Short Fiction · Chapter
The Admiral explained
In the republic of Anchuria, a new government under President Losada seeks to replenish its treasury after the previous administration's corruption.
What happens
In the republic of Anchuria, a new government under President Losada seeks to replenish its treasury after the previous administration's corruption. During a cabinet meeting enlivened by champagne, Minister of War Don Sabas Placido jokingly revives a dormant constitutional provision to create a navy. As a result, a commission is issued appointing Felipe Carrera, a simple-minded but skilled sailor known as 'El pobrecito loco,' as Flag Admiral. The collector of customs in Coralio delivers the commission and places the captured sloop Estrella del Noche (renamed El Nacional) under his command. Felipe assembles a crew of three Caribs, acquires a makeshift uniform and a flag made by the collector's wife, and assumes his post, though no salaries or orders follow.
Themes in this chapter
Humor and Irony
The entire creation of the Anchurian navy is a drunken jest by the Minister of War, yet it is carried out with full bureaucratic solemnity, highlighting the absurdity of political farce.
Ambition and Failure
Felipe Carrera, though given the grand title of Admiral, receives no salary, crew, or orders, illustrating the gap between official ambition and practical reality.
Deception and Appearance vs. Reality
The government pretends to have a navy and Felipe dons a makeshift uniform, but the navy is a hollow symbol with no real power or resources.
Characters to notice
- Felipe Carrera
Appointed Flag Admiral of Anchuria despite being mentally simple; a skilled sailor known as 'El pobrecito loco.'
- Don Sabas Placido
Minister of War who whimsically proposes the creation of a navy during a champagne-fueled cabinet meeting.
- President Losada
New president of Anchuria who approves the jest to establish a navy.
- The Collector
Collector of Customs in Coralio who delivers the commission to Felipe and oversees the transfer of the sloop.
- The Collector's Wife
Romantic woman who sews a naval flag for Felipe and presents it with a blessing.
Key passages
“Spilled milk draws few tears from an Anchurian administration. Many are its lacteal sources; and the clocks’ hands point forever to milking time.”
The Anchurian government does not lament lost revenue because it has many ways to obtain money, and it is always time to collect more.
Opens the chapter with a metaphor for the government's relentless pursuit of funds.
“Thus within the space of a few minutes and the dominion of a dozen “extra dry,” the country took its place among the naval powers of the world, and Felipe Carrera became entitled to a salute of nineteen guns whenever he might enter port.”
In just a few minutes, fueled by a dozen glasses of champagne, the nation suddenly became a naval power, and Felipe Carrera earned the right to a 19-gun salute upon entering any harbor.
Highlights the absurdity of the navy's creation as a drunken whim.
“Felipe Carrera was sent upon earth with but half his wits. Therefore, the people of Coralio called him “El pobrecito loco”—'the poor little crazed one'—saying that God had sent but half of him to earth, retaining the other half.”
Felipe Carrera was born with only half his mental faculties, so the townspeople called him 'the poor little crazed one,' believing God kept the other half in heaven.
Describes Felipe's mental limitations and the local perception of him.