-El Hoyo: A reflection of the inequality in our world-

"Hay tres clases de personas, los de arriba, los de abajo, los que caen." There are three kinds of people, those at the top, those at the bottom and those who fall.

Goreng (a name that means "fried" in both Indonesian and Malay languages) wakes up on Level 48 of the pit. The pit is a system where people are left in a cell; everyone gets a cell partner and, in the middle of the cell, there is a hole, one that carries a moving platform with a feast.

The whole purpose of the system is to eat. Goreng's partner, Trimagasi, says that the only thing they can eat is what the people from above leave behind. To them, the people from above are those on level 47. The platform goes down every single day, it just stops on every level for a few minutes.

"A veces es muy fácil, otras resulta muy difícil, según donde le toque a uno." Sometimes, it's easy. Other times, it's difficult. It depends on where you're assigned.

The system

The system is designed in a way that people from different levels can't communicate properly with each other; people from above don't speak to those below them, people from below don't speak to those above them because they won't listen.

To Trimagasi, this is obvious; he is so adjusted to the system that he is a part of the system itself.

People are changed from one level to another randomly. One day, you could be on Level 1, the best of them all. The other day, you could be on Level 200. No one is completely safe from the system.

People in the pit are allowed to carry one object they want. Goreng chose for his object, a book, Don Quijote de la Mancha, a book that is going to take relevance in his journey.

Empathy

This place is a metaphor for how society works. The food are the resources. The people above don´t care about what happens to those below them; people below them can die (in this case, of hunger) and they still wouldn´t care, because they are above.

"¿Es usted comunista?" Are you a communist?

We know that there is plenty of food for everyone in the pit, but people are not willing to share. People from above can piss in the food, eat all of it, and more; but, on the next month, they could be on a lower level; that is the law in our society.

Alonso Quijano

Trimagasi's object in the pit is the Samurai Plus, the object that brought him in there. The knife is a symbol of the violence that can be committed in a state of emergency; it is his only hope inside the pit.

At first, Goreng doesn't want to eat, a way to rebel against the system; but he decides to eat after a few days, he needs to eat to survive.

The place is claustrophobic, creating an atmosphere similar to one of an Inferno. Trimagasi says that Goreng should pray that they stay in an intermediate level, as he lacks the guts and stomach for an upper and a lower level.

Goreng assumes that Trimagasi has killed his last cell partner; Trimagasi's last level was 132, where there is no food left, and his object is a knife; is his cell partner disappeared, the conclusion is obvious.

Sancho Panza

A girl, Miharu, appears in the platform one day; she comes down every month looking for her son. Before she comes down, she kills her cell partner to have one more chance that she is assigned with her son. In the pit, everyone makes their own decisions, her decision is to go down.

Trimagasi says that he didn't kill his cell partner, he just completed his time in the pit. Eight days before, a body fell when the platform was on their level, they ate human flesh to survive.

The book, El Quijote de la Mancha, represents the idealism, madness and desire of change, that makes Goreng want to stop the system of the pit; he sees himself fighting for the injustice, even in a desperate situation and with the resistance of those who benefit from the system.

Is God with us?

Goreng starts adjusting to the system, he even makes a friendship with Trimagasi, until something happens.

"¿Cree usted en Dios?" Do you believe in God?

On their last night in that level of the pit, Trimagasi asks Goreng to pray for them to stay on a good level. Trimagasi believes in God, just for this month; his faith in God is fragile; if he is on a good level, he believes; if he is on a bad level, he doesn't believe. The faith is something that can crumble in times of desperation.

Goreng wakes up, tied to his bed; he woke up on Level 171. They are not on a good level; Trimagasi prefers to eat than to be eaten; he says that, maybe, Goreng doesn't see him as a threat right now but, with time, he would. Goreng sees Trimagasi as a murderer, but he objects aying that he is just afraid, someone who doesn't enjoy killing but is in need to do so; he makes an argument about his guilt, Goreng can blame 340 people above them before blaming him. What will happen if they appear on two bad levels consecutively? There needs to be a way to keep them alive.

In need of survival

Time has come and Trimagasi need to cut Goreng's skin; but Goreng doesn't care about his argument, he blames him, not the system, not even the circumstances; both of them are so hungry that they can't think straight. But Goreng is saved by Miharu, who kills Trimagasi as a form to return the favor to Goreng, returning the empathy he gave her when she was in need, and they both end up eating Trimagasi's body.

There is a clear visual contrast between the people making the food so neatly, and the people below, suffering.

Goreng starts to hallucinate Trimagasi, getting guilt after his killing, asking himself if he is the true villain; maybe Trimagasi had no other option, and Goreng gave him no mercy.

Imoguiri and Ramses the second

The next day, he wakes up next to a girl, Imoguiri, and her dog, Ramses the second. He recognizes the girl, she is the one that interviewed him to volunteer in the pit; she also volunteered.

She tells him that there are 200 levels in there. If anyone ate their ration the right way, everyone could have food; but it is not that easy, nor there, nor outside. She believes that something bigger needs to happen, something that brings spontaneous solidarity.

Every day, she puts rations of food for the people below so that they eat no more than what they're supposed to. Not only is she solidare with people, but with her dog, she gives part of her ration to her dog, but Goreng can't understand it, not after all he's been through.

Goreng used to think the same way as he does, with rationality, but the pit is a place that can corrupt people from inside out, it is almost impossible for others to listen.

You can't spit upwards

The people from Level 34 (the ones below them) don't listen to what Imoguiri says about rationing the food. After 15 days of trying and not getting any changes in their attitude, Goreng tells the people on Level 34 that, if they don't do as she says, he is going to take a shit on their food every day until they do it, and it works. People tend to listen when violence puts pressure in them to do so; people don't listen to pacific ways most of the time, they start to listen when violence arises.

"No, los de arriba no me escucharán. Porque no puedo cagar hacia arriba, señora" No, they people above won't listen to me. I can't shit upwards, lady.

They find Miharu on the platform, hurt, and they help her. At night, Goreng hears both of the girls fighting, that is because Miharu has killed the dog. Imoguiri selected Miharu ten months ago, she says she got there alone, no parents and no children; she is an actress, and his object was an ukulele because she wanted to look like Marilyn Monroe. Imoguiri regrets sending all those people to the pit before, she didn't know what was going on inside. She has last stage cancer and, the day she found out, she filled the papers to get in, to help others, but she doesn't care anymore.

Solidarity or shit

While eating, Goreng finds the snails he said were his favorite food, untouched, a symbol of the lack of empathy for the situation of others. Imoguiri decides not to eat on their last day, the day that belonged to the ration of her dog. On the next day, they wake up on Level 202.

Imoguiri kills herself and finds that there are many more levels than just 200. She hung herself, we suppose, as her last act of solidarity for Goreng, for him to eat her body.

"Recuerda, solidaridad o mierda." Remember, solidarity or shit.

Now, Goreng has two spirits tormenting him, Trimagasi and Imoguiri. Imoguiri tells him that he is the Messiah, the Messiah of shit, but the Messiah, the one who's there to save them all.

Life for eternity

"En verdad os digo. Si no coméis la carne del hijo del hombre y no bebéis su sangre, no tenéis vida en vosotros." Unless you eat the flesh of the son of Man and drink his blood, you can't have eternal life within you.

We are always reminded os spirituality. Jesus, the one who said that those who ate his flesh and drank his blood, had life for eternity. The ones who eat his flesh and drink his blood, stay with him, and him with them; like Goreng will have Trimagasi and Imoguiri by his side for eternity.

A prophecy

The next month, he wakes up on Level 6 and his cell partner, Baharat, is trying to escape. Baharat tries to argue with the people on the fifth level so they can all escape; a guy asks him if he believes in God, he responds that he does believe, the other guy asks which God he believes in, and he says that he believes in the one and only God. Baharat tells the guy that God has spoken to him, and he wants to get him out of there and that, the people that help him, will be rewarded with eternal life. They accept to help him but, instead, they take a shit on his face.

There is only one month left for Goreng to get out of there, but he wants to go down. He will go down with Baharat (a name that recalls an Arabic type of spice blend) and a weapon, to give the people the ration they deserve. If they succeed, they will break the mechanics of the pit, but it is a very big challenge, as there are about 250 levels.

"Bajar para subir" Going down to go up.

The Messiah

They are not giving food to the first 50 levels, the people from those levels eat every day, they won't be in a desperate need of food. The people from Level 7 don't understand it, even if they should; they have been on lower levels, but they still lack the empathy.

"Y, ¿tú qué eres? ¿Un Mesías? ¿Un Mesías que viene a redimirnos? Los Mesías multiplican los panes y los peces, no te los quitan de la boca." Who are you? The Messiah? The Messiah multiplied fish for people, he didn't snatch it from their mouths.

They continue their journey without giving any food, until they reach a level where there is an old man who knows Baharat; he tells Baharat that their goal is valid, but that they need to convince them instead of threatening them. First comes dialogue and, if they don't listen, there comes violence. He tells them that they need to convince people from Level 0 to fix the system; to achieve this, they require a symbol, an irresistible dish that remains intact and is sent back all the way to Level 0, the Panna Cotta.

Then, they give rations when they reach Level 51. But there are more levels than they initially expected and, in most of the levels, there is dead people. In one level, they find Miharu; she is being attacked by two guys. Goreng and Baharat try to help her; they are saved but Miharu is now dead.

The journey of a snail

Their last place is on Level 333 (a number that represents divine communication), there is no one there so it has to be the last level, and the Panna Cotta is still intact; they are going up.

Before going up, Goreng seed a kid hiding; apparently, Miharu's daughter. The platform goes down without them, but the girl is there, a girl that is safe between all of the chaos. The girl is hungry, so they give her the Panna Cotto, and the girl become the message. She is the message. The girl, even though she is violent, represents the innocence in a world that is rotten inside and out, the salvation of the pit.

Goreng leaves the girl by her own on the platform; he dies but the girl goes up. The message doesn't need him as a bearer; his journey is now over. She is the message.