Pablo Neruda gives us a good example of Vanguard Literature in his poem Walking
Around. We can see the influence of surrealism in the poem because it does not
rhyme at all, instead is an effort to express feelings and emotions in a free
style. We can also see the existentialism idea as Neruda is bold and tells us
everything that is in his mind. Neruda tells us what he thinks about society in
general. In this poem we can see that Neruda is tired of technology, he says
that he no longer desires to see elevators, or merchandise, or movie theaters.
He is tired of all the new inventions humans have made. He is tired of seeing
the same things over and over again wherever he goes. Same shoe shops, same
stores, etc. In my opinion, he thinks that we have lost our individuality and
that we all own the exact same artifacts and we all want to have whatever
everyone else has. I also think that he’s sorry that humans cannot appreciate
the beauty of nature, and are polluting it with factories, buildings, and alike.
Neruda grew up in the wilderness, and I think that he misses the wild landscapes
and the fresh air he used to breath when he was a boy. The line that confused me
was when he says that it would be “delicious to kill a nun.” I thought
that because of his experience of loosing a friend during war, he would be
against any kind of violence. But, I then I thought that since existentialism
consists of an active role of the will, and not the reason, Neruda was just
being spontaneous. He probably was just trying to get out all that he felt, even
if this meant going to the extremes. Neruda was probably disappointed of the new
inventions, and the destruction of nature and man itself. This poem clearly
shows that Neruda is tired of living in the world around him.
