La Conchita Essay

La Conchita is a short story that describes the change of heart of a man faced with an emergency. Throughout the story, the main character Gordon goes through an enormous personality change, and can only be classified as a dynamic character. At first, he is only concerned with his occupation as a hospital driver, his task at hand, and his reputation. Throughout the course of the emergency, Gordon’s opinion about what is expected of him and what is right changes. He transforms in this emergency instance from a selfish jerk to a selfless human being. Overall, Gordon has had a past of selfishness, but in a moment of crisis, his true self is revealed.

In the beginning of the story, the narrator is not introduced to us, but we are given a description of who he is. Initially, he is perceived as someone who is never willing to help someone if it does not benefit him in some way. He hates being inconvenienced so much, in fact, that he even “just fired two slugs-blip blip” at person who cut him off on the freeway (Boyle 95). To reiterate what kind of person he is, we also learn that the narrator is quite angry and spiteful toward others, even loathing most of the other drivers on the road just by their type of car; “Honda drivers, especially, and I’m sorry- they don’t even know they’re behind the wheel and conscious half the time (Boyle 95).” It is clear from the start of the story that our narrator is not considerate of others. It seems as if he has no regard for others’ feelings.

As the story progresses, we discover that the narrator is carrying an important package when disaster strikes on the road. He is carrying a liver when a mudslide paralyzes everyone’s cars on the road and chaos ensues. As a dog lay injured on the side of the road as a result of the mudslide, he notices and does nothing about it because he is more concerned with delivering his package; “The liver wasn’t getting any fresher” he says as he ignores those all around him that may need immediate attention (Boyle 96). He makes excuses for his behavior, mentioning that he is not a hero and has never been one and noting he does not know CPR. Even while he ponders the liver he is transporting and the critical state of the woman receiving it, he speaks more about his reputation or his job. He seems unconcerned that this woman will die without the liver but instead extremely concerned that he may not deliver it on time and his reputation will be ruined.

Throughout the beginning of the story, the author does not reveal the name of the narrator. It is clear that the narrator seems to be acting inhumanly, but the fact that his name remains unrevealed dehumanizes him even further. Likewise, the narrator speaks frequently of other ‘zombies’ behind the wheel, or people who are not even alive. Blatant irony can be seen here because the narrator is truthfully the one who is not acting like a human: a zombie only concerned with his job.

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