Pg 844
First Person
Now I know why Aura is living in this house: to perpetuate the illusion of youth and beauty in that poor, crazed old lady. Aura, kept here like a mirror, like one more icon on that votive wall with its clustered offerings, preserved hearts, imagined saints and demons.
I put the manuscript aside and go downstairs, suspecting there’s only one place Aura could be in the morning—the place that greedy old woman has assigned to her.
Yes, I find her in the kitchen, at the moment she’s beheading a kid; the vapour that rises from the open throat, the smell of spilt blood, the animal’s glazed eyes, all give me nausea. Aura is wearing a ragged, blood-stained dress and her hair is dishevelled; she looks at me without recognition and goes on with her butchering.
I leave the kitchen: this time I’ll really speak to the old lady, really throw her greed and tyranny in her face. When I push open the door she’s standing behind the veil of lights, performing a ritual with the empty air, one hand stretched out and clenched, as if holding something up, and the other clasped around an invisible object striking again and again at the same place.
Third Person
Now he knows why Aura is living in this house: to perpetuate the illusion of youth and beauty in that poor, crazed old lady. Aura, kept here like a mirror, like one more icon on that votive wall with its clustered offerings, preserved hearts, imagined saints and demons.
He put the manuscript aside and went downstairs, suspecting there’s only one place Aura could be in the morning—the place that greedy old woman has assigned to her.
Yes, he found her in the kitchen, at the moment she’s beheading a kid; the vapour that rises from the open throat, the smell of spilt blood, the animal’s glazed eyes, all give him nausea. Aura is wearing a ragged, blood-stained dress and her hair is dishevelled; she looks at him without recognition and goes on with her butchering.
He left the kitchen: this time he’ll really speak to the old lady, really throw her greed and tyranny in her face. When he pushed open the door she’s standing behind the veil of lights, performing a ritual with the empty air, one hand stretched out and clenched, as if holding something up, and the other clasped around an invisible object striking again and again at the same place.
- There were not many problems with translating, however, some words had to be altered to make the text fit into either the first person or the third person -Joseph Morreale
When reading this excerpt from “Aura” in the second person (original), then reading the translation in the first person it can affect the reader in many ways. Through the second person, the reader gets the sense that (s)he is being told what to do. Versus in the first person view, the reader is able to experience more of a direct connection with other characters and the story. For example, looking at this short quote from the original text, “Yes, you find her in the kitchen, at the moment she’s beheading a kid; the vapour that rises from the open throat, the smell of spilt blood, the animal’s glazed eyes, all give you nausea”. So, in the reader’s mind (s)he may see his or herself walking into the kitchen and finding Aura there. Now looking at this same quote, but in the first person’s view “Yes, I find her in the kitchen, at the moment she’s beheading a kid; the vapour that rises from the open throat, the smell of spilt blood, the animal’s glazed eyes, all give me nausea.” The reader has a different feeling now, (s)he can directly picture the blood up close and the look that Aura wears. The tone is also different for the first person; it adds a more dramatic effect. -Keauna
Reading the text from the third person’s point of view, I feel like it’s like any other text, I’m just being informed. Rather in the original translation, in second person, you feel the narrator’s feelings as if its yours and as if he is telling you the story directly or talking to you. . In second person I know what’s going on because it’s like the story is telling me my actions. Like where it says “You leave the kitchen: this time you’ll really speak to the old lady..” Unlike third person, “He left the kitchen: this time he’ll really speak to the old lady” in this sentence I have to imagine someone else leaving a kitchen, building a illustration in my head.The narrator’s tone is harder to figure out in third person, I don’t know exactly what the characters are feeling but if it is second person, using the words you, I’ll have a better understanding at the situation and it makes it feel more real. -Bintou
4 responses so far ↓
f.furca // May 11th 2017 at 10:21 pm
I really liked reading this passage in the third person because I enjoy seeing that the character is going through as if it were to be a movie. Then, when reading it in the first person I feel like I’m in the movie and becoming a character in the passage. Comparing both passages to the orginal the original one I see it as if it were to be in my mind and me talking to myself about what is happening. Reason why i liked to read it in the third person point of view I like to know what happening because it cold get difficult to understand it if it were to be in the first or second persons. “Now he knows why Aura is living in this house: to perpetuate the illusion of youth and beauty in that poor, crazed old lady.” This quote is pointed out for me because just from the beginning I automatically knew I would like this in the third rather than in the first person.
m.khan10 // May 11th 2017 at 11:35 pm
While reading this passage in the original second person point of view, it felt very personal. It made me as a reader feel like I was actually a part of the story. As Bintou said, when the story is in the second person point of view, it feels like the author is speaking to you. I also agree that it is hard to determine the author’s tone when the story gets translated into the third person point of view.
j.han6 // May 12th 2017 at 12:04 am
I agree with Keauna when she stated “Through the second person, the reader gets the sense that (s)he is being told what to do. Versus in the first person view, the reader is able to experience more of a direct connection with other characters and the story”. I was more immersed in the characters when I read it from the first person’s point of view. I more focused on the characters, what feelings they have, and the conversation the characters exchange. On the other hand, the second person’s perspective was more like the author wants to connect the reader to the story.
sh125650 // May 12th 2017 at 11:05 am
I agree with Keauna about the second person can help reader to get the sense that he is being told what to do. The second person experiences as you actually feel its happening to you and also helps us understand the development of character . They help us to blur the line between past and present.
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