As we approached the year 2000, I remember that one of the ideas that was handled was the end of the world. The idea that a catastrophe would come that would wipe out human life was one of the most publicized ideas of all time. We got used to talking about crises of global dimensions and therefore the references to the apocalypse were more and more frequent and thunderous. The year 2000 arrived and the forecasts fell. Or not?

This constant reference to the apocalypse and the fascination that it can awaken in a large part of the population has given rise to relevant and impressive works of art. As a disturbing subject for man, it is not uncommon for it to have served as an inspiration for literature. Many writers such as Stephen King, Arthur C. Clarke, Margaret Atwood, Richard Matheson, Manuel Loureiro, José Saramago, Mario Vargas Llosa, Carlos Fuente and even Gabriel García Márquez have fallen into the temptation to imagine what the destruction of the world and its possible consequences would be like.

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With regard to the crisis in Venezuela, it has been proven that more and more people are looking for elements or clues in literature that not only help to understand the crisis in which we live, but also help us to get out of it. On this subject, writer Roberto Echeto indicated that although there is a certain type of literature that reflects our situation, there is another that can be pessimistic and that rather than giving us a sweetened vision of history, they present us with the worst of scenarios.

I must admit that most of the texts I have read in recent years have an apocalyptic tone, which perhaps has to do with the time we are living, but also has to do with the spirit present in human beings since biblical times. It must also be said that our sense of the concept of apocalypse comes to us through religion, but the idea we are dealing with today has nothing to do with the destructive capacity of a God, but with man's unlimited capacity to self-destruct.

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Our sense of the apocalypse is more historical. The word is used in reference to the most modern and recent events, such as war, nuclear, ecological and demographic activities. Most apocalyptic stories offer us a story in which there is a final vision of the world: the reason why it is destroyed and the consequences of that destruction. That end is usually caused by men, who in their thirst for power, for greed or simply for their ineptitude, have managed to destroy everything around them.

One of the novels I have been able to read and analyze is Nocturama, written by Ana Teresa Torres, Venezuelan psychoanalyst and writer, winner of countless international awards. This novel tells two stories. One of them is that of a nameless city that is being lost in chaos and anarchy, which causes not only the confrontation of its inhabitants but the total destruction of the city. Although we are never told the name of the city, we can intuit, from references to some places, streets and historical facts, that history is set in Venezuela.

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The story of Nocturama begins with the description of Ulises Zero, a character who has lost his memory and must wander in search of his true identity. The fact that he has lost his memory not only leaves him disoriented, it also makes him more susceptible to manipulation, which makes him a character with little initiative, erratic in his actions and even naive. With this we find the first coincidence of the history of the novel with the history of Venezuelans. Many Venezuelan intellectuals and politicians have pointed out the lack of memory, the disoriented way of assuming the past, as the great culprit of the tragedy that Venezuelans live in this century. The Venezuelan is a being who forgets soon, who does not know his past and all people who do not know his past are condemned to repeat it.

Another of the similarities that we find between Nocturama and Venezuela are the events that are taking place in the city, turning it into a besieged and unlivable place. One of these events is the appearance of innumerable armed groups that have control of the city. These groups with names such as Avengers of the Homeland, Saviors of the Homeland, Guardians of the Homeland, among others, burst into churches, hospitals, buildings, causing chaos and death, and with the slogan to win or die. It is no secret that since Chavism came to power, thousands of armed collectives have been created that are used to intimidate the people, defend the government and even kill if necessary in the name of revolution.

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The atmosphere in the city of Nocturama is also a reflection of recent events in Venezuela. The different invasions of houses and buildings, marked by gangs that are in power, for example, is a direct allusion to our recent history. The same happens with the multitudinous marches and concentrations that have ended in confrontation and death. Also the occupation of squares as territory of liberation and insurgency, but that has ended in historic massacres. The degree of moral and social decomposition of children and young people, who beg and prostitute themselves in the streets for a little food, is also a sample of our current sad situation.

The different events in this novel by Ana Teresa Torres lead to a terrible outcome: people irreversibly take to the streets, hoping to put an end to those of the government and all those who hold power. The final moment shows us the whole city in flames, ravaged by anarchy and total decomposition. Bloody bodies, snipers doing their job, bombs, destroyed buildings, is the end of that nameless city.

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Obviously, when we read how this story ends, we can't help but think about how ours might end. All the extreme and catastrophic situations described in Noturama are part of our contemporary history, so an ending like that of the novel is not so far from our reality. Faced with this apocalyptic and definitive scene, we can only wonder how premonitory some novels are, how close the endings, the tragedies, the new beginnings are. Because if the biblical apocalypse speaks of anything, it is that after the earth has been razed to the ground, there is renewal, the authentic principle.

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BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCE

Ana Teresa Torres (2006). Nocturama. Editorial Alfa: Venezuela.
Lois Parkinson Zamora (1994). Narrar el apocalipsis. Fondo de cultura económica: Mexico.

Written by: @nancybriti

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