Page 91 - 2021-bfw-shea-all-2e
P. 91

The Directorate of Censorship was aware of   5  required, and the knowledge that he was doing   5
                  the secret motive behind the desire of more than   everything possible for his letter — that is for
                  one to work in the bureau, but they were in no   Mariana — assuaged his anxieties. He wasn’t
                  condition to be too strict and anyway — What for?   even worried when, the first month, he was
                  They knew how difficult it would be for those   assigned to Section K where the envelopes are
                  poor innocents to find the letter they were   opened with painstaking care to see if they   exploring other genres
                  looking for, and even if they did, what importance   contain some explosive.
                  does a letter or two that slips [through] the barrier   It’s true that on the third day a letter blew a
                  cracks [have] compared to the others that the new   fellow-worker’s hand off and disfigured his face,
                  censor would shoot down. That’s how our Juan   but the bureau chief claimed it had been mere   /
                  was able to join the Censorship Bureau of the   negligence on the victim’s part and Juan and the
                  Ministry of Communications.                other employees could continue working as
                     The building, seen from outside, had a   before, although with much less assurance. At   Luisa Valenzuela
                  festive air because of the smoked glass that   quitting time another fellow worker tried to
                  reflected the sky, an air that was in total contrast   organize a strike to demand more pay for
                  to the austere atmosphere of its interior. And   hazardous work, but Juan didn’t participate and
                  little by little Juan became accustomed to the   after thinking it over a while he denounced him
                  climate of concentration which his new work   to the authorities in order to be promoted.




























                                                                                      David Horsey





                    This editorial cartoon makes a statement about the relationship between an authoritarian government
                    and large technology companies.
                    How would you describe that relationship, based on the image? How is this censorship similar
                    to or different from the censorship described in the story?

                                                                                                          75
                                Copyright © Bedford/St. Martin’s. Uncorrected proofs have been used in this sample chapter.
                                  Distributed by BFW Publishers. Strictly for use with its products. Not for redistribution.




          sheaall2e_24428_ch05_002_095.indd   75                                                       09/07/20   5:30 PM
   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96