The United Fruit Company
By Pablo Neruda
When the trumpet sounded, it was
all prepared on the earth,
the Jehovah parcelled out the earth
to Coca Cola, Inc., Anaconda,
Ford Motors, and other entities:
The Fruit Company, Inc.
reserved for itself the most succulent,
the central coast of my own land,
the delicate waist of America.
It rechristened its territories
as the ‘Banana Republics’
and over the sleeping dead,
over the restless heroes
who brought about the greatness, the liberty and the flags,
it established the comic opera:
abolished the independencies,
presented crowns of Caesar,
unsheathed envy, attracted
the dictatorship of the flies,
Trujillo flies, Tacho flies,
Carias flies, Martinez flies,
Ubico flies, damp flies
of modest blood and marmalade,
drunken flies who zoom
over the ordinary graves,
circus flies, wise flies
well trained in tyranny.Among the blood thirsty flies
the Fruit Company lands its ships,
taking off the coffee and the fruit;
the treasure of our submerged
territories flow as though
on plates into the ships.Meanwhile Indians are falling
into the sugared chasms
of the harbours, wrapped
for burials in the mist of the dawn:
a body rolls, a thing
that has no name, a fallen cipher,
a cluster of the dead fruit
thrown down on the dump.
Summary of The United Fruit Company
Neruda’s poem “The United Fruit Company,” first published in 1953 as part of the collection Poemas de la Guerra, is a powerful critique of the influence of American corporations in Latin America. The poem exposes how the United Fruit Company and other multinational firms imposed economic control, transforming independent nations into “Banana Republics.” Neruda portrays these corporations as modern conquerors who divide and control lands under the pretense of economic development while ignoring the sovereignty, heritage, and lives of the people.
The poem draws a chilling parallel between the biblical division of land and the corporate division of Latin American territories, highlighting the scale of this economic colonization. It depicts a world where local leaders become mere puppets, serving the interests of foreign capital, and where the people are reduced to nameless ciphers and discarded “fruit” in the wake of corporate greed.
Major Themes in “The United Fruit Company”
- Imperialism and Exploitation: The poem examines the economic and political dominance of foreign corporations over Latin American nations, draining resources and suppressing independence.
- Loss of Sovereignty: It highlights how corporate power effectively abolished national independence, turning countries into dependent territories.
- Corruption and Tyranny: The poem portrays pervasive corruption and tyranny that accompanied corporate control, with local dictators serving as puppets of foreign interests.
- Dehumanization: The poem reduces individuals to nameless ciphers and discarded “fruit,” illustrating the dehumanizing impact of exploitation.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in “The United Fruit Company”
- Assonance: The repetition of vowel sounds creates musicality and emphasis, as in “that has no name, a fallen cipher.”
- Consonance: Repetition of consonant sounds adds texture, such as the repeated “d” in “of modest blood and marmalade.”
- Anaphora: The repeated use of “flies” – “Trujillo flies, Tacho flies, Carias flies” – builds a sense of overwhelming corruption.
- Allusion: The poem references biblical stories and historical figures, drawing a parallel between divine authority and corporate power.
- Enjambment: Lines that continue without punctuation, such as “a cluster of the dead fruit / thrown down on the dump,” create momentum and urgency.
- Irony: The title itself is ironic; “The United Fruit Company” sounds benevolent while the poem reveals its destructive practices.
- Imagery: Vivid images – for example, “Meanwhile Indians are falling / into the sugared chasms / of the harbours” – convey suffering and death.
- Metaphor: The extended metaphor of “flies” representing dictators links disease, decay, and annoyance to political oppression.
- Symbolism: The United Fruit Company symbolizes capitalist exploitation, while the “blood thirsty flies” symbolize corrupt leaders who enable it.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in “The United Fruit Company”
- Free Verse: The poem has no strict rhyme scheme or meter, allowing a natural conversational rhythm that emphasizes emotional intensity.
- Stanzas: The poem is organized into stanzas of varying length, reflecting shifting emotional landscapes from outrage to lament.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are particularly powerful when discussing the poem’s depiction of human suffering and the consequences of exploitation:
“a body rolls, a thing
that has no name, a fallen cipher,
a cluster of the dead fruit
thrown down on the dump.”
This passage vividly illustrates the dehumanization of individuals reduced to nameless objects, discarded like waste.
Another important excerpt to consider is:
“the Fruit Company reserved for itself the most succulent, / the central coast of my own land, / the delicate waist of America.”
This opening establishes the theme of appropriation and highlights the greed that fuels the exploitation of Latin America.