Yohana Gonzalez, Alexandra Lopez, Natalia Malaver
The second person narrative actively uses the use of “you.” This causes the audience to be more active, and to actively imagine yourself in Felipe’s position. Also what we noticed was how the use of the second person, ultimately made the reader closer to Felipe’s actions, but yet, made Felipe distance himself from his own actions. This is done in the sense that most of the time he has no idea why he is doing something, he is just doing it.
In “Aura”, Carlos Fuentes strengthens the surreal elements of his novella with the use of the second person narration. He does so in order to induce the reader’s unconscious through the use of the senses. An example of this, can be seen in the quote “But you stop when you hear the painful yowling of a number of cats—yes, you stop to listen. “ (837) This quote evokes the readers hearing, along with the use of the dash and second person narration, it emphasis the fact that it wants the reader to hear the sound. Fuentes wants the reader to become the character and view the events through his eyes, through detailed clarity. The purpose of this is to evoke the reader’s imagination forcing them to tap into their unconscious, and cause them to feel present within the novella. This is repeatedly done, through the detailed accounts of sight, touch and smell. That along with second person narration, was able to strengthen the surrealism and transfix the reader to the novella.
The use of the second person also helps strengthen the theme of lust and attraction in the story. You as the main character are able to place yourself into the shoes of Montero and lust after Aura, a girl you’ve just met. Fuentes wrote, “…occasionally shifting your glance so that Aura won’t catch you in the hypnotized stare that you can’t control. You’d like to fix the girls features in your mind” (837). You are entranced by Aura and are able to feel the narrators wonder more because you are viewing it as him. I also say lust and not love because he is attracted to her physically because he doesn’t even know her and he still wants her.
Lastly, the element of seemingly contradictory events/images, between the psych. and/or metaphysical explanation and the supernatural is incredibly reinforced by the second person narrative. When a writer is using the first or third person narrative, the reader becomes an observer. However, the contradictory events between what might be real or not is almost like being in dream-like state and maybe because it is a dream, there can’t be an observer, only the dreamer itself. I speak about Felipe being in a dream, because of his trance-like state where he is involuntarily following the course of the dream; just like we have been put through the use of the second person narrative. Felipe finally admits that he can’t control what is happening in page 851, “You lie there with your face in the pillow, waiting for what has to come, for what you can’t prevent.”
1 response so far ↓
JMERLE // Nov 15th 2015 at 11:09 am
I quite like your comments about the second person, that not only does it pull the reader closer to the action but, paradoxically, distances the protagonist from his own actions.
You mention that the second person connects to these themes/goals of the author: creating a reader/protagonist blur; creating a surreal sense (you could say why this is); the idea that our desires can spiral out of control (you could also say why this is); the blur between reality/fantasy (or dream).
Nice, but work to go more deeply into the text.
8/10