One of the better known and most frequently analyzed of all Cortázar's stories, Axolotl, quickly establishes and perpetuates an aura of ambiguity surrounding the narrator and the axolotls which causes the reader to question the nature of reality. Consequently, the text's openness has fueled interpretive speculation with regard to a wide variety of topics, ranging from religion and Aztec mythology to philosophy and psychology. Cortázar apparently delights in teasing the reader by interspersing indefinite, seemingly insignificant references to certain topics throughout his text. Confounding matters even further, Cortázar constructs, and then deconstructs, dualities or multiplicities around these same issues. For instance, close scrutiny reveals a constant play between light and dark imagery, and the narrator repeatedly revisits what he perceives as a wavering line distinguishing human qualities from animal characteristics and vice versa. …show more content…
After his mental transferal to an axolotl's body, he laments: "To realize that was, for the first moment, like the horror of a man buried alive awaking to his fate.” His sensation of entrapment is so overwhelming, he soon reiterates: "The horror began—I learned in the same moment—of believing myself prisoner in the body of an axolotl, metamorphosed into him with my human mind intact, buried alive in an axolotl, condemned to move lucidly among unconscious creatures.” The repeated comparison of the narrator's state to having been buried alive creates a sense of horror similar to what we find in Edgar Allan Poe's work. As with some of the other literary influences we have discussed, Cortázar was well acquainted with Poe's theories of the short story as well as with his
Alfredo Corchado — is the author of the book named " Midnight in Mexico:A Reporter's Journey through a Country's Descent into Darkness”. We are, probably, all interested in finding out the facts, news, and gossips about Mexico. This country was always associated with something mysterious. For me personally, the title of the book seemed to be very gripping, I was interested in revealing the secrets of life in Mexico, thus I decided to read this book. I was really curious, what can Alfredo Corchado tell me about the life in this country, the country, where the constant massacre is the picture, people used to see. In his book, the author tells the reader about the real situations, which took place in Mexico, reveals the secrets of the people’s lives and tells the story from the “inside”. He describes the way he lives his life, and does his work. The " Midnight in Mexico: A Reporter's Journey through a Country's Descent into Darkness” is a memoir. Author tries to transform his own experience into the story line. Corchado shows the reader the darkest episodes of Mexican society, while relying on his own experience.
Although the Aztec civilization is a popular subject studied by the scholars, it tends to be one-dimensional: the elite and religion are the hearts of the study. The work here goes beyond that, as it tries to give us a new perspective on the “ordinary people”. The book studied here is titled Aztecs: An Interpretation, by Inga Clendinnen, first published in 1991. It studies the Aztecs people, also known as Mexicas, living in the empire that was Tenochtitlan, in the valley of Mexico. This work tries to be a reconstruction of the pre- colonial kingdom, before the arrival of the Spaniards in August 1521. Clendinnen successfully highlights how religion and sacrifices are perceived among the common people, and how they forge the lives of the inhabitants of Tenochtitlan. Nevertheless, even if she brings fascinating new elements, her lack of multiple sources puts doubt on the truth and accuracy of her statements.
Looking back into the history of certain events affords the modern researcher the ability to examine a variety of documents and artifacts. It is important, however, to take into account biases, inaccuracies, errors in translation, and overall misinformation when examining primary sources, particularly historical documents. Examining the history of the conquest of the Aztec empire is no different, and in a scenario as tense as it was it is extremely important to consider the authorship of the text. Bernal Diaz’ The Conquest of New Spain and Miguel Leon-Portilla’s The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico offer two distinct looks into the same event in history. Both documents offer differing takes of the same events, so when
Some people consider a book to be magical realism based on the author or the part of the world it was written in. Just because an author has written a book that is magical realism does not mean that all of the books that author writes will be magical realism. Though most magical realism stories are written by Latin American authors, a story is not necessarily magical realism if the author came from that region. Julio Cortazar is an Argentine writer who has published many short stories and novels. In 1956, he wrote a short story called "Axolotl". A careful reading of this work will reveal that it is not an example of magical realism.
The novel is organized in an unusual manner that can make it seem unclear to the reader. Krakauer does not introduce the work as a whole, yet he pieces together the story through different chapters. McCandless’s journey is described out of chronological order, requiring the audience to pay careful attention in order to understand the events that unfold.
The corrido has been identified as having distinctive characteristics that make up its theme and plot. First, the corrido has a “context of hostile relations between Anglos and Mexicans along the border and the establishment of a scenic structure, geographical locale, and opposing social forces” (Mendoza 146). The corrido’s hero “is a hard-working, peace-loving Mexican, who, when goaded by Anglos, outrages into violence, causing him to defend his rights and those of others of his community against the rinches, the Rangers” (Saldívar). This hero “is quickly introduced in legendary proportions and defiant stature” and many people must die before the hero reaches his triumphant, but tragic, demise (Mendoza 146). The Anglos in the corrido, meanwhile, are not one-dimensional villains but “complex figures who contain positive as well as negative qualities” (Mendoza 146). These distinctive traits of a corrido – setting, conflict, and characterization, among others – ...
The central figures in these three works are all undoubtedly flawed, each one in a very different way. They may have responded to their positions in life, or the circumstances in which they find themselves may have brought out traits that already existed. Whichever applies to each individual, or the peculiar combination of the two that is specific to them, it effects the outcome of their lives. Their reaction to these defects, and the control or lack of it that they apply to these qualities, is also central to the narrative that drives these texts. The exploration of the characters of these men and their particular idiosyncrasies is the thread that runs throughout all of the works.
In Contested Visions, Competing Memories of the Conquest of Mexico, Kevin Terraciano explores the recording through art and writing by both the native Indians of the Mexica and the Spaniards on their meetings. Terraciano examines the parallels of the two cultures recording as well as the inconsistencies between the two. When the Spaniards arrived to the Island of Hispaniola a trigger was set off for writers and artists to tell about the meeting and development of the coming together of the two cultures. It’s actually an amazing thing because it allows us a point of view from both sides. As it is often said, there’s one person’s side of the story, there’s another person’s side of the story, and then the truth lies in between the two. That is exactly what one must do here. It is up to one’s self to take what information is available for both sides of the Spanish and the Natives using logic and evidence you can find and decide what you believe the truth to be from all the gathered information.
Imagine living in a city called Tenochtitlan were your main power is blood from human sacrifice. The aztecs were creating a remarkable world-class society in the americas. The years were 1350 to 1519. The place was roughly the site of present-day Mexico City. Frequently, we begin our study of the aztecs in 1519 because that is the year Hernan Cortes and 500 conquistadors first entered the Aztec capital of tenochtitlan. The restatement of the question still remains as What should the historians focus on more: aztec agriculture or human sacrifice? We should emphasize human sacrifice for these three reasons: large scale, spiritual connection, and motive for war and expansion.
In conclusion, this paper showed that Diaz’s is more believable compared to the others for three reasons. First, the objectivity of his tone that he used, so it is difficult to recognize his point of view. Second, he wrote it after a while of the event, therefore he did not tend to his group on his writing. Finally, he wrote it to inform the public about his own experience with the Aztec.
The author skillfully uses literary techniques to convey his purpose of giving life to a man on an extraordinary path that led to his eventual demise and truthfully telling the somber story of Christopher McCandless. Krakauer enhances the story by using irony to establish Chris’s unique personality. The author also uses Characterization the give details about Chris’s lifestyle and his choices that affect his journey. Another literary element Krakauer uses is theme. The many themes in the story attract a diverse audience. Krakauer’s telling is world famous for being the truest, and most heart-felt account of Christopher McCandless’s life. The use of literary techniques including irony, characterization and theme help convey the authors purpose and enhance Into The Wild.
The symbolism in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s novella, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, emphasises the connection of the rural Colombian people and the Bible. The names, deaths, and spector activity as symbolism greatly affect the novella’s parallels to Christianity.
In this book review I represent and analyze the three themes I found the most significant in the novel.
All these elements - the ambiguity of the words, the lies and truths of the speaker, the association between the child and the reader, the contrast between the world of faery and human - work together to influence the reader, to awaken an emotional reaction unique to each individual. Taken separately, these poetic techniques are interesting, perhaps, but when combined in an organic whole, they become greater then the sum of their parts. And it is this special organic whole that succeeds in creating the magic that lies within great poetry and prose, and it this special organic whole that the New Literary Critic seeks to understand.
In my paper, titled, The Dark and Light, the dark and light imagery in the novella Heart of Darkness, will be described as a demonstration of how much the this imagery is portrayed, and how this it was so significant in the novella. Throughout Heart of Darkness, Conrad uses a plethora of simple colors, objects, and surroundings to convey multilayered images and ideas. These numerous symbols and events in the story have a more in-depth meaning, and are extremely important throughout the story.