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MY CLASSMATE WRITING

What does Wolf mean when he says that the Virgin of Guadalupe is a master symbol?  What does that symbol teach us about Mexican society?

In the beginning of Chapter two, Moro discusses myths and how they are important narratives that explain the formation of the world and the sacred books which religions live by. These concepts can be represented by symbols. Moro explains that these “religious symbols are often considered to possess a power or force emanating from the spiritual world itself” and “provide people with an emotional and intellectual commitment to their particular belief system, telling them what is important to their society”(Moro, p.47). 

In the Wolf article we learn about a “master symbol” in Mexican society the Virgin of Guadalupe. By master symbol Wolf means that it is an expression of the society a “collective representation.” And attached to that symbol is the myth of Juan Diego’s encounter with the Virgin. 

There are two major types of families in the Mexican society and through the master symbol of the Virgin of Guadalupe we learn about both. The Indian family “the VIrgin is addressed in passionate terms as a source of warmth and love” and “hopes of salvation”. For the Mexican family the Virgin symbolizes “adult male dominance” and is “charged with the energy of rebellion against the father. It is the embodiment of hope in a victorious outcome of the struggle between generations”, standing “for life, for hope, for health”(Wolf, p.67). This symbol teaches us how the Mexican society find expression and “links together family politics and religion” as well as “colonial past and independence”(Wolf, p. 68). 

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