Terell Thompson – Section 3
In the third section of Aura, the use of the second person unknowingly compels you to imagine yourself, as you are reading, in the scene. This makes every part of the story seem personal, as only you would know how you would react in any situation. This particular section describes a dinner that is pivotal in the story. During the dinner, Aura begins to imitate the old lady as if she is her puppet. The story is narrated in a way that draws you in with the use of second person and allows you to recall moments as if you were actually there. For instance, when the narrator says, “You remember Aura as she was a few moments ago, spiritless, hypnotized by her terror, incapable of speaking in front of the tyrant, moving her lips in silence as if she were silently begging you to set her free…” (Fuentes 842). This quote actually gives direction to what you have experienced. At this point you can see that the main character blames the old woman for holding the woman he begins to love, Aura, against her will.
Stacey Leatham- Section 4
In the last section of Aura, the use of second person is not as present as it is in the earlier parts of the story. Mainly because in order for readers to grasp author Carlos Fuentes’ concept, he needed to accentuate the relationship between Aura/Consuelo and Felipe and that would be difficult using the second person thorughout. The use of second person is still quite important up until the final page. Before the final page of the story, the use of second person allowed readers to be one with the character and have an opportunity to imagine what it would be like to be in that character’s shoes. However, I think Fuentes made a good choice changing to the third person by the end of the story. He ends the story with, “She’ll come back, Felipe. We’ll bring her back together. Let me recover my strength and I’ll bring her back…”(Fuentes 852). This choice was crucial in helping readers understand what was really going on and figuring out who Aura was and what was her real role was. It helped me understand that Aura didn’t really exist and she was just a figment of Consuelo’s imagination.
1 response so far ↓
JMERLE // Apr 9th 2016 at 1:15 pm
You both do a nice job here discussing two important sections of the narrative. You mention the “personal” relationship that the author establishes with the reader, by using the 2nd person, and the second post mentions a seemingly different tone (although it’s still in the second person, as the quotation is dialogue from Consuelo, not from the narrator) which we’ll also discuss further in class.
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