great works ii – 2850 jta 12:25-2:05: love letters from the world

Veronica:

I think use of the second person is effective in the way that it places the reader into the story that may be more difficult to do when using the first or third person. Narratives written in the first or third person give you more of a sense of looking in on everything that is going on. I think this definitely creates a separation between the reader and the world of the story that a narrative in the second person breaks down, but may not ideal for all stories. I think it works well for Aura because of how detailed the descriptions are of the house, the characters, and the thoughts of Felipe and it helps in imagining and emerging you into his world. On page 836, when Fuentes writes, “you’re thinking about this as you follow her out of the room, and you discover that you’ve got to follow her with your ears instead of your eyes: you follow the rustle of her skirt, the rustle of taffeta, and you’re anxious now to look into her eyes again” the reader is not only getting a description of what is happening, but also how Felipe is processing his surroundings in a way that only Felipe would know.

Maia T.:

The second person use is a great way to draw readers into the story. It makes the reader imagine things as if it happened to him/her. As some argue, the second person use also sets the author apart with no control over the events in the story. The second person use can be annoying at times, because when the story tells me that I did or think something, I automatically think in my head: “wait, I don’t remember doing that”. This Narrative, “Aura”, deals with metaphysical elements. It is hard to distinguish real and surreal aspects of the story. And the second person use in this story further confuses the reader whether things really happened to the reader or not. Toward the end of the story, Carlos Fuentes says about Montero: “You eat mechanically, without noticing at first your own hypnotized attitude, but… finally identify your sleep-walking movements with those of Aura and the old lady”. (pg. 846) This quote emphasizes how their, Aura’s and old lady’s, activities are entangled in a surreal manner, and Montero, too, becomes involved in these “sleep-walking movements”, that makes it hard for him to distinguish what is happening in sleep and what -in reality.

Lauren:

Initially, while reading Aura, I found the use of the second person to be confusing as it was a style of writing in which I was certainly not used to. However, upon reading further into the passage, I slowly adjusted to the style of writing and felt that it had a greater impact as opposed to writing done in first person. On page 852 towards the very end, Fuentes writes “You stroke Aura’s long black hair. You grasp that fragile woman by the soldiers, ignoring her sharp complaint.” The use of second person at the end of the passage exemplifies the intensity of Felipe. Felipe’s feelings towards Aura and the level at which these feelings heightened from beginning to end. The use of second person was more compelling as opposed to first person in that it makes readers feel as if they are the actual character at hand and are experiencing the same exact feelings as Felipe. This has a much greater impact than if the passage was written in first person, where the main character would just be regarded as someone’s life the reader is analyzing from afar. Although the use of second person took time to get used to, ultimately, it helped to effectively convey the emotional complexity of Felipe and the extent to which such feelings developed from beginning to end.

Dajung:

The “Kaspar” text shows how a relationship where one person isn’t aware or just doesn’t care about the feelings and thoughts of the other person has a negative impact on the person because of how the man in black ordered and forced Kaspar to doing things like writing and walking regardless of how much it was physically hurting him. The man in black begins by teaching Kaspar how to read and write, and later how to walk and how to say “I want to be a horseman like my father was.” Throughout the whole experience it’s clear that he doesn’t understand what is going on, just that his feet and eyes are in a lot of pain. The man in black gets him to do all of these things by using the “horse” against him, which has been his only companion in his life. Even though the man in black is teaching him new things, Kaspar has no voice in any of it and he is unable to speak up for himself and therefore has no choice but to do everything he is told. The man in black knows this but continues to push him to do all of these things, even though it seems likely that Kaspar would have been much happier if he were still in the same room he’d been in.

Seeing Gregor’s metamorphosis, the chief clerk was terrified of him, “..only stared back at him with his mouth agape, over his trembling shoulder. All the while Gregor was speaking, he wasn’t still for a moment, but, without taking his eye off Gregor, moved towards the door, but terribly gradually.” His body language of his shoulder trembling and how didn’t stop looking at Gregor the entire time shows that he was afraid of him and probably thought Gregor was going to attack him if he looked away. On the other hand his father’s reaction is the opposite. “His father clenched his fists with a pugnacious expression, as if ready to push Gregor back into his room.” Although he begins crying, his initial reaction was also to see Gregor as a threat, but to fight him instead of to run away, which he later sort of does by trying to scare Gregor back into his room with a cane and by hissing at him. The reactions to Gregor’s death by the maid and his father are much lighter. When the maid realizes Gregor is dead “her eyes went large and round, she gave a half-involuntary whistle” which makes is seem like she was not only happy, but excited, which shows more in the way she immediately went to announce it to the rest of the family. The father also seems happy. “’Ah,’ said Mr Samsa, ‘now we can give thanks to God.’ He crossed himself.” He’s happy but more so relieved because he had seen Gregor after his metamorphosis as only a burden for the rest of the family.