The Blind Sunflowers: A Story of Loss and War in Spain
The Blind Sunflowers: Tales of Loss in Wartime Spain
First Loss: 1939 – A Heart That Refused to Stop
Carlos Alegría, a law graduate of Madrid and Salamanca, joined the rebel army at the outset of the Spanish Civil War. Lacking a warrior’s spirit, he opted for administrative work, eventually rising to the rank of Captain. Despite his side’s victory, Carlos felt no joy, refusing to see it as a true triumph. He surrendered to the incredulous Republicans, who, believing him mad, promptly arrested him.
When Franco’s forces arrived at Carlos’s post, they deemed him a traitor and sentenced him to death. Through letters written to his girlfriend, Agnes, we learn that Carlos penned a message to General Franco, not to apologize, but to declare that the war’s outcome was meaningless, as the bloodshed would never be forgotten.
Following his execution, Carlos was thrown into a grave. Hours later, he awoke, miraculously unharmed as the bullet had missed vital organs. He crawled out, receiving aid from compassionate bystanders. He began a journey back to his birthplace, Huérmeces, his desired place of death. Upon reaching Somosierra, he encountered two officers guarding the town. There, Captain Alegría met his true end, his second death.
Throughout the narrative, Carlos is consumed by sadness, his surrender a recurring theme. He laments the war’s pitting of neighbors, friends, and families against each other, recognizing the futility of a prolonged conflict where no one will remember the fallen. Carlos believes the deaths are in vain, forgotten by all but a few military personnel. He describes himself as “a conquered man amongst the vanquished.”
Second Loss: 1940 – A Forgotten Manuscript
We know of these events through a notebook kept by the protagonist, Eulalio Ceballos Suárez. Upon his death, he left it hidden under a rock, hoping someone would one day discover and read it. Based on dates and accounts from the villagers of Caviedes, Santander, Eulalio was eighteen during this period of sorrow and suffering.
Eulalio, a sixteen-year-old poet, left his village to join the Republican forces in Madrid. Due to his beliefs, he was forced to flee the city and seek refuge in the mountains, accompanied by his eight-months-pregnant girlfriend, Helena, despite her and her family’s reluctance.
Helena died in childbirth, and Eulalio neglected her for days, consumed by grief and denial. He eventually buried her and began to develop a complex attachment to their newborn child. Unsure whether the baby was a source of guilt, reminding him of Helena’s death, or a symbol of her enduring presence, he chose to care for the infant.
Eulalio tended to abandoned cows to obtain milk for the child. He also hunted wolves, preserving their meat in the harsh winter snows atop the mountain. However, caring for both the cow and the baby became increasingly difficult. When the cow died, he resorted to feeding the child with his saliva and the animal’s blood, but it was insufficient.
Driven to desperation, Eulalio killed the baby, whom he had named Rafael after his father. For days, he wrote the child’s name repeatedly in his notebook, haunted by the knowledge that things might have been easier had they stayed in the village.
Third Loss: 1941 – The Language of the Dead
John Senra is imprisoned and subjected to daily interrogations by Colonel Eymar, who questions him about his relationship with his son, Miguel. John knew Miguel to be a thief, murderer, and cheat, yet he describes him as a hero, a compassionate person who helped the needy. After several sessions, Miguel’s mother, Violet, also joins the interrogations. John holds onto a sliver of hope, clinging to the fact that his name isn’t on the daily list of those condemned to death.
In his spare time, John writes to his brother as a way of saying goodbye. He barters his possessions for paper and pencil, and even trades with fellow prisoners for socks and warm clothing by catching pigeons.
During his imprisonment, John encounters various individuals, including Carlos Alegría, who commits suicide during an attempted prison uprising. He also meets Eugenio Paz, a sixteen-year-old incarcerated for declaring his Republican sympathies to spite his exploitative uncle. John helps Eugenio by removing lice from his wounds. Eventually, Eugenio is sentenced to death, pushing John to the brink of despair.
In a final interrogation, John reveals the truth about Miguel Eymar to his parents. His words carry weight, as no one believes a man about to die would lie. The next day, John’s name appears first on the list of those condemned. His only solace is the hope that his brother will receive his letter.
Fourth Loss: 1942 – The Blind Sunflowers
Salvador, a priest, writes a letter confessing his sins and seeking forgiveness from his Father. He ultimately decides to abandon the priesthood and embrace a life outside the convent.
Salvador’s brother works as a teacher in a Madrid school. He treats all students equally, except for one. Lorenzo appears different, peculiar. While his classmates sing the patriotic hymn “Cara al Sol,” Lorenzo merely moves his lips, refusing to participate despite punishments.
Lorenzo’s childhood is shrouded in secrecy. His father lives a hidden existence within their home, concealing himself in a closet whenever visitors arrive. He was recruited to fight in the war, and the evenings spent with friends are strained as Lorenzo cannot speak about his father or his activities. His brother, Salvador, remains unaware of this. When questioned about his father, Lorenzo simply states that he is dead.
Salvador develops an attraction to Lorenzo’s mother, Helena, during their conversations when she accompanies him to school. They discuss her daughter, who left at sixteen with a clandestine poet and has not been heard from since. Salvador becomes fixated on the family, wanting to protect Helena. When she starts missing school drop-offs, he begins following Lorenzo home.
Lorenzo’s parents decide to flee, selling their belongings to finance a journey to Almería and then to Morocco. They send a letter to the school explaining Lorenzo’s two-week absence for an operation. Lorenzo tells Salvador that his mother also suffers from angina and might die.
The climax occurs when Salvador arrives at Lorenzo’s home while the family is preparing to leave. As usual, Lorenzo’s father hides in the closet upon hearing a knock. Salvador enters the house uninvited, confronts Lorenzo about his health, then grabs Helena and begins to assault her. Lorenzo’s father emerges from the closet and attacks Salvador, who screams for the police.
Before the horrified eyes of Helena and Lorenzo, their father jumps out the window to his death.
Now an old man, Lorenzo remembers his mother as a frail, kind woman, but his father’s image remains that of a tall, thin, and strong figure. The trauma of the war has distorted his memories, blurring the past. He reflects on how everything lost along the way remains frozen in the moment of its death, forever shaping our recollection of the past.