Cristina Henríquez, author of “The Great Divide,” gave a fireside chat titled “The Panama Canal and Histories Beyond Our Borders” last Friday in the Cochran Chapel. Henríquez’s talk touched on many points during the student-led panel and was followed by a reading from her most recent book.
Henríquez spoke to Andover students about the power of novels, asserting the distinction of fiction writing from other forms of art. She highlighted how learning about different characters can help one to empathize with others.
“Fiction gives you entry into someone else’s consciousness and that is so important. The act of identifying with somebody else, moving into their consciousness, especially if it’s somebody who is not like you, can be really powerful. By the time you finish reading the book, you look up and you have practiced a skill that will serve you in the world,” said Henríquez.
Henríquez also mentioned “The Great Divide” specifically, which tells the story of those who lived and labored on the Panama Canal. She elaborated on why she chose the topic, and her connection to the Panama Canal.
“I grew up going to the Panama Canal and I didn’t know anything about the history, but as I got older I started thinking I wanted to write a novel about it. I started researching it, and I just discovered everything that was actually left out of the story, which was mostly Panamanians and the people who actually worked on it. I wanted to write a book that reflected on them and centered [on] them,” said Henríquez.
Max Langhorst ’25 was intrigued by Henríquez’s writing style. He commented on her use of a variety of characters and perspectives to tell the story of “The Great Divide,” and felt inspired by her writing technique.
“I don’t think I’ve ever read a historically oriented book that has that many perspectives. I feel like that’s a great way to try to appreciate the whole scope of what’s happening… It had lots of different perspectives… I was thinking about how I could use that in my own writing, and how that might be a really interesting way to write a historical novel when most textbooks you see are from one perspective, instead of from a lot of individual stuff,” said Langhorst.
Owen Huang ’27 brought up Henríquez’s characters, whom he believed closely represented human values and experiences. By creating such relatable characters, he noted how she was able to expand the story and tell it using her own creative voice.
“Something I thought was good about the way she presented it was that all these characters had relatable experiences. They may have had a tough time with something or they are holding a grudge against someone, not talking to them for six months. All of her characters have very human problems that you see a lot. She’s using that as a way to also tell her story of the Panama Canal,” said Huang.
Sean Niu ’25, who was recommended to attend the talk by his English teacher, remembered how Henríquez’s immersive writing techniques were able to pull him directly into the story, helping him to feel as though he were actually at the Panama Canal as it was being completed.
“[My English teacher] said it would be a great opportunity for us to further immerse ourselves into the history of Central America. One of my main takeaways was how immersive it was, how the author was able to transport everyone in the chapel to the Panama Canal and give us a history on what was going on as it was being built,” said Niu.
