The story of Ernesto Guevara, a child born into a wealthy Argentinian family who became a doctor, sounds like a success story. Ernesto Guevara probably isn't a name many people recognize. Add the word “Che” to the name – Ernesto “Che” Guevara – and many people will recognize the name of a famous revolutionary from the 1960s. Even today, forty-four years after his death, his name and image remain popular. For some, Che Guevara is idolized as a man of the people, a freedom fighter for the oppressed, who gave his life in the struggle to liberate the people of the world and allow them to live in a "better" society; to others, he was a ruthless killer willing to die to be a martyr for his cause. This article will examine the life of Che Guevara and what made him a cult figure in death that he could not be in life.Ernesto Guevara – the beginningErnesto Guevara was born in 1928, the eldest of five children of 'a wealthy, middle-class Argentinian family. . Ernesto's mother homeschooled him until age nine, when he entered public schools. The political climate in Argentina at the time was quite unstable, but “Guevara is not remembered as having had any overt political leanings as a high school student” (Petersen, 2005, Early Childhood section, para. 2). After graduating from high school, Ernesto took a job in a laboratory performing soil sample studies in the town of Villa Maria; his family moved to Buenos Aires the following year. Shortly after his move, his grandmother died and he decided to become a doctor (Petersen, 2005, Early Childhood section, para. 3). He began his medical studies at the University of Buenos Aires. Until now he could be categorized as a fairly typical middle-class young man, but change was not far away....... middle of paper ...... http://news. nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/10/1014_041014_motorcycle_diaries.htmlPetersen, J.B. (2005). Che Guevara. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.vlib.excelsior.edu /ehost/detail?vid=3&hid=123&sid=9bec1cca-5c95-4e60-a095-110d5c5d6a68%40sessionmgr 111&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1za l#db=ulh&AN=17863577Rosenberg, J.. (nd). Fidel Castro: A Biography of Fidel Castro. On About.com online. Retrieved from http://history1900s.about.com/od/people/p/castro.htmSkoller, J. (2005). Shadows, specters, shards: writing the history of avant-garde cinema. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/excelsior/docDetail.action?docID=10194389&p00=che's%20 afterlife%3A%20the%20legacy%20image.The Motorcycle Diaries (book). (nd) In Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. Retrieved December 15, 2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Motorcycle_Diaries_(book)