Erika, Kelly, Milyza
Carlos Fuentes wrote “Aura” using the second person point of view, which is not very common for fiction writing. The second person point of view makes the reader feel like he/she is a part of the dream-like environment Fuentes creates. In first and third person, the reader is more of an observer, but in a dream, there can not be an observer. Fuentes makes the reader feel as if they are experiencing the dream as it unfolds.
Throughout the story, Aura, by Carlos Fuentes, it is obvious that the character, Felipe Montero, is disconnected from the world and is easily distracted. Although this sense of disconnect is seen constantly throughout the story, the reader see’s it in the very beginning when it’s stated, “It seems to be addressed to you and nobody else. You didn’t even notice when the ash from your cigarette falls into the cup of tea you ordered in this cheap, dirty, café” (832). Felipe is mesmerized by the advertisement because it seems that this job was created only for him, and that it was somewhat speaking to him. He was so glued to the advertisement that he blocks out everything around him. It is like nothing else exists besides the advertisement. This specific example of his disconnection from the world is proven through his blindness to the cigarette ash falling into his tea that he ordered at a dirty café. The use of the second person enhances the theme of disconnection because it makes it more personal to the reader. In other words, everyone, at some point in his or her lives, gets distracted or focuses so much on one thing that everything else around them is no longer there. Therefore, use of the second person makes the theme of disconnect more relatable to the reader.
Later on in the story, the use of second person enhances the narrative even further when Fuentes writes “You don’t look at your watch again, that useless object tediously measuring time in accordance with human vanity,” (851). This scene depicts Felipe’s reaction after he finds himself in the old photographs that were supposed to depict the General and Consuelo. His anger and frustration can be seen through how he senselessly berates a watch by calling it “useless” and “[tedious].” As a watch is an inanimate object that has not actually done anything, it has not warranted any sort of passionate reaction through its being, but Felipe is angry at the world in this moment and expresses it onto anything and everything. In particular, his reaction to the events that have just played out can be seen by how he says the watch measures “human vanity,” which connects back to the blur between the lines of then and now he just witnessed through the photographs. This almost sounds cynical, as he disregards the idea of being able to measure time, as for him, there is no past nor future; the two which are supposed to be separate have indefinitely become mixed. The experiences felt by Felipe that are expressed in this sentence are very strong intrinsically, but his anger is intensified by the use of the word “you.” Usually, there is a disconnect between the reader and the characters in the story, with the reader on the outside looking in. But through Fuentes’ use of the second person, this disconnect is removed, which puts the reader into Felipe’s shoes and makes them empathize with him, amplifying the strong feelings they are reading about.
As the story progresses, Felipe makes discoveries about Consuelo through the General’s writings. He cant seem to get the image of Aura out of his head and begins to fantasize about her. “You stop kissing those flesh less lips, those toothless gums: the ray of moonlight shows you the naked body of the old lady, of Senora Consuelo, limp, spent, tiny, ancient, trembling because you touch her. You love her, you too have come back” (Fuentes 852). Fuentes is very descriptive in his writing; that factor along with the second person point of view allows the reader to almost be a apart of the fantasies. These are the dreamlike and surreal elements employed in magical realist writing. It is here that the audience and Montero simultaneously see the connection between the old widow and Aura.
1 response so far ↓
JMERLE // Nov 15th 2015 at 11:15 am
Yes, your major comment about the second person is quite evocative, that not only is the reader a part of the narrative, but a part of the dream-like quality of the narrative. A dream, as you rightly note, has only a participant. We cannot idly observe our dreams.
Your connections to theme are also quite effective: the idea that the second person creates a “disconnect” for Felipe, who becomes distanced from his own world; the blur between reader/protagonist; the blur, ultimately, between past and present; the blur between reality/fantasy.
Nice job!
10/10