Sub Terra: A Look into the Depths of Coal Mining Society
The Human Element of Coal Mining
Baldomero Lillo’s Sub Terra portrays the lives of coal miners in the early 20th century, without idealization. The characters, representing a diverse age spectrum and both sexes, reveal distinct individual traits within the collective experience of mining. Lillo’s narrative structure, fragmented into seven sections, articulates a global vision of the industry’s challenges.
Setting and Social Commentary
The story’s setting in a remote coal region highlights Lillo’s focus on a subject rejected by mainstream modernism. He contrasts sharply with the prevailing literary trends of his time, which often overlooked the harsh realities of working-class life. His focus on the mining community in Lota seems a deliberate rejection of the aesthetic blindness of his contemporaries to the urban landscape and its social dynamics.
Exploring the Depths of Despair
Seven of the eight stories in the first edition of Sub Terra center on the collective character of the miners toiling in the tunnels. These stories, including “Invalids,” “The Gate No. 12,” “The Coal Mine,” “The Payment,” “The Devil’s Chiflón,” and “Juan Fariña,” form a cohesive unit. The volume opens with the human destruction caused by the mine and concludes with the mine’s destruction by a human.
“Invalids” compares the fate of old, useless miners to that of horses removed from the galleries to die. “The Gate No. 12” depicts the exploitation of child labor, highlighting the miners’ embryonic class consciousness. “Firedamp” and “The Devil’s Chiflón” immerse the reader in the horrors of underground disasters, exacerbated by the despotism of management. “The Payment” dramatizes the ruthless economic exploitation of the workers. “The Pit” explores the violence and lack of solidarity that can corrode human relationships in this microcosm of humiliation. “Juan Fariña” completes the book’s intended sequence.
The Meaning of Sub Terra
“The Game,” the final story, shifts the focus from the mine to a peasant setting, exploring similar themes of domination and terror. An old hunter shoots a dog that steals his game, only to discover it belongs to the estate owner. This incident reveals the internalized fear and subservience that permeates both rural and industrial life.
The title Sub Terra, possibly suggested by Lillo’s brother, goes beyond the literal setting underground. It points to the social forces that marginalize workers, creating “dead souls” akin to those described by Gogol in Tsarist Russia. A passage from “Invalids” emphasizes this point: “To those dead souls every new idea was a blasphemy against the creed of servitude bequeathed to them by their grandparents…”
Literary Technique and Social Realism
Lillo skillfully integrates elements of the social environment into his narratives without sacrificing aesthetic effect. In “The Gate No. 12,” he draws the reader into the mine’s galleries, emphasizing the contrast between light and shadow as the characters descend into the darkness. The foreman’s dialogue with the father and son preparing for the child’s work evokes the biblical sacrifice of Isaac. The child’s cries for his mother underscore the tragic fate of generations of miners.