The Motorcycle Diaries

The "green spots" of Chichina's eyes represent the life Guevara has left behind (37). He describes them as "mocking the so-called liberation I sought"and describes them as following him throughout his journey (37).

The motorcycle is personified several times–perhaps most significantly, her "asthmatic wheezing" (55) suggests that she represents the asthmatic Guevara. When La Poderosa is finally unfit to ride, her "corpse" (54) is carried to Santiago. La Poderosa is not only a means of transport; she sometimes appears as a traveling companion, and she also "arouse[s] pity" in Guevara and Granado's hosts, helping to mark them as members of the "wandering aristocracy" (55) literally, for they are in fact members of the Argentinian aristocracy who are indeed wandering.

However, the phrase "wandering aristocracy," combined with the pitiful image of the motorcycle, which is quite inadequate for the journey, suggests a comparison to Don Quixote's horse, Rocinante, and highlights the idealistic nature of the journey–Guevara and Granado are indeed out to restore justice to the world, as well its protagonists' lovable harmlessness and impetuosity.

Guevara mentions hunger immediately in his Introduction (31), and for good reason: a great deal of The Motorcycle Diaries concerns his and Granado's hunger and their search for food. At the beginning of the trip, especially, the two eat extremely well, enjoying both Argentinian barbecues (often at the homes of friends or acquaintances) and the famed Chilean hospitality of strangers (48, 50). Later, as the two travel through poorer regions and harsher terrain where they know nobody, they encounter lean times and are often hungry. Still, the hospitality of strangers, whether grudging (67, 110) or enthusiastic, allows them to continue their journey. As the narrative progresses, Guevara and Granado begin to give as well as receive hospitality (61);as this shift occurs, Guevara's sense of solidarity with the oppressed workers he encounters appears to strengthen. Indeed, he mentions feeling "brotherly" (62)toward others at the precise moment when he, himself cold, lends a blanket to the freezing communist couple. Hunger (like cold) unites people in Guevara's narrative, and hospitality is the key way they support and protect one another.

The Argentinian national drink, mate, is a hot, caffeinated herbal tea that is prepared by steeping dried leaves of the herb yerba mate in hot water. It is typically prepared and served in a shared hollowed-out gourd and consumed through a silver straw that keeps the drinker from swallowing the leaves. Mate provides Guevara and Granado with comfort at many points in their journey, and also sets them apart from the local Indigenous tribes (73) and from Chileans and Peruvians (67), who are less familiar with the custom. Guevara and Granado typically drink mate in the morning or when they have a quiet, unoccupied moment or are taking a break. Thus, it serves both as a symbol for comfort and reflection and for the protagonists' Argentinean identity. (It is worth mentioning that mate is also popular in other Latin American countries, notably Uruguay and parts of Paraguay, Brazil, Chile, and Bolivia.)