Bo Lo
Victoria Barreras
Marvin Lee
“Aura” by Carlos Fuentes.
[Attributes of using second person]
With the usage of the second person, it helps elicit a stronger impression to the reader. The reader is placed into the narrator’s shoes and given emotional impacts that other perspectives can’t express.
The story is written in second person which is fairly uncommon. This perspective is used to make the reader feel like they are a part of Fuentes’ world. The story also used other perspectives, such as first- and third-person, which allow the reader to become an observer in other characters’ roles and actions. However, in a dream there usually isn’t an observer, only a person that is having the dream. In “Aura,” the reader is made the sole person that is experiences the events in the story as they unfold.
[Section 1]
Within the first section of the reading, the narrator expresses his uncertainty of whether or not he should give the advertised job offer a chance since it’s foreign to him. By using the perspective of the second person, the reader is able to read the mind of the narrator. The raw feelings are shown, especially when he’s in many foreign situations. “You wonder if another young historian, in the same situation you are, has seen the same advertisement, has got ahead of you and taken the job already,” (832). Even though the narrator loses the thought throughout the day, the same situation succumbs the next morning. Through slight consideration, the narrator grows out of his comfort zone and gives the job a chance by going in for an interview. After the narrator received the job offer, he felt uncomfortable needing to sleep at his work area.
The author’s use of second person makes it feel as if the reader is in the story and experiencing it firsthand. There is a mystery in the story and we see the narrator expressing that, “You can’t see her in the black of the starless night, but you can smell the fragrance of the patio plants in her hair, can feel her smooth, eager body in your arms; you kiss her again and don’t ask her to speak” (842). The narrator’s use of the word, “you” and his descriptive choice of words intrigues the reader and it draws the reader further and further into the story. As the story progresses, the mystery gets deeper and it takes the reader along for a ride. The emotions are so vivid throughout the story and it’s primarily because of the use of the second person.
1 response so far ↓
JMERLE // Nov 15th 2015 at 11:34 am
Your comments about the second person are quite appropriate: it pulls the reader into the narrative, and the idea that we are already in a dream-like state, since in a dream we are not solely an observer.
Your comments that the reader is drawn more deeply into the story are good ones, but you need to work to find other themes, as well. Also, you were to find three pieces of text, not just two, and to find text from three different sections of the narrative.
Also, keep working to improve grammar.
5/10