Blow Up - SK

Cortazar's short story Blow Up and Antonioni's film both use similar magic realist devices. Cyclical time together with imaginary reality is present in both works. In the text, the narrator speaks his inner thoughts in first person, and switches back and forth to third person whenever he refers to himself as "Roberto Michel". The movie starts and ends off with a truck full of mime lookalikes that have nothing to do with the storyline, other than create a fusion between reality and imaginary worlds. We see Michel drive around in his convertible Rolls Royce, buying exotic antiques that taking pictures of models in his studio, and can spend a night dressed as an outcast, shooting distinct photographs of poor homeless people. He uses his camera which is an important device which he puts his creative mind and eye to see the unreal and real world. In the end, Michel uses his imagination to make the imaginary game of tennis seem real. The author Cortazar used many elements in his book such as the cyclical of time, and parallel worlds, and entering the minds of others through Michel's thoughts in how he perceives them. Cortazar pushes all boundaries to the point where it can be all tangled up and seem like a dream. Both works share magical elements that sends the reader/viewer beyond what they think is real.

Blow Up RC

Between Cortazar’s short story and Antonioni’s film of Blow Up , magic realist devices such as cyclical time and reality and what is imaginary are present in both works. In the short story the reader is being introduced to different events in what seems to be out of order. In the film the people with painted faces are shown several times throughout the movie doing the same thing which makes it feel as though time is either repeating itself or time is at a standstill because their actions do not change. Reality/imagination is another magic realist device that is prevalent in both works. Although the plots are a little different, both of these works use this device in the same way. In Cortazar’s short story the reader is introduced to characters and scenarios, but at many instances it is unclear of what is real and what the main character is experiencing through his camera lens or via his imagination. At many times in both the film and short story the main character starts to create imagined scenarios of what he believes are possible series of events. The main points of incorporating these magic realist devices are to show the power of one’s imagination. In both these works the camera plays a big role as a vehicle to ones imagination.

MRB - Blow

In the story by Cortazar, the use of the binary, dreams/reality, is very prevalent throughout. The narrator often goes off into the world of his imagination and fuses this world together with the reality that is laid before his eyes. For example he says, “I imagined the possible ending, I saw their arrival at the house…I set the scene: teasing kisses, the woman mildly repelling the hands which were trying to undress her, like in novels, on a bed that would have lilac-colored comforter (123).” This man does not even know whether or not these two people are a couple and yet he is imagining a sex scene between the two as if that was truly what he was watching. This same sense of dreams vs reality is used by Antonio in the film by having the people with the white faces appear every once in a while running through the streets and they seem to go unnoticed by the normal people in the town. I believe Antonioni does this in an attempt to fuse together the parallel worlds of dreams and reality. The comforter’s that Michel imagines the couple he is viewing to be laying on is a lilac. This color lilac is also used a lot in Antonioni’s movie. It is seen on door to Thomas’ dark room, as well on one of his background posters in his studio.
Another device used by both Cortazar and Antonioni is cyclical time which fuses together the past with the present. In the story, the narrator refers to himself as the photographer, then refers to Michel as the photographer. This continual switch between the first and third person when referring to the photographer makes the reader assume that time is not a factor and life of a past photographer (the narrator) is now fused with, “Roberto Michel, French-Chilean translator and in his spare time an amateur photographer (116).” In the movie, I believe the Antique shop is also a device used to represent the binary of fusing the past with the present. The antique shop is a place that is filled with old objects that are waiting to be bought and put to use by a new person in a new life. For these antiques, time is cyclical because once the first owner used them, then sold them, then a new owner will buy them and this process repeats itself. Also, the first time Thomas went to the antique shop, there were two men standing outside of it. One was an old man, the other was young, but they were both dressed similarly and were walking the exact same dog. This represents another fusion of past with present.
Finally, I believe that title, Blow-Up, is also a device used to represent magical realism in the story and film. Both the story and the film use the title as a way to represent the pictures they took, which they chose to enlarge or Blow Up in size. If the pictures taken by Thomas had not been blown up then he never would have discovered that murder. In the story, I believe the title even has a second meaning as well. This second meaning is displayed when the women & the man in the grey suit run over to the narrator and begin yelling at him. Before they noticed he was taking pictures, the scene was quiet and serene. But when the woman began noticing Michel, and the man in the car noticed as well, the quiet that once was quickly blew up in Michel’s face and the scene had become a frantic fight for the pictures.

PCM- Cortazar

Both the movie and the short story Blow Up possess few similarities in their composition and are less related than one might think. The one glaring commonality is the use of magical realist devices in both the text and the film. Each respective piece centers around a fusion of time of the past and present, where the reader is introduced to events and ideas that are seamlessly tied together by Cortazar. The writer transitions from past to present and back again with regularity and permits the reader access to scenarios that are arguably fictitious in nature. That brings us to the second binary of real versus imaginary. Cortazar uses this binary to provide immense amounts of detail in the text and introduce plausible situations that are merely insinuations of the narrator. Throughout the text for example, he provides intimate details of the characters thoughts that are being collected together by someone who does not have access to the characters thoughts, but is simply making inferences based upon what he is observing. The movie makes use of this as well by having characters partake in situations where things are not real. Cortazar's work is very descriptive and effectively uses other literary elements to provide a story that is both captivating and intriguing. He pushes the reader to the point of confusion through his use of magical realist devices and provides a feeling of "back and forth" when it comes to the character's thoughts and opinions. This sense of back and forth is further supported through the fusion of time.

AWR- Blow-Up

Although Julio Cortazar and Michelangelo Antonioni have a different plot in their respective versions of Blow-Up, both the story and the movie concentrate on similar magical realistic devices. Cortazar and Antonioni emphasize concepts such as the nature of reality, parallel worlds, and cyclical time in order to exemplify magical realism. The main similarity between the protagonist in both the movie and the story is the how the photographer is able to go into a deep analysis of why he sees things the way that he does. When he was taking pictures in the park of the man and woman, he continuously kept coming up with imaginary scenarios based off of their slightest actions. The photographer has a keen eye scenes that are picturesque. Even though he may not fully understand the true meaning of something that he is taking a picture of, he uses his imagination in order to come up with his own explanation. Because of this ability of the photographer to see beyond what is solely in front of him, the idea of parallel worlds is displayed. The best example of this is the people with the white faces in the movie who randomly are shown. These people are constantly running around in the movie doing random things, and when the photographer runs into them, he tries to interpret what these people are really doing. After watching these people play imaginary tennis at the end of the movie for a little while, he was eventually able to see them playing real tennis after using his imagination. The idea of using one's imagination to see a parallel world is big in Blow-Up. Although cyclical time isn't the biggest concept in Blow-Up, it is most certainly present. The entire story/movie is quite repetitive, as all the photographer does is go from scene to scene, taking pictures of whatever he desires. There is no huge plot that unravels as the movie progresses, it just repeats itself. Antonioni incorporates cyclical time to show how there is no boundary between the past and present when it comes to one's imagination.

Blow Up - JPA

Two magical realism devices that are presented in both the movie and the story are parallel worlds and the nature of reality as seen through imagination. In the short story, Cortazar is able to create parallel worlds between the realities and photo where the characters are able to act with imaginary personalities which we cannot know for sure if they are real. The other device used is the nature of reality. In both the movie and short story the characters use their imaginations and to magical things during their everyday lives. It is our job to find the reality in the things they are doing. For example, at the end of the movie when they are playing tennis with an imaginary ball Thomas must believe that the ball is actually there before he can “enjoy” the game being played even though it is all in their imaginations. In the story, the characters trespass through different imaginary worlds during different periods of time as the story evolves bringing about the questioning of what in the story is real and what is imaginary.

neb. blow-up

       Julio Cortazar and Michelangelo Antonioni have similarities and differences in their uses of Magic Realism for their works; the short story and the movie respectively. The binaries used are: real and imaginary, life and death, and past and present fused.

          Firstly, in Cortazar’s story the protagonist trespasses the boundaries of time, different imaginary worlds, and the binary of life and death as the story evolves. On the other hand, in Antonioni’s movie the main character appears as it is from the beginning and he does not change worlds, or travels in time. To illustrate, his blue house in contrast with all the red houses surrounded it can be a sign that the protagonist personality is a little arrogant and distant. Another example can be that in the first scenes of the movie when he is in his photo studio, the way he treats his models gives the reader an assumption that he might be a ''womanizer/player''.

      Secondly, in Cortazar’s story the narrator is the one who reveals the plot and the imaginary worlds, entirely under his point of view, based only on his "mental work" as: assumptions, reflections, interpretations, etc. Similarly, the movie of Antonioni also gives great importance to the unsaid, with long silences and a emphasis on non-verbal gestures. Another important point in the Cortazar’s story is that there are three narrators of the plot. First is the authorial narrator in first person (which does the reflections). The second one is in third person (to present Roberto Michel). Lastly, an ultimate first-person narrator, which participates in the events associated with Roberto Michel. Quoting Cortazar to illustrate this: ‘’It’ll never be known how this has to be told, in the frist person or in the second, using the third person plural or continually inventing modes that will serve for nothing’’. This is a very unusual way to begin a story but yet this way to attract the attention of the reader creating new realities is a very important aspect of Magic Realism.

Thirdly, there are different worlds in Cortazar’s story, which is another characteristic of Magic Realism. The three narrators are interchangeable and there is a possibility that both first-person narrators are the same. In contrast, in the movie from the beginning, there is only one world and everything revolves around that one character.

Blow Up- ERK

Between the movie "Blow Up" and the short story by Julio Cortazar, there are few similarities in plot. However, the underlying magical realist themes and devices of the two works are very similar. Both examine the nature of reality by exploring the magic in every day life and by challenging our conventional understandings of reality through their analysis of the cyclical nature of time and by questioning what is real. In the story, Cortazar explains that what makes reality real is how it is observed, he cites how if he goes, his remington will "sit turned to stone on top of the table" to explain that existence is in the eye of the beholder. Similarly, in the movie, the white-faced people are playing tenis at the end with a ball that is not real, but when Thomas decides to believe in it, the tenis game becomes real and observable to him. Also, the cyclical nature of time is demonstrated in both works while Cortazar indicates that he is "not afraid of repeating [himself]," Antonioni chooses to demonstrate the cyclical nature of time through the consistency of events such as the appearances of the white-faced people, and the monotony of Thomas' everyday life demonstrated through his time at work and his social interactions with women. In addition, the concept of parallel worlds is also demonstrated in the movie by the clear disconnect between the white-faced people and normal society and also in the story by the analysis of photography, the author is able to create parallel worlds between reality and the photo where the characters take on imaginary roles and personalities that we cannot know are real.

SK - Enormous Wings

“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” is one of the most well-known examples of the magical realist style, combining the homely details of Pelayo and Elisenda’s life with fantastic elements such as a flying man and a spider woman to create a tone of equal parts local-color story and fairy tale. From the beginning of the story, García Márquez’s style comes through in his unusual, almost fairy tale–like description of the relentless rain: “The world had been sad since Tuesday.” There is a mingling of the fantastic and ordinary in all the descriptions, including the swarms of crabs that invade Pelayo and Elisenda’s home and the muddy sand of the beach that in the rainy grayness looks “like powdered light.” It is in this strange, highly textured, dreamlike setting that the old winged man appears, a living myth, who is nevertheless covered in lice and dressed in rags.

Enormous Wings-jlg

Marquez using the binaries of dream vs reality in this story as one of the main binaries to criticize religion in Latin American culture. We have the imaginary and reality living in the same setting. This fallen man in their yard is said to be an angel. They pay no attention to him, except to make money off him by having people pay to come see him as if he is a member of the circus. On page 203 is says that “the light was so weak at noon that when Pelayo was coming back to the house after throwing away the crabs, it was hard for him to see what is was that was moving and groaning in the rear of the courtyard.” This sense of darkness contradicts what we would normally associate with an angel. When I think of angels I think of bright lights. But here we have a fallen angel associated with the weak light. I see criticism of religion first when keep this angel, who is supposedly to be one of gods messengers, in a chicken coop, and charge people to come see him “as if he weren’t a supernatural creature but a circus animal.”(205) We see greed and selfishness here, they are mistreating this supernatural being for some money. Then I see criticism of the church when the Father Gonzaga comes to the chicken coop. Because the angel does not understand Latin , the priest’s “first suspicion of an impostor when he saw he did not understand the language of God” (205) , he also says that the angel looks to much human, he smelt and his feathers had been mistreated. The priest then “warned the curious against the risks of being ingenuous. He reminded them that eh devil had the bad habit of making use of carnival tricks in order to confuse the unwary.” (206) As a priest the father should have seen this angle as a sign from god, as supernatural figure, but instead he doubts the angles existence as an angel. Everyone was a nonbeliever, but in the end they are all proven wrong. They were all so focused on his appearance they did not recognize that he “seemed to be in so many places at the same time that they grew to think that he’d been duplicated, that he was reproducing himself all through the house”(209) or his strength to survive the “worst winter”. They had all doubted this religious being, their biggest worry was that they did not know what to do with him if he died, and in the end when he regains strength and flies away everyone was proven wrong and all have lost the opportunity to appreciate somewhat of a miracle, something that they will never be able to see again. No one followed had faith in their religion and truly believed his existence as an angel, not even the priest.

AWR- Wings

"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings" by Garcia Marquez incorporates the binary of dreams vs reality in attempt to deliver a message to the reader about Latin American culture. Going deeper into the binary of dreams vs reality, this short story is more specifically about human vs creature.

The story begins on a rainy day when Pelayo and Elisenda notice a man with wings laying face down in the mud. Pelayo and his wife believe that it is an angel laying face down in the mud, and eventually the news spreads throughout the town. People from all over come to see the angel, but the crowd loses interest immediately because he doesn't perform any miracles for them, he doesn't communicate with anyone, and he seems pretty lifeless. Growing tired of boredom, the people humiliate the angel by throwing things at him and treating him with no respect. What Marquez is trying to say here is how the people of Latin America have lost faith in religion. In angel is a symbol of heaven, and by the people disrepecting it in such a way, Marquez is referring to the corruption of the church.

Another example of this lost faith is the way Father Gonzaga behaves towards the angel. One would assume that out of all people, a Father would show some respect towards an angel if he came across one. That was not the case in the story because Father Gonzaga sends a letter to Rome asking what to do with this man/creature. Why would a member of the church ever question the sight of an angel? Again, Marquez is making a statement about religious corruption in Latin American culture.

Although there was some debate as to whether or not the angel was really an angel or a human, nobody argues whether or not the girl later in the story was really a creature. This girl shows up near the end of the story with the body of a spider. One day she disobeyed her parents and they had her turned into a spider as punishment. Perhaps this part of the story represents a strict society in Latin American culture when it comes to obedience in the family. Respecting one's elders is the idea that one gets from learning about the story of this girl.

This girl also contributes to the idea of lost faith in the church because at first, everybody in town paid a small fee to see the angel. But once the spider was introduced, the people lost all interest in the angel and wanted to see the spider. The people losing interest in the angel is symbolic of people losing religious faith.

By incorporating the angel and the spider/girl in the short story, Garcia Marquez makes it clear that she is focusing on the binary of dreams vs reality. The people questioned whether or not the angel was really an angel, but they had no doubt that the spider was a creature. These ideas are emphasized by the author because they show how Latin American culture feels about religion.

Wings- ERK

In the story of "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings," Garcia Marquez seems to mainly be trying to comment on religion. It is obvious first by the fact that an angel is used as the main focus of the story. This is also a magical realist element that Pelayo discovers and angel in his yard and does not act astonished. A normal person would most likely faint or at least question their sanity if they were to discover a winged man. Pelayo's first encounter is strangely referred to as a "nightmare" (204). Before the old man arrives, Pelayo's child is sick, after his arrival, the child gets better. This could be a very subtle miracle. Later, the church becomes involved through Father Gonzaga who determines that the old man is not an angel, because he does not speak latin. This is an obvious criticism of the church and leaves us asking "who does this priest think he is?!" The man is clearly an angel however, the priest refuses to acknowledge this. This may suggest the Church's lack of legitimacy as representatives for God. Later, the people began to profit from displaying the angel which may indicate the people's greed and disregard for what is sacred. Also, the people even contemplated beating the angel to death.
Later as Pelayo profited from the angel, he installed bars on his windows to keep the angels out. This may be a parody of the Church and their disconnect with God. At the end of the story, the Angel recovers and flies away, and Elsienda sees it as "an imaginary doet on the horizon" indicating that she had begun to doubt whether the angel every existed.
The angel also seems to follow an exact parallel of the story of Jesus. He arrives from heaven and is humble and lowly. He is mistreated by man, but his greatest virtue seems to be patience; like Jesus, the angel never runs out of patience. He is doubted by the dominant religious figures at the time and he is mistreated by the common people. Those who he is closest with come to profit from him and later betray him (by putting up bars on their windows) like the Church. When Elsienda thinks he is dead, he flies away, this is similar to Jesus rising from the dead and returning to heaven.

Wings-JPA

In “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Marquez, the author uses the binary of dreams vs. reality to describe the society and religious culture of the people of Latin America. The story begins with a rainy day where Pelayo and his wife find an old man with wings that fell with the rain. The two determine that this man must be an angel and as soon as the town people hear of this they come to see it for themselves. When they people see this, they all believe that it is an angel except for the priest because this old man does not look like the typical angel. The people all try to get the angel to complete miracles for them. This shows that the culture of Latin America has a lot of faith in their religion and they actually believe that the angel is capable of completing these miracles.

Later in the story a spider appears and the girls explains that she had disobeyed her parents and she was turned into a giant spider. This is a way to show the strict households in Latin America in a very unrealistic fashion. Children in this culture are supposed to listen and obey their parents in all situations and consequences will occur if the children do not follow the rules.

These two “magical” creatures that appear in this story do a great job of showing the religious and family culture of Latin America. The people in this culture are very religious because they believe in the angel; however the priest not believing in the angel simply because of his looks shows the corruption in the church. Also, the giant spider shows the respect the children are supposed to show for their elders at all times.

neb- wings

Marquez combines binaries of Magic Realism to criticize the oddity in the culture and religion structures of the society. The binary used throughout the entire story is dream and reality. Pelayo, a man in a fishing village found an old man with wings who fell from heaven with the rain. Pelayo and his wife believed that the old man was an angel. The news of the arrival of this angel brought the attention of lots of people who would do anything in order to see him.

Everybody believes that he was an angel except from the priest. Anyhow nobody pay much attention to the priest opinion and keep asking this angel for miracles. Suddently in the plot a woman who had turned into a spider for having disobeyed her parents appeared. This along with certain demands (miracles) that the angel did not met, made the attention to shift from the angel to the spiderwoman.

There can be a few reasons why Marquez would write this Magic Realistic novel. First, it shows the superficiality of some people, in this case the priest who believed that the man was not an angel because of his appereance.

Secondly the concept of faith, people truly believe that the man is an angel, and come from all over the town to seek miracles from him.

Third it can also be a way of showing how desperate lower class people are in order to improve their conditions. This is shown by the way the owners of the house start charging every person to see the angel. They seize the opportunity they had to get rich.

Wings - MRB

In the story, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” Garcia Marquez fuses dreams with reality and uses religion as a device to ridicule religion in Latin American culture and illustrate fraudulent it has become. Throughout the entire story, the Angel, who is normally a revered symbol of religion, is seen as a disheveled, pitiful old man. The idea that an angel has actually fallen from the sky and is now stuck with the mortals is one of the elements used by Marquez as a fusion of dreams/reality. When news of the angel reaches the townspeople, they all flock to the chicken coop where he is being help in order to see him with their own eyes. Upon sight, most of them are displeased and even begin to harass this divine being, treating him, “as if he weren’t a supernatural creature but a circus animal (205).” Eventually the town’s priest comes to see this creature, but he too is a non-believer simply because the angel does not know the proper way to great his ministers. Because everyone was unsure what to do with the angel, Father Gonzaga chose to merely write a letter to Rome and have them decide. Unfortunately, “the mail from Rome showed no sense of urgency.” Marquez does this to show his disdain for the Latin American religion. A priest has the once in a lifetime opportunity to be with an angel and all he does is write a letter, he doesn’t try to help it, he doesn’t even show sympathy to towards it. Pelayo and Elisenda eventually begin charging people to see the locked up creature, further exemplifying the theme of disgracing religion.
Marquez continues his theme of dreams vs. reality when the girl who is a giant spider shows up. The girl claimed that she disobeyed her parents one night and was turned into this spider because of it. All of the townspeople eventually forget about the angel and quickly focus on the giant spider. The reality that this girl was turned into a spider because she disobeyed her parents is a reflection on Latin American cultures where it is very common to see overly strict parents who fully expect their children to obey them. This is not seen as much with the American parents who have a tendency to be more lenient or not care as much.
In the end, the Angel recovers and eventually flies away. This reveals that all of the townspeople were wrong in doubting this holy creature, especially Father who should have stopped the circus act surround this creature’s well being as soon as it started. These so called religious followers should have cared for the Angel and helped him regain his dignity.

PCM- Enormous wings

The story begins with a rain falling down which appears to be a continuous element in Marques’s work. The text is about a creature that is found face first in the mud that is best described as a man with wings. This idea of a creature that embodies physical characteristics such as a human appearance and wings is a common element of magical realism. Utilizing the binary of human versus inhuman creates both a sympathy towards the man and a sense of curiosity for the reader. Marques also introduces another creature, a female, who had been transformed into a tarantula as a consequence for being disobedient to her parents. This creature may signify a cultural norm of reverence for one’s elders or parents. This story in particular discusses a number of religious elements, all of which in a negative connotation. An “angel” is usually regarded with humility and unfailing respect but we find the other characters in the text paying little to no respect to this creature. In fact, the angel is set up as a means of making a profit for Pelayo and Elisenda where people from around the area can pay money to be spectators. Further degradation of religion is illustrated in two other instances: the first is through the failure of the church to respond to Father Gonzaga and the second is the townspeople’s interest in the tarantula over the angel. Their also seems to be a passive connotation given to religion as despite vehement tormenting, the angel remains patient and tolerant. This profiteering that occurs as the expense of the angel demonstrates a blatant demonstration of Marques’s opinion of the church. This story utilizes the binaries of religion vs. man and creatures vs. man to illustrate several characteristics of Latin American culture.

A Very Old man RC

“A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Garcia Marquez, is a short story infused with elements of reality and fantasy. The story originally meant to be a tale for children also challenges the mentality of any adult. Marquez combines the aspects of reality in everyday life with fantasy. After days of a rain an old angel lands down in a town, surprising the townspeople. Pelayo and Elisenda, the first to witness the angel in their home, ask help from the wise neighbor who is quick to say the old man is an angel who must have been coming for the sick child. Soon enough the whole town is coming to watch the angel who is now treated as an outcast. Father Gonzaga is called upon and decides that this is no angel and that he is an imposter stating that “nothing about him measured up to the proud dignity of angels (205)”. In this short story the line between magic and reality is blurred throughout the entire story and at the same time the reader feel as though a fairy tale is being told. The simplest example of this is the fact that the angel looks so human that they believe he might not even be an angel. Also the fact that no one is able to understand him not even Father Gonzaga. Overall, the use of magic realism in this short story is mainly used to challenge the way we see the world and how we make sense of it, especially via religion.