In the short story the Aleph by Borges, the main aspects of magical realism include the concept of time as one, and the theme of a God-like level of omniscience. There is also a bizarre nature to the interactions between characters and some potential political/societal commentary is expressed subtly at times.
The first theme to strike me was that of time. The narrator greives the loss of a loved one and wishes to keep the world exactly as it was when she left it however, he notes disappointedly that only a day later, "the vast unceasing universe was already growing away from her, and that this change was but the first in an infinite series." This first mention of time describes it as infinite then, as the aleph is mentioned, the narrator sees time and space as a single point just as many cultures have describe God's view of the world. This may be a symbolic jab at religion that a common man in the story is able to view the world through God's eyes just by finding the right spot.
It seemed strange to me that Borges even took Mr. Argentino seriously at all, because he called Borges with a crazy and unrealistic story and then locked him in his basement. This is clearly a magic realist element to the story. Also, the fact that Borges chose to name the character Carlos Argentino may shed some light on a potential commentary on Argentine society. Mr. Argentino is bullied by wealthy businessmen into giving up his house as his city booms and develops around him. This also may relate to the concept of land ownership which has always been a popular theme in Latin American history.
In the short story the Aleph by Borges, the main aspects of magical realism include the concept of time as one, and the theme of a God-like level of omniscience. There is also a bizarre nature to the interactions between characters and some potential political/societal commentary is expressed subtly at times.
ReplyDeleteThe first theme to strike me was that of time. The narrator greives the loss of a loved one and wishes to keep the world exactly as it was when she left it however, he notes disappointedly that only a day later, "the vast unceasing universe was already growing away from her, and that this change was but the first in an infinite series." This first mention of time describes it as infinite then, as the aleph is mentioned, the narrator sees time and space as a single point just as many cultures have described God's view of the world. This may be a symbolic jab at religion that a common man in the story is able to view the world through God's eyes just by finding the right spot.
It seemed strange to me that Borges even took Mr. Argentino seriously at all, because he called Borges with a crazy and unrealistic story and then locked him in his basement. This is clearly a magic realist element to the story. Also, the fact that Borges chose to name the character Carlos Argentino may shed some light on a potential commentary on Argentine society. Mr. Argentino is bullied by wealthy businessmen into giving up his house as his city booms and develops around him. This also may relate to the concept of land ownership which has always been a popular theme in Latin American history. Mr. Argentino is symbolic of the common latin-american man being abused by a corrupt upper class and marginalized in his new society.