Sotileza by José María de Pereda

• FIRST PUBLISHED: 1884 (English translation, 1959)
• TYPE OF WORK: Novel
• TYPE OF PLOT: Regional realism
• TIME OF WORK: 1880
• LOCALE: Santander, Spain

The Story:

Among the ragged youngsters being taught the catechism by Padre Apolinar was a tough ten-year-old called Muergo, or Clam. He lived with Mechelin, a fisherman crippled after years of exposure to the sea. Muergo had for his playmate a barefoot orphan girl named Silda, Mocejón’s ward. One day after school the children and the old fisherman went to the waterfront to await the coming of the steamship Montanesa, arriving from Cuba under Captain Bitadura. The captain’s young son Andrés was also there, along with Cleto, Mocejón’s son, and Colo, who was studying for the priesthood.

Silda was badly treated by Mocejón and Carpia, his nineteen-year-old daughter; at Andrés’ request, Padre Apolinar transferred her to Mechelin’s tenement apartment. There, she learned to keep herself neat, even washing her face once a week, until her admiring foster father said she was as dainty as the leader on his fishing line and because of the likeness nicknamed her Sotileza.

Andrés wanted to study navigation, but his mother, fearing that the sea would destroy him as it had so many others, apprenticed him to Venancio Liencres, to learn bookkeeping. Luisa, Liencres’ daughter, embarrassed Andrés by her admiration for the young man.

Sotileza was not beautiful, but as she grew older she became exciting to men. Although she treated her admirers coldly, she kept a warm affection for ugly Muergo and tried to make him save his money for clothes instead of spending it on drink. She paid no attention to Cleto until the day he came home laden with fishing gear and bumped her out of his way on the stairs, making her nose bleed. She got her revenge by flirting with him. His parents were disturbed; they wanted to have nothing to do with a penniless orphan.

Mechelin was torn between his dislike for Mocejón’s son and his desire to assure Sotileza’s future by marriage to a young man as hardworking as Cleto. Andrés also liked Sotileza, though without serious intentions. When his sympathy for crippled Mechelin made him persuade his father to help the fisherman get a small boat of his own, spiteful Carpia spread the gossip that Andrés was trying to buy Sotileza. Half believing the report, Cleto begged the priest to intercede with Mocejón for permission to marry the girl.

One day, Sotileza decided to accompany the others in Mechelin’s boat. When they went ashore to eat their lunch, Muergo fell asleep. Andrés put his arm around Sotileza and tried to make love to her. She repulsed him.

That night, as Andrés was on his way to the theater with the Liencres family, Luisa criticized the girl she had seen in his company. Reminded of Sotileza, he sneaked away to see her and to apologize for his behavior. She forgave him but said that she would never have given in, since honor was all she could offer her foster parents in return for their care. Carpia, having seen him leaving, spread gossip that Andrés was seeing Sotileza when she was alone in her apartment.

Rumors that men were to be drafted to serve three years in the Spanish Navy hastened many marriages in Santander, and many couples appeared before Padre Apolinar. Cleto courted Sotileza, but she gave no sign of her feelings toward him. The priest carried Cleto’s request to Mocejón and his wife.

In the meantime, the lower town had challenged the upper town to a regatta, to be held late in August. Sotileza went with Muergo, who was so dressed up that she was amazed. When she tried to comb his ruffled hair with her fingers, he seized her, and she escaped only by picking up a stick and beating him with it. She forgave him, however, and helped him to brush his rumpled suit before they went to the boat races.

At the regatta, she cheered the sixteen oarsmen of Cleto’s red-striped boat, which won by covering the six miles in twenty-five minutes. That evening, while the fishermen celebrated, everyone took her marriage to Cleto for granted.

Later that night, Andrés went to her home and proposed marriage. Sotileza said that she could never accept him. While they argued, Carpia locked them in and then slipped the key under the door before she summoned all the people in the tenement. When Sotileza opened the door, she found the hall full of witnesses. She denounced Carpia’s scheme so fiercely that the others were convinced of her innocence, especially after several confessed that they had seen Mocejón’s daughter locking the door.

Andrés went home and told his family what had happened. Because he had promised never to see the girl again, his angry father drove him from the house. Captain Bitadura then went to see Mechelin to learn the truth. Sotileza assured the captain that she did not intend to marry his son.

Andrés’ mother visited Liencres to discuss a marriage between Luisa and her son. At the same time Luisa asked her brother Tolin to suggest to Andrés that the young clerk give up Sotileza and marry her. When Tolin tried to refuse, Luisa threatened to find Andrés and speak for herself.

Meanwhile, Andrés, angry over what had happened, learned from his friend Renales that the fishermen were going out early the next morning, to make up for days of fog which had kept them ashore. Andrés offered to go along when the boats put out immediately after mass. Muergo was in one of the other boats making his last trip before being drafted. He was too drunk to know what was happening.

The day was beautiful. The fishermen passed schools of sardines as they went out farther and farther, hunting hake. They came upon thousands of fish, and everyone, including Andrés, began to pull them into the boats. In their excitement, the fishermen failed to notice a gathering storm. It struck, scattering the fishing fleet. High waves battered the boats. The corpse of Muergo floated by. Renales, trying to seize the body, was knocked unconscious against the gunwale of his boat. No one in the boat expected to survive, even though they worked valiantly against the power of wind and waves. At last, they neared the shore, only to realize that they would be compelled to steer between the narrow walls of the breakwater, a feat none had attempted except Renales, who lay too bruised and weak to be of any use.

In desperation, Andrés finally took the big oar and with injured Renales to direct him brought the boat in safely. Captain Bitadura, who was watching from a point nearby, cheered for his son.

Muergo was dead; there would be no naval service for him. Cleto, called up, delayed his departure for his wedding ceremony to Sotileza, who had accepted him at last. When the sailors from Santander marched away, Luisa and Andrés watched them from her balcony as they passed.

Critical Evaluation:

José María de Pereda’s literary career can best be described as that of an author in search of a style. He started writing when he was twenty-one years old, creating an unpretentious comedy which he rewrote and produced in Santander much later. After that, he continued to write regularly but was not much of a success. He thirsted for recognition, but it was not until 1881, with the publication of EL SABOR DE LA TIERRUCA that he received public acclaim. What distinguished this work was its local flavor, its regional appeal. This was the key for Pereda, and he continued to write in this style. The publication of SOTILEZA established his reputation as an important writer of the period.

Pereda is credited with the creation of the Spanish regional novel. To be sure, there are historical precedents, but he was the first to write novels that can thus be specifically labeled. Moreover, Pereda succeeded in integrating popular language with literary language. Again, there were many other writers who attempted this unification and had some successes, but Pereda was the first novelist to do so consistently and with widespread appeal.

Pereda is a master of dialogue. In SOTILEZA the characters speak with the rhythms and color of everyday speech. In capturing, for example, the local verbal flavor of the Santander fishermen, Pereda transposes to the written page the dynamics and movements of the spoken word.

Most of the characters in SOTILEZA spring from the author’s memories and remembrances of people he knew as a child in Santander. Thus he presents a gallery of authentic local types whose lives, ideas, and goals are described with keen insight.

Sotileza, the protagonist of the novel, is a product of Pereda’s imagination, and perhaps for this reason she is the most enigmatic and mysterious character of the book. Pereda seems much more at ease when describing real people. His gift for depicting objective reality is manifest in his poignant and lyrical descriptions of the surrounding countryside.

Pereda’s stated purpose in writing the novel was to pay homage to the brave, unknown heroes of his city, the fishermen. The book is his eulogy to the anonymous men who fascinated him as a child, and a tribute to their city. The plot of the novel is no more than an excuse to do this and is somewhat lacking in interest perhaps for this reason. As a realistic portrayal of a region and the life of its inhabitants, however, SOTILEZA has achieved a permanent place in world literature.

Principal Characters:

• Silda (Sotileza)an orphan girl
• Mechelinher foster father and a disabled fisherman
• Mocejónher guardian
• CletoMocejón's son
• Carpiahis daughter
• Muergo (Clam)an orphan and Mechelin’s ward
• Bitadura| Captain Pedrothe captain of the S.S. Montanesa
• Andréshis son
• Venancio Liencresa merchant
• Luisahis daughter
• Tolinhis son
• Padre Apolinara priest

Bibliography

Alfante, Azariah. Making Modern Spain: Religion, Secularization, and Cultural Production. Bucknell UP, 2024.

Clarke, A.H. "Pereda, José María de, "Sotileza", ed. Enrique Miralles (Book Review)." Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, vol. 56, no. 2, doi.org/10.3828/bhs.56.2.156a. Accessed 20 Oct. 2024.

"José María de Pereda." Real Academia Española, www.rae.es/academico/jose-maria-de-pereda. Accessed 20 Oct. 2024.

"Sotileza." Good Reads, www.goodreads.com/book/show/10159357-sotileza. Accessed 20 Oct. 2024.

Wagg, Derek Reginald. Dialect in the Works of Jose Maria de Pereda. U of Birmingham, 1952.