The Weight of All Things

Nicolás and Tata represent the common El Salvadoran. Both the Left and the Right claim they are fighting for the benefit of all El Salvadorans. Yet, the war brings nothing but destruction to the Veras family. Beforehand, they are poor, but live well enough on the land Tata owns. They are happy enough together living on the crops they grow and fish they catch. Their village provides a church, community, and school for Nicolás. When the war breaks out, their basic accommodations are taken away, one after another. Neither the Left nor the Right takes more from them; it is their position as people stuck between two warring sides that makes their life difficult. Tata often remarks that he is no revolutionary, only stuck: “It was the story of his life: caught always in between” (200). They are in constant danger and are exploited by both sides of the war. After Nicolás is shot, he states, “It was either the army or the guerrillas. In the end, they’re all the same” (192). His unique experience living with the guerrilleros and then at the Army garrison gives him the clarity to see that there is no difference between the sides.