The Bus to Veracruz is an educational short story and guide written by Richard Shelton. This story revolves around the realities of human life; His birth, his will to live a life. The author Richard Shelton in his short story The Bus to Veracruz suggests that a person arrives in this life without knowing it and has difficulty adjusting to it. It is supported by angels and good people to achieve goods in life and in the afterlife. Adjusting to life’s inconveniences can be a challenge for most people until they have someone to guide them. Life is full of positive and negative experiences that everyone has to deal with. Disappointments are part of life, but so are hopes. According to the author, even after many obstacles and facing so many experiences in life, every human being finally reaches his final destination.
A person comes to life without knowing it. He does not know what he looks like, how to speak his language and even his people. Richard Shelton makes this point at the beginning of the story. “In any case, … prove that I exist” (423). It is very difficult for a person to be in a new place to live. It is like a newborn child in this new place. He / she is in a situation where he / she could face different kinds of difficulties. You may have a hard time communicating with the people around you. Your life will become difficult and overwhelming from not being able to communicate with people. An example from my life experience, the first days I spent after coming to the United States, were the worst days for me in the United States, because I came to a new place where culture and tradition are totally different from where I came from. from. I did not speak the language used and the climate is the opposite of where I come from. A person has to adapt to life and its difficulties in order to live in this life. Not only does it point out that people can overcome life’s difficulties, but it even encourages readers to whom almost everyone may adjust to life’s inconveniences.
When a person is in a new place, it is difficult at first to adjust to it. As time passes, you will either get more comfortable or start to get used to it. Richard Shelton writes, “Nausea from … on the floors” (423). This basically emphasizes how the narrator doesn’t like where he lives. The narrator is undoubtedly disappointed and dismissive of his surroundings. It adapts to the necessities of life, such as food and drink, but it has to find a way to adapt to the ground (where it lives). Since a person is new to this world and knows nothing about it, he is not used to anything. You need time to adjust to this world because there are many things that are considerably strange to you. To adjust to a new place, a person needs a hand to lead and guide him along the path where he is supposed to be. The narrator’s hopelessness at the beginning of the story that he has no one to support him along the way reflects this point.
A person is supported by angels and good people to help him adjust to life’s difficulties and take the right path. This gives hope and optimism in life and brings people to paradise in the afterlife. Richard Shelton uses Rafael and Esteban to represent angels and good people in life who help others to find the right path that is full of hope and optimism produced in this life. He describes this road as the road to Veracruz and mentions it as if everyone wanted to travel this road. Rafael and Esteban are described and portrayed as angels, “They are young … handsome.” All people help each other to live life. Some cause happiness while others offer support. People in this world are born to achieve their goals and are supported to achieve their goals. They cannot stand on their own, so they need support and help to move on in life and achieve success. They work hard to fulfill your wishes and reach your destination. They also work in this world to improve their future life. That is why they are working to achieve their goals in life, the present and life in the afterlife. In addition to explaining how people need the support of others to live this life successfully. It also expresses how all human beings depend on each other.
There are also some disappointments in this life, but there are also more hopes and optimism, which make a person produce more and be more efficient in reaching their goals. Richard Shelton tends to point out positive aspects of life in different places in the text and limits his negativities. It uses the woman, who works at the post office, and the other woman, who sent letters to the narrator, to describe the positive aspects of life. The first woman is described as always smiling, very delighted, with great enthusiasm and with a friendly appearance. However, she is also described as an elderly woman “whose bright red lipstick … teeth”. The other woman was a source of happiness for the narrator. “Even life is … at the same time” (424). Basically, it points out that the positives and negatives of life balance out. Although these supposed ‘love’ letters that this woman wrote were not addressed to the narrator, he rationalizes his reading by imagining that the man to whom the letters were written has probably died. Despite the fact that the woman is middle-aged, the narrator finds immense pleasure in reading her letters, almost as if he were her lover. While reading his cards, he even visualizes his appearance and presents a representation of his appearance. “She is blonde … far from old.” He even dreams of her. There is no doubt that you feel happy and satisfied every time you read a letter from her. Thus, these two women reflect the only positive aspects of the narrator’s life.
This story revolves around the realities of human life; His birth and his will to live a life. A person comes into this world without knowing it and it takes time for him to adapt here. You need someone to help you.
Little by little, he works towards his goal and angels and good people are there to support him. Finally it reaches its destination. Life is simply a journey. By destination, the author is probably referring to the end of life, the destination that every human being has to finally reach. Whatever experience a person goes through in the course of this life, be it positive or negative, is destined to prepare them for that destiny. In fact, these experiences not only prepare them for the end of their life, but also for the afterlife.
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