Both Chronicle of a Death Foretold and House of the Spirits include many magical elements throughout. This is used as a literary technique by the respective authors to further the stories and provide opportunities to communicate themes and other elements.
Foreshadowing comes into play in both books, and the use of magical realism makes this far more reasonable and realistic to the reader. In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, for example, some of the foreshadowing of Nasar's death is given through dreams, which virtually require a magical element to seem like credible sources. The fact of this foreshadowing occurring within the story rather than within the narrative also reinforces the idea of a "foretold" death. In House of the Spirits, meanwhile, Clara's clairvoyance provides much of the foreshadowing present in the book.
In addition, I believe both authors wish to make a point about Latin American culture through this use of magical realism. Isabel Allende in particular is trying to reinforce the idea that magic plays a large role in Latin American culture. The example where Pedro Garcia gets the ants away from Tres Marias by merely asking them to leave, while the gringo couldn't do a thing with all his technology, shows that they trust magic perhaps even more than technology. Allende even says that "Marxism doesn't stand a chance in Latin America" because it "doesn't allow for the magical side of things" (306-7), showing how important magic is to the society.
No comments:
Post a Comment