Motorcycle Diaries Character Growth Essay

â€Å"The enormity of our endeavor escaped us in those moments; all we could see was the dust on the road ahead and ourselves on the bike, devouring kilometers in our flight northward. †-pg. 33 â€Å"The Motorcycle Diaries† is a story of a motorcycle trip made by 23-year-old medical student Che Guevera and 29-year-old biochemist Alberto Granado across the South American continent. Along the way, Che is exposed to extreme events of poverty, vulnerability, and overall suffering. Originally, Che’s only goal in life was to become a famous doctor who would help fight off the leper disease invading South America. During the course of the journey, however, Che transforms from an innocent, simple-minded young man to a knowledgeable traveler, and finally to a powerful revolutionary that has his sights set much, much higher. Here are the events that helped to trigger this transformation in Ernesto Che Guevera. At the beginning of the journey, the only thing Che can focus on is the thought of becoming a doctor. â€Å"In the shade of the immense trees, we made plans to build a laboratory in this place, when we finished with our trip. Keep in mind, that at this point in the journey, he wasn’t even close to crossing the border of Argentina, let alone his final destination. This is the simple-mindedness of young Che Guevera coming out. He is constantly thinking about the final result, and by doing so, he isn’t able to fully appreciate what is going on around him. At this time, Che is only thinking of himself. But as he continues on his way, a few distinct events help begin to transform Che into the revolutionary that he is today. As Che progresses further to his destination, he begins to title himself as a leprosy doctor. As he stop sin towns along the way, he begins to provide medical assistance to those in need. At this time, it was mostly to practice for when he was to become famous later in life. But one town he stopped in began to change his whole perspective on what â€Å"helping people† was. â€Å"Soon the whole family was gathered around the article. And so, like this, basking in their admiration, we said goodbye to those people we remember nothing about, not even their names. †-pg. 59. He is basically saying that once he did what he needed to do, that was that. There were of people suffering in South America at the time. And he had helped only a few people. This event started to make Che think on a bigger scale, and gave him a little push in the direction of really making a difference in the lives of ALL those suffering people. As he reaches the end of his journey, Che has reached the final step of his transformation. Che has finally arrived at the leper colony, the much-anticipated end to his amazing journey. But Che has experienced things along the way that have changed his way of thinking. He doesn’t want the journey to end right here. He has figured out the way to truly make a difference in the lives of the South American people. Here is a quote that demonstrates what he has learned and how much he has transformed. â€Å"We must begin to erase our old concepts and come ever closer and ever more critically to the people. Not in the way we got closer before. Everybody has done that. But they have done it practicing charity, and what we have to practice today is solidarity. We should not draw closer to the people and say: Here we are. We come to give you the charity of our presence, to teach you with our science, to demonstrate your errors, your lack of refinement and knowledge. We need to go humbly to learn from the great source of wisdom that is the people. †-pg. 173 Che Guevera has gone from a narrow-minded individual to someone who is capable of caring for an entire population. He has grown into someone who can see through they eyes of the people who are suffering. He can see where things need to be improved. Che Guevera became the person he wanted to be at the beginning of the journey-a difference maker. But he has done so in a much different and more effective way. This is how Che Guevara grew over the course of the Motorcycle Diaries.