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

The theme of self realization is evident in “My Cloud” and this theme is also evident in “Aura.”  Felipe and Consuelo are both struggling to accept who they are.  They both struggle to hold on to their youth and while Consuelo wants to be the little girl and Felipe wants to be more than just a teacher.  Felipe struggles with self realization because he wants to believe Aura is really the woman he is with.  However on page 851 he begins to see how he is the general as he states, “imagine him with black hair, and you discover only yourself: blurred, lost, forgotten, you, you, you.”  He realizes that he looks exactly like the general and earlier realizes that Consuelo and Aura are the same person.  Eventually he reached self realization byt realizing that he is, in fact, the general and Aura, the girl he fell in love with, is actually Consuelo. (Jessica)

Both “My Cloud” and “Aura” share a common theme: self realization.  In “My Cloud,” the narrator becomes more wise and understanding as he grows older and claims to “understand the cloud.”  Similarly, the characters in Aura too reach for self-realization.  In “Aura,” Felipe begins his search for self realization when he goes to Consuelo’s house seeking employment.  The moment when he is about to walk into Consuelo’s house symbolizes the moment that Felipe began his search for self-realization.  Fuentes’ writes, “The door opens at the first light push of your fingers, but before going in you give a last look over your shoulder, frowning at the long line of stalled cars that growl [and] honk . . . You close the door behind you” (Fuentes 833).  Felipe’s last “look over his shoulder” at the street represents him ridding himself of the reality he’s always lived in, modern city life.  As he steps into Consuelo’s home and finds himself in pitch black darkness, he begins his quest in search for self realization, and perhaps love.   (Ruben Bohbot)

In “Aura” there is a lot of evidence that the theme of self realization is present.  Throughout the story, Felipe is living in the house trying to figure out his feelings for Aura, his meaning in the house, and what the life of Consuelo’s husband is really about.  After meeting Aura and having sex with her, the two fall madly in love with each other.  Their love actually preludes to the ending of the story when Felipe realizes that Aura isn’t who he think she is.  On page 847, Aura asks Felipe will he still love her, “Even though I grow old? Even though I lose my beauty? Even though my hair turns white?”  This quote is saying that Aura is “growing” old and “losing” her beauty, which foreshadows that Aura is already old and that she is Consuelo.  (Frank)

In ‘My Cloud,’ the story shares how the author could transform the cloud, which represents self realization.  This is evident in ‘Aura,’ as Felipe leaves his world behind to pursue a strange path in Aura’s home.  His battle with leaving the busy world behind is evident when he talks about going back to bring his things to the home: “‘Then you want to go out?’ she says . . . you feel confused . . . ‘It isn’t important. The servants can go for them tomorrow'” (Fuentes 837).  Felipe feels confused because it seems like Aura thinks that leaving the house is strange.  This represents Felipe battling with himself about leaving the busy world behind, because the house is something very different from what he experienced outside of the home.  Just like in ‘The Cloud,’ the author can transform the cloud to his liking, Felipe realizes the same thing about his life as he leaves his world behind for Aura’s home.  (Sharada)