people we love, in a struggle for the
enhancement of our beloved patria, in the effort to make it more prosperous
and felicitous every day.’’ The authors go on to explain, ‘‘We know your life
from close up, we appreciate your qualities in all their valor, we comprehend
your defects; because your suffering has made us suffer, because we have seen
the immortal soul of our race in the noble traits of your heart, because we
know your defects are born only as a result of a lack of adequate knowledge,
of unawareness of healthy principles, and not of perverse inclinations, we
publish this book with the hope that it will be your counselor, a sincere
friend who only wants what is good for you.’’
∂
With that said, the text pro-
ceeds to short essays on a wide range of topics. Interspersed among essays on
milk, water, carpentry, agriculture, and history are passages regarding the
idea of patria, the significance of the national flag, and qualities inherent in
hard work. One arrives at the impression that ‘‘patria,’’ the flag, patrimony,
and labor are just as vital in life, and to life, as nourishment and shelter.
In the brief essay titled ‘‘La Patria,’’ the authors inform workers that lov-
ing the patria entails ‘‘the love of our land that gave us life, the love of our
families, the remembrance of our beloved dead, the cult of our heroes, our
affection we feel toward our similarities that tightly unite us with the same
language, by the same traditions, by the same beliefs, by the same aspira-
tions for progress and perfection, and even by the same blood. The love of
the patria informs all our acts, all our loves, all of the loves that should warm
the human heart. It is one of the sweetest feelings, sweeter and more vig-
orous than any that have shook the human soul throughout time.’’
∑
This
appeal not only is made on the grounds of language, blood, and sentiment
but also rests on the premise of family. Prado and Torres add that ‘‘the man
who does not love his patria is a worthless individual; he is a much more
worthless being than an ingrate who does not love his parents, his siblings,
his companion in life, his children.’’
∏
The nation, in short, is portrayed as the
ultimate family unit and takes precedence over other forms of social organi-
zation. Of course, one’s family is worth defending against any threat. The
passage points to ‘‘foreigners’’ as dangerous actors that could possibly dam-