"Cargo": An essay by Andres Fierro

Here is Andres Fierro's essay. Take notice how he uses quotations to support what he is trying to convey. Also he cites the quotation with a simple page number and parentheses. But in the second paragraph, Andres has a dangling quotation--a no-no. All quotations should be attached to commentary. Lastly, there is no reason to always and always put quotation marks around the word cargo. Once is enough. Overall this is an appropriate essay.

Abram and Cain are determined to find the secret to obtaining “cargo.” They believe that power, wealth, and all the material things that their people want come directly from their ancestors, and that the church not only is blinding them from finding the "cargo," but their Reverend Father holds the secret to obtaining it. The two boys are committed to find all the answers to their wants, and devise a plan to discover the secret.

Bola is an adversary of Abram and Cain, and recently his brother had returned from a trip with some fascinating news. Cain explains to Abram that Bolaʼs brother finds itʼs, “... the holy water and the Bible that is keeping us blind” (435). This finding convinces the boys that the church is responsible for their problems with obtaining "cargo." Furthermore, the Reverend Fatherʼs outhouse was conspicuously placed between their ancestors graves and his house. “It was thought to be the passageway to the dead peopleʼs cargo beneath the graves" (439). Abram and Cain decide to perform a ritual, such as what they see in mass, to catch the Reverand Father as he is in the outhouse. They believe that the Reverend, while in the outhouse, will be, “... tricking their grandfathers. Then they would explain where the cargo really went” (439). Unfortunately for the boys, their plan is obstructed as Bola and Mickle show up just as they find the Reverend Father in the outhouse.

The fascination with obtaining “cargo” has driven Abram and Cain to search for the secret to finding it. With all the power and wealth that the church has, itʼs clear that they have built animosity towards the church, and have declared the Reverand Father as the culprit to crippling them from obtaining that “cargo” from their ancestors. Abram and Cainʼs plan places them on the battlefront against the antagonist of the story, the Reverand Father. It is he that is in a position of respect, power, and authority, but reading this as a fable on the loss of native culture, he is implicated as the burglar responsible for cheating the dead ancestors into giving him the “cargo” instead of to their rightful bearers.

As Abram and Cain have now become convinced that the church is responsible for impeding their ancestors "cargo” to reaching their hands, they blame the head of the church for the deceit on their grandfathers. The distribution of wealth is so one sided that those in power have not allowed for natives like Abram and Cain to enjoy the materialistic lifestyle that those in power lead. Thus, the envy that the boys have for those with a high status is fierce, turning their minds into planning out how to inform their ancestors about this treachery that the church and the Reverend Father are responsible for. As they find him in the outhouse they state, “When we think he is down the toilet we will follow him. We will then tell our kin why their cargo does not reach our hands” (439). They view the Reverend Father as a thief who is cheating them out of their “cargo.”

After all their efforts and plans have been spoiled, the boys are left still wanting answers to obtaining their “cargo”, hoping that they will find next time the Reverend Father in the act of lying to their ancestors. Do they really need this materialistic lifestyle? The church and Reverand Father have found a way to provide just enough to let them wanting more, and veering away from their native cultural ways.