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Elements of Magical Realism :smiley: (Ambiguity of Time :smiley: time…

- - - - In "The Secret Miracle," at the beginning of the story, the main character awakens from a dream. A few days immediately pass by after this opening scene, and soon after he spends more time in a prison scheduled for execution. After, he is shot and killed, but it takes him a year to actually die. Basically, the time it takes for his body to fully shut down after being shot is a year, or so it feels like a year. However, the reader never knows when this year ends, and how long it actually lasts. In the story, days and years pass so quickly, and while the time is chronological, there is not explanation for why the time suddenly shifts; the story moves in a fast pace and, aside from this miracle of his death taking one year, there is no exact reason why some actions seem to take more time than others.
        
        “He thought: Time has come to a halt. Then he reflected that in that case, his thought, too, would have come to a halt. He was anxious to test this possibility: he repeated (without moving his lips) the mysterious Fourth Eclogue of Virgil. After an indeterminate length of time he fell asleep. On awaking he found the world still motionless and numb. The drop of water still clung to his cheek; the shadow of the bee still did not shift in the courtyard; the smoke from the cigarette he had thrown down did not blow away. Another "day" passed before Hladik understood. He had asked God for an entire year in which to finish his work: His omnipotence had granted him the time. For his sake, God projected a secret miracle: German lead would kill him, at the determined hour, but in his mind a year would elapse between the command to fire and its execution” (Borges 5).
    - - Time in "The Little Heidelberg" seems to happen extremely suddenly. If the reader chooses to interpret the story with the idea that El Capitan is reminiscing memories with Niña Eloísa, then the time seems to shift extremely suddenly. The story moves from El Capitan falling in love with Niña Eloísa to then marrying her. When reading the story, it's difficult to tell if the entire plot happens within one night at the Little Heidelberg, or if it happens over time and El Capitan is simply reliving memories.
        
        “’Niña Eloísa, asks El Capitán will you marry him.’ The fragile old lady sat there, her eyes round with surprise and her mouth hidden behind her batiste handkerchief, while all waited, holding their breath, until she was able to find her voice. ‘Don’t you think this is a little sudden?’ she whispered. Her words were repeated by the tavernkeeper and then the tourist, and the answer traveled the same route in reverse. ‘El Capitán says he has waited forty years to ask you, and that he could not wait until again comes someone who speaks his language. He says please to do him the favor of answering now.’ ‘All right,’ niña Eloísa whispered... El Capitán took the hand of the gentle lady he had wordlessly loved for so many years and walked with her to the center of the room, where they began to dance…” (Allende 143-144).
    - - In "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings", the time aspect of the setting is very vague and what the reader would think was days later was in fact half of a year later. Marquez continues to use time throughout the story in order to highlight the changes that occurs to the angel and the people around him, therefore, using time in the characterization of the characters in the story.
        
        "And yet he not only survived his worst winter, but seemed improved with the first sunny days," (Marquez).
        
        "When the child began school it had been some time since the sun and rain had caused the collapse of the chicken coop," (Marquez).
  - - - There are a series of events in this story that occur, but none of them seem like they would occur within the same day. If one is to read this story thinking that it all occurred within one night, it wouldn’t make much sense. This idea would support the implication that El Capitan fell in love with niña Eloísa, immediately married her, danced with her, and then she disappeared. It’s a possibility, but it seems like the idea that all the events described are memories make the story fall into the category of magical realism. It brings El Capitan’s dreams to life, but the tenor is aware that he is dancing with memories, which I believe is the magical element in this story. The story alternates between the present and the past, giving it that feel that there are random shifts in time, making it seem dream-like.
        
        "Dancing, dancing, El Capitán felt as if time were flowing backward, as if they were growing younger, as if with every step they were happier and lighter on their feet," (Allende 144).
  - - - The dream-like ambiguity of time is evident in "The Little Heidelberg" as the years seem to flow by throughout the story, however what really reinforces the dream-like quality is when niña Eloísa appears to vanish into the air, although based on the comments of the background characters, it is evident that she had passed away a while ago, therefore the previous descriptions of Eloísa and El Capitán dancing did not occur in the sequence that Allende had previously led the reader to believe.
        
        "El Capitán danced on as niña Eloísa turned to lace, to froth, to mist, until she was but a shadow, then, finally, nothing but air, and he found himself whirling, whirling, with empty arms, his only companion a faint aroma of chocolate," (Allende 144).
  - - - Through the use of starting "The Road North" in media res, Allende is able to create a curtain of mysticism to the story that can only be pulled back by continuing to read the story. In this story, Allende opens it up by describing in detail the setting of the walk that Claveles and Jesús undertook in order to find out whether Juan was still alive. In addition to the mysticism created, this introduction also introduced the unrealistic length traveled and the strength that the love of Juan imparted onto Claveles and Jesús.
        
        "It took Claveles Picero and her grandfather Jesús Dionisio Picero thirty-eight days to walk the seventy kilometers between their village and the capital," (Allende 156).
    - - "And of Clay We Are Created" begins in a very fast-paced, ambiguous setting; the first line describing Azucena's head protruding out of the mud gives it an alarming, yet captivating quality. We are not completely aware of what is happening until the end, as pieces of story are doled out in an unchronological, non-linear fashion that creates a sense of mysticism in the story. Allende periodically rolls out more information that helps to explain the introduction to the story. Thus, the use of in media res allows Allende to control how the information is given to the reader, shaping their view of the story to one that would fall under magical realism.
        
        "They discovered the girl’s head protruding from the mudpit, eyes wide open, calling soundlessly," (Allende 258).
- - - - In "The Road North", poverty is evident throughout the story as Claveles decides to give up her son in order to provide him with a life that would include better opportunities than what he would have if he stayed with his family. It is due to the poverty that they live in that Claveles gives up her son.
        
        "Señora Dermoth’s charitable mission: locating the most neglected and afflicted children and then placing them for adoption by wealthy families, to rescue them from a life of misery," (Allende 165).
        
        "'It doesn’t matter, Grandfather; he can earn a living carving saints, like you.' 'Carving won’t put food on the table'," (Allende 164).
        
        "They would do everything they could to arrange for one of those couples to take Juan and give him all the opportunities his mother could not provide for him," (Allende 166).
    - - In "The Gold of Tomás Vargas," Tomás Vargas' wife, Antonia Sierra, is struggling with poverty. She has to break her back in order to provide for her children. She is impoverished and does the best that she can to put food on the table for her children.
        
        "For Antonia, there were not enough hours in the day, because besides caring for her children and looking after the garden and the hens, she earned a few pesos by cooking lunch for the police, taking in washing, and cleaning the school," (Allende 51).
  - - - Greed is a central theme present in "The Gold of Tomás Vargas", most notably demonstrated by the characterization of the titular character of Tomás Vargas. Tomás hoards gold and items of monetary value, keeping them from his family, causing them to live in poverty. Tomás is also an inherently selfish individual, as he was notoriously known as a womanizer and a loud, out-of-control drunk.
        
        "Tomás Vargas’s gold nuggets were buried in a safe hiding place," (Allende 50).
        
        "He borrowed money with no intention of paying it back, and his children went hungry and his wife wore rags while he wore Panama hats and smoked expensive cigars," (Allende 50).
        
        "He even refused to pay the fees for his children’s schooling," (Allende 50).
  - - - In "Of Clay We Are Created," the entire story focuses on a girl who is in a life or death situation due to a natural disaster. The story begins with a girl named Azucena whose head is protruding from a mud pit. She lives by a mountain which has been developing mudslides because a nearby volcano is erupting by it, causing the ice and sediments to melt. The story shifts its focus on two characters, Rolf Carle and the narrator, who are trying to saved Azucena from the mud pit. Rolf Carle tells Azucena stories of his childhood because he sees himself in her. It is because of the natural disaster in this story that more elements of magical realism are able to be incorporated.
        
        "That fateful Wednesday night in November when a prolonged roar announced the end of the world, and walls of snow broke loose, rolling in an avalanche of clay, stones, and water that descended on the villages and buried them beneath unfathomable meters of telluric vomit," (Allende 258).
        
        "For some time they had predicted that the heat of the eruption could detach the eternal ice from the slopes of the volcano, but no one heeded their warnings; they sounded like the tales of frightened old women," (Allende 258).
  - - - Corruption is a theme in "Of Clay We Are Created" as Rolf is unable to save Azucena due to his inability to get the government to provide the supplies needed to get her out of the mud. Even though the President does not have any intention of helping her, he still makes sure to show up in front of the cameras and tell her that he will save her. Thus, he uses a helpless child to gain legitimacy instead of helping save her.
        
        "He waved to her with a limp statesman’s hand, and microphones recorded his emotional voice and paternal tone as he told her that her courage had served as an example to the nation," (Allende 268).
        
        "The President of the Republic visited the area in his tailored safari jacket to confirm that this was the worst catastrophe of the century," (Allende 268).
        
        "He went to the Army field tents to offer relief in the form of vague promises to crowds of the rescued," (Allende 268).
    - - In "The Gold of Tomás Vargas", Tomás could be interpreted as a symbol of the corruption in the government as he is in control of the money that his family, or the people of the nation, have to live on. Tomás keeps this money from his family, resulting in them living feeble lives. Tomás hoards the money from his family, like many governments do to their people. Thus, corruption of the government is alluded to throughout "The Gold of Tomás Vargas".
        
        "He borrowed money with no intention of paying it back, and his children went hungry and his wife wore rags while he wore Panama hats and smoked expensive cigars," (Allende 50).
    - - In "The Road North", the fact that families are being tricked into selling their kids for them to have better opportunities, when instead they are taking the kids to sell their organs demonstrates the theme of corruption. Allende uses this story to give commentary on the social problems of her surroundings, shining light on corruption and how people are being used.
        
        "They would do everything they could to arrange for one of those couples to take Juan and give him all the opportunities his mother could not provide for him," (Allende 166).
        
        "A criminal organization headed by a señora Dermoth had been discovered selling Indian children. They chose children who were ill or from very poor families, with the promise that they would be put up for adoption," (Allende 169).
        
        "A criminal organization headed by a señora Dermoth had been discovered selling Indian children. They chose children who were ill or from very poor families, with the promise that they would be put up for adoption," (Allende 169).
- - - - Love for her son drives Claveles to go against what her and her grandfather's beliefs by giving him away so that he can have a better life with a family that can afford to send him to a school where he would learn how to communicate. The same love for her son then drives her and Jesús to walk all of the way to the capital to save Juan -- a distance that most people would not even think about walking.
        Love could also be applied why Jesús opposed sending his great-grandson away; he believed that sending him away would, in a sense, be the "easy way out" of having to care for Juan and his disability. This can be justified on Jesús's part, as sending him away would conflict with morals of family, perseverance and hard work; he cares deeply about his family, evidenced through how his wife's death adversely impacted his life, and would stop at nothing to care for and protect them. However, his granddaughter sees him as delusional; she believed her son deserved to live a better life, and also thought it would be crazy to miss an opportunity that would allow this to be realized for her son.
        
        "See how happy they look, how healthy; see all those toys, and the expensive houses...they would do everything they could...to take Juan and give him all the opportunities his mother could not provide for him...'You never give up your children, no matter what,' said Jesús Dionisio Picero" (Allende 165).
  - - - In "And of Clay We Are Created", Allende uses characterization to highlight the changes that Rolf Carlé undergoes in his attempt to save Azucena. Through the description of his background, the reader is able to conclude that the efforts that Rolf gives to save Azucena is his attempt of making up for not being able to save his younger sister during his childhood. Thus, Rolf is transferring his love of his sister onto Azucena and it is that love that changes his motivations in saving Azucena to making up for the death of his sister and, in doing so, saving himself. This causes him to go to extreme lengths to save her and it is also why he spends two nights lying in the mud next to her. Therefore, the characterization of Rolf allows the reader to discover the power of love in dictating his actions and the changes in his motivations.
        
        "He was Azucena; he was buried in the clay mud; his terror was not the distant emotion of an almost forgotten childhood, it was a claw sunk in his throat," (Allende 267).
    - - Allende's extensive use of characterization in "The Gold of Tómas Vargas" allows for the reader to notice the change in Antonia's motivations. For instance, throughout the beginning of the story, Allende describes how Antonia is working hard to provide for her family and is not amused when Concha arrives at her house. Allende describes how Antonia resents Concha, however once realizing that they are one in the same, she ends up looking after Concha like a mother would and it is assumed that they conspired together to steal the money that Tómas had held dear, and later cause his death.
        
        "In spite of herself, she wanted Concha Díaz's future to be less dismal than her own. She felt now anger toward her now, but a secret compassion..." (Allende 55)
  - - - One important theme in this story is that love is powerful and unbreakable. Even when El Capitan's dreamlike memory begins to dissipate in the final paragraph, he continues to dance with his memories until La Mexicana approaches him for a dance. El Capitan is still deeply in love with niña Eloísa; his love is so strong, and he is too distracted by his memories of the absentee to even dance with others unless they approach him. Throughout the story, the reader is able to sense the connection and love that the two have for each other, and it’s highly possible that niña Eloísa is dead and all El Capitan can do is reenact their times together.
        
        "They never spoke, they merely looked at each other and smiled between the gallops, skips, and obliques of some old-time dance," (Allende 142).
        
        "El Capitán took the hand of the gentle lady he had wordlessly loved for so many years," (Allende 144).
    - - Analia is so in love with the words written in the letters to the point that she is able to disregard the fact that 11 years of her life were wasted because Luis was not the one actually writing the letters. She is able to give the school teacher, the person who actually wrote the letters, an opportunity to make up for the fact that he hid behind the letters for all that time. It seems as if Analia was never actually in love with Luis, the person whom she thought wrote her the letters, but instead, she was in love with the words written that expressed love and affection. She fell in love with words that she thought expressed a love for her, and not actually the writers of these letters.
        
        "She knew that she had fallen in love with a ghost and that she could never transfer her imaginary passion to the reality of marriage...she felt tricked by her inability to reconcile the image of the epistolary suitor with that of her flesh-and-blood husband" (Allende 233).
        
        "'Can you forgive me?' 'That depends on you,' said Analía, handing him his crutches. The schoolmaster put on his jacket and stood up. They walked out into the bustle of the patio, where a late sun was still shining" (Allende 239).
- - - - "Jesús Dionisio Picero was the best-known artist in the province... His specialty were the Calvarios, consisting of a large central cross complete with the figure of the crucified Christ, His nails, His crown of thorns, and a gold-paper aureole, and two more simple crosses for the thieves of Golgotha. On Christmas he carved crèches for the Baby Jesus, with doves representing the Holy Spirit and stars and flowers to symbolize the Glory" (Allende 157).
      - "He always said that his mother and father had taught him to respect the laws of Church and man," (Allende 157).
  - - - The theme focuses heavily on greed, but also has a moral about karma. The idea that what comes around goes around is often practiced in religions, and that what you give you will receive. Meaning, doing good for others will eventually be reciprocated the person will have good done for them. In this story, Vargas was a perpetrator acting with greed and disrespect towards his own family, and he ended up dying. The belief of karma is noticeably demonstrated in this story.
        
        “[Tomas Vargas] did not return that night, and two days later someone brought the news that his mutilated body had been found in the very ravine where he had hidden his treasure. He had been quartered with a machete like a steer, the end everyone had known would be his sooner or later. Antonia Sierra and Concha Díaz buried him without grief and with no funeral procession except Riad Halabí and the schoolteacher Inés, who had come to accompany them, not to pay posthumous tribute to a man they had never respected in life. The two women lived on together, happy to help each other in bringing up their children and in the many vicissitudes of life” (Allende 62).
  - - - "He had asked God for an entire year in which to finish his work: His omnipotence had granted him the time. For his sake, God projected a secret miracle: German lead would kill him, at the determined hour, but in his mind a year would elapse between the command to fire and its execution. From perplexity he passed to stupor, from stupor to resignation, from resignation to sudden gratitude" (Borges 5).
  - - - "“He’s an angel,” she told them... On the following day everyone knew that a flesh-and-blood angel was held captive in Pelayo’s house," (Marquez).