47 pages • 1 hour read
Cristina HenríquezThe Great Divide
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2024A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Authorial Context: Cristina Henríquez
Cristina Henríquez is a Panamanian American author whose work engages with Latin American history, identity, and immigration patterns in the Americas. Her first collection, Come Together, Fall Apart (2006), jumps back and forth between a post-Noriega Panama and the United States, detailing both the changing nature of life in a country newly freed from its dictatorial leader and the difficulties faced by Panamanians who chose to emigrate. It shares with The Great Divide an interest in the way that outside players and western imperialism impacted Panama and a dedication to uncovering the stories of ordinary Panamanians and Panamanian Americans. The World in Half (2009) focuses on a Chicago-based family of Panamanian Americans and delves into the nature of dual identity. Through it, Henríquez interrogates what it means to be both Panamanian and north American and paints a portrait of a multi-layered and multi-faceted group of relatives. The Book of Unknown Americans (2014) continues to engage with the way that immigration shapes the lives of individuals all over the Americas, using the US-Mexico border as a lens. As in her previous texts, the family in this novel is spread across multiple nations and cultures, and its identity is a complex tapestry. The Book of Unknown Americans was a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, was a New York Times and Washington Post Notable Book, an NPR Great Read, and was chosen by Oprah as one of her best books of the year. The Great Divide was a Read with Jenna pick in March of 2024.
Historical Context: The Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is an artificial, 51-mile waterway through central Panama that connects the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. France officially began the canal project in 1884, although work eventually stalled due to lack of investment. The United States took the project over in 1904, and it was completed in 1914. Interest in building a canal on the site, however, dates back to the period of Spanish colonization in the region, and the first known plans for a waterway through the Panamanian isthmus can be traced to Spanish explorer and colonizer Vasco Nuñez de Balboa’s 16th-century travels in Central America.
His plans did not come to fruition until the late 19th century, when technological advancements made such a project feasible. The French began to work on the construction of a canal through Panama although encountered unforeseen difficulties in the form of tropical disease and unexpected excavation issues. After heavy losses in their work force, they abandoned construction on the canal. At that time, Panama was controlled by Colombia, and although there was US-based interest in resuscitating the canal project, the Colombian government was not amenable to the idea. To circumvent the Colombians, influential actors in the United States threw their support behind a burgeoning Panamanian independence movement. With the backing of the United States, Panama was able to declare itself independent, and the new, Panamanian government felt that it had to accept the US-backed proposal of a canal through its territory. Panamanians worried that if they refused to allow the construction of the canal, the United States would abandon them and Colombian troops would march back in, seizing control.
US involvement in Panama is often cited as an example of “Gunboat Diplomacy,” or the use of military power to advance foreign policy interests. Although the United States government did provide material and military aid to Panama during its fight for independence, it did so not out of a sincere desire to see Panama achieve statehood but to secure its own power in the region. The construction of a canal through Panama was billed as beneficial to everyone in the Americas, but the parties who saw the greatest gains from its construction were the United States and its trading partners.
The role of outside involvement in Panamanian affairs and in the construction of the canal is one of this text’s key concerns. Interest in the canal was always the greatest amongst outsiders looking to profit from Panamanian resources: The drivers of development in the region and the main financiers of the canal project were the Spaniards, the French, and the Americans, three key colonial (and imperialist) powers within Latin America and the Caribbean. It was largely those powers who benefitted from the canal, whereas Panamanian individuals like the fictional characters of Omar, Joaquín, and Valentina were exploited and displaced during its construction and in the years that followed.
