In the short story Aura, Fuentes attaches magic realist devices to many binaries such as what is imagines and what is real, youth and age, and finally time. Throughout this short story Fuentes manages to blur the line between past, present and future. One example of how time is blurred in this story is when Felipe is trying to find Consuelo’s house the numbers skip and are not in order which gives the reader a feeling as if Felipe was walking through and present and past at the same time.
What is real and what is imagined is very unclear to the reader which gives the story a sense of mystery. The most prevalent idea of reality and imagination is Aura. It is unclear of whether or not Aura is real. She seems to mimic everything Consuelo does to a point where it seems unreal. Another more obvious example is when Felipe asks about the garden and Consuelo states that there hasn’t been a garden for a long time.
Lastly, youth and age, another binary infused with magic realism, is very important in this short story. Consuelo seems to control every move that Aura does. To the reader it seems as though Consuelo yearns to be Aura. At the end of the story Felipe thinks he is being intimate Aura in all reality he is with Consuelo. This also plays into what is real and what is imagined. Up until the end of the story it is still unclear.
By infusing binaries such as time with magic realism, Fuentes is critiquing Mexico and its failure to improve. He wants to tell the reader that Mexico has yet to progress. Fuentes also hints at religion throughout this story and how strong religion is in Mexico.
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