The Respite

Mario Benedetti is significantly different from those who formed the core of the new Latin American novel. Against the backdrop of the fireworks of mythoproza, magical realism, his everyday, muted, fundamentally anti-romantic prose with ordinary heroes and old-fashioned psychology creates the artistic philosophy of history that is the main achievement and contribution of the Latin American novel to the world culture of the 20th century. Mario Benedetti created his version of modern realism.
The hero of «The Respite», an average Montevidean, is waiting for his pension, wanting to forget about numbers and see «another sky». No, he will not run away, he will not rebel, but will go to a cafe, drowning his bitterness and irritation with a cup of coffee. We are faced with the psychopathology of an alienated and deceived person. Circular deception here defines the system of relationships between clerks and management, husbands and wives, friends and acquaintances, children and parents. The pure sound of human drama is constantly interrupted by the clatter, the melody of tango about «broken love», «lost life». Is such a hero capable of anything?
Benedetti noted with «The Respite» only the possibility of change.
A person in the dimension of fluid life, not a capitalized Human, but an average person — the one through whom history unfolds with all its contradictions, dramas, and tragedies. To him, Benedetti poses the question of our time — the question of human possibilities, of humanism, and therefore — of the future of humanity. Can today’s small and even petty person become a new person? Can he or cannot he meet the ideals and demands that our time presents? Benedetti creates a panorama of the historical existence of Uruguayans and Uruguay, changing with his country and following its history.
The theme is relevant in an era of change and turmoil for all nations and countries.
The film adaptation of the novel «The Respite» (La tregua) was nominated for the 1975 Oscar, and also received the «Amarcord» award from Federico Fellini.