A tough look at Panama Canal workers

The first attempt to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama was a wreck. A French company spent eight years and $287 million trying to construct the waterway only to abandon the project in 1889. The terrain proved to be an insurmountable obstacle, though it wasn't the only one. Debilitating humidity, occupational hazards, and diseases such as malaria and yellow fever killed 20,000 workers.

A decade and a half later, Panama achieved its independence from Colombia, and the United States wasted no time striking a deal with the new nation to erect a canal. By the early 1900s, workers, mainly Afro-caribbean and Panamanian men who saw their labour as an outpost to a more lucrative future, began piercing the verdant slough and sedimentary mountain to turn the idea of the canal into a reality.

Panamanian American author Cristina Henríquez's new novel, The Great Divide, is a poignant exploration of the Panama Canal's construction that aims to illuminate the paradoxes of the time — the violence, squalor and adventure that everyday people experienced as they endured the heat and clung to their dreams.

Her book bears witness to the intimate lives of Central American and Caribbean labourers.

The narrative of The Great Divide is enriched by a diverse cast of characters, each with their own unique circumstances. Ada Bunting, a 16-year-old biracial girl from Barbados, embarks on a journey to Panama to earn enough money to save her sister from pneumonia. Omar Aquino, a 17-year-old Panamanian boy, defies his father and works alongside Afro-caribbean men on the canal. These two of many protagonists embody the growing opportunities rendered by working along the canal.

Ada, bold and adventurous, represents those who strive for more. Reserved and curious, Omar symbolizes uncertainty and hope for the future. Like many others, their stories are a testament to the human spirit and the pursuit of freedom.

It's not uncommon for historical novels to delve into the societal impact of epidemics, and The Great Divide explores how malaria, yellow fever, pneumonia and even depression affected the population.

What sets this period apart is the bureaucratic determination to combat diseases. In the novel, that drive is embodied by John Oswald, a doctor who is stationed in Panama with his wife, Marian, and understands that curing diseases is more than a charitable act; it brings the potential for fame and recognition. “Anyone responsible for eradication,” he remarks, “well, those are the men that will go down in history.”

The title of the novel rebukes both the literal fissures the canal created and the class divisions that existed between labourers and U.S. officials. By the time the United States completed the canal in 1914, more than 5,000 workers had died from accidents and disease.

Their names may be lost to history, but their spirits live on in The Great Divide.