All About Suicide By Luisa Valenzuela

Luisa Valenzuela’s intentions in “All about Suicide”

Why would an author want to trick a reader? What are some specific ways that Luisa tricks readers into reading the story the “wrong way”? What is motivating the author? Themes are never explicit, but authors allude to their response to an issue through images and characterization. Sometimes themes are so explicit that an author actually makes you see the story in a “wrong way” when you first read it. In “All about Suicide”, Luisa tricks the reader in several ways. In the end, authors mislead the readers so that they can be enticed and intrigued in finding the real meaning.

An author may be motivated to trick a reader for several reasons, one being that he or she may want the readers to dig deeper in their reading. Some authors live for the idea of readers exploring their work. In “All about Suicide”,

the author Luisa Valenzuela didn’t want to create a piece of work that was straight forward, but rather occult. Luisa, like many other authors, intends for readers to finish the abstract puzzle that they created. In the last sentence of her story she describes how Ismael can “predict what awaits him” yes she never ends up explaining what happens (7). This statement leaves the reader hanging and wanting to “dig deeper” into Luisa’s work. She also hints that she wants her audience to do some extreme analyzing right before she mentions Ismael’s childhood. She exclaims, “We must go farther if we want to get at the truth”. Just as the theme connects to character, the authors words connect to what she thinks. She wants us to examine her work and find the real meaning.
The purpose of an author intentionally tricking a reader can also be to connect the confusion and mystery to the theme. For instance, the theme in Luisa’s short story can be recognized as, not knowing the truth till certain actions are made. When Luisa tricks the readers by making them see a character the wrong way, she is actually symbolizing the theme of truth in her very motives. By tricking the readers, she is advising that they must read more comprehensively, just like Ismael must commit murder to reveal the truth of the ministry (Valenzuela 7).
Authors purposely mislead readers to build suspense as well. In the very last sentence Luisa writes, “And Ismael coming out of his office (the other man’s office, the minister’s) almost relived, even though he can predict what awaits him”. This is the most confusing sentence for most readers because throughout the whole story Luisa gives the idea that Ismael was going to kill himself. Luisa’s intentional efforts to make the reader view the situation a “wrong way” created suspense because, now the reader is wondering how Ismael walked out of the office after he supposedly killed himself (7).
Similar to other authors, Luisa uses several techniques, features and events to make the readers interpret the story the “wrong way” The first, most obvious way that Luisa guides the reader into thinking that Ismael Kills himself is through the title.

Just by reading the title, “All about Suicide” you would expect the short story to be all about suicide. Authors also lead readers to wrong conclusions by their choice of words. In the beginning of Luisa’s story, she talks about Ismael while continuously using the adjective “his”. Since the adjective is so often repeated, the reader believes that Ismael is actually “gently rubbing” the gun across his own face. Not only does Luisa make the reader see the events in a “wrong way” through the title or word usage, but she also begins the story with action. When the readers read “All about Suicide”, he or she isn’t given background information in the beginning of the story. The reader is forced to imagine the action taking place and connect the pieces together. Since Luisa doesn’t clarify the situation until later, the readers tend to understand the story the “wrong

way”.
Mysteries are often challenging to solve, “All about Suicide” being one of them. This particular short story by Luisa Valenzuela is often part of the new body of literature, meaning it violates the standard literary expectations (Kirszner & Mandell 7). Luisa along with many unique, exceptional writers uses techniques to differentiate her work from the generally accepted list of books. One thing that she does in “All about Suicide” is intentionally trick the reader. She makes the reader see the story in a “wrong way” through word usage, title and the organization of her work. A few reasons that an author may want to incorrectly guide the reader is that they will gain edginess, uncover the theme and crave to know the depth of the narrative.