“The Censors” by Luisa ValenzuelaThe story “The Censors” by Luisa Valenzuela is set in Argentina during the dictatorship of Jorge Videla who reigned from 1976 to 1983. Juan, the protagonist of text, he begins the story by writing a letter to his old friend Mariana, in her new residence in Paris. He had received Mariana's new address from a confidential source and was too emotional to think about his actions before writing and sending the letter. Later, Juan's “mind [was] off work during the day and [he couldn't] sleep at night,” thinking about the letter (Valenzuela 966). He believes the contents are innocent and blameless, but the Argentine government censors “examine, smell, feel, and read between the lines of each letter” (Valenzuela 966) to detect signs of revolt among the people. Then think about the censorship offices and the very few letters that are actually sent. He reflects on the months or years a single letter might take to be delivered and in all that time “the freedom, perhaps even the life, of both sender and recipient [are] in danger” (Valenzuela 966). Juan is worried about Mariana's well-being. He knows that “the Censor's Secret Command operates all over the world [and] there is nothing to stop them from going [to the dark neighborhood of Paris [and] kidnapping Mariana” (Valenzuela 966). He soon decides that his course of action is to join the post office's censorship division and recover his letter to save Mariana. Juan was hired right away because there was a high demand for censors and no one “bothered to check his references” (Valenzuela 966). He was happy to work; everything he could do to recover his letter had been done. Even when he was sent to Section K where the envelopes were... middle of paper... to destroy Juan. Because he did not find the letter important, he acted carelessly and discarded it, becoming “another victim of his dedication to work” (Valenzuela 968). While many people wouldn't go so far as to commit suicide through government, Valenzuela stresses that secrets are dangerous. At the same time, Valenzuela shows that the average person can always be corrupt and trapped in their own government if said government is corrupt. The most innocent person will always be tainted and destroyed by an unjust government. Through the letter and Juan's actions, Valenzuela depicts the satirical theme of how anyone can be corrupted by a perverted government. Works Cited Valenzuela, Luisa. “The censors”. Elements of literature: world literature. Trans.David Unger. Austin, Texas: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston, 2006. Print.