Magical realism can be seen in this story through binaries such as male and female, real and imaginary, timelessness or infinity and through the proximity if the object as spiritual creation.
The connection that Ramon makes between Elisa and the painting of the Mona Lisa has to do with magical realism and the proximity of an object as spiritual creation. Roh states from the magical realism packet, “Painting now seems to feel the reality of the object and of space, not like copies of nature but like another creation” on page 23. Elisa is another creation of the Mona Lisa. On page 50, Ramon draws the comparison between the Mona Lisa painting and Elisa in this quote, “That woman, with her straight, dark reddish hair and perfect features, with one hand placed delicately over the other wrist, was smiling almost impudently, against a background that seemed to be a road leading to a misty lake.” On page 56 and 57 Ramon declares that Elisa and the Mona Lisa painting are the same thing and need each other in order for the other to exist. This painting of the Mona Lisa has a background that appears timeless, and infinite with atmospheric light that gives the impression of being changeable. Like the Mona Lisa, Elisa is changeable, because she is a man and a woman, a real person and a figment of his imagination, and she is timeless and infinite (these are two key words of magical realism). On page 43, Ramon writes, “I…watched her vanish in the glow of the morning mist, following a yellow path that disappeared among trees.” If you look at a picture of the Mona Lisa, you will see the glow of her face giving her an almost magical quality like that of the face of Elisa and in the Mona Lisa, you will see a yellow path in the background which disappears among the trees like the scene that Ramon describes with Elisa. Elisa also resembles the painting of the Mona Lisa, because like the beautiful and perfect picture of the Mona Lisa, Elisa is also beautiful and perfect. On page 37, Ramon writes about Elisa’s beautiful long hair like that of the Mona Lisa and talks about her perfect features such as her nose like that of a painting. On page 44, Ramon states, “Her bottom, her back, her shoulders, her neck, everything was perfect.” Elisa has perfect features like that of a painting. Not only does Elisa resemble the object of a painting, but she possesses this spirituality of an animal as well. She is a person, a painting and an animal all in one. On page 39, Ramon mistakes Elisa to be an animal which can be seen in this quote, “I remember one point a strange sensation of having close to my lips the thick underlip of some animal.”
Timelessness and infinity is an important part of magical realism and this can be seen in this story. Elisa has infinite knowledge of architecture and knowledge and she knows how to fix motorcycles and can do it in the blink of an eye. On page 35 Ramon states, “She knows where I am and any moment now will come to destroy me.” This statement makes Elisa seems immortal, infinite and timeless as if she knows everything and is always there. On page 36 Ramon states, “I am saying she, and perhaps I should say he, though I do not know what to call that thing.” Elisa is infinite in being. She is human in both male and female form and she is nonhuman as well for she is an object and an animal. She is every being in one body. On page 64, Ramon states, “But she was everywhere.” This represents timelessness and infinity, because Elisa is all around him all of the time.
The binary of real and imaginary can be seen in this story as well. On page 43, Ramon states, “She had fallen asleep, but her eyes did not remain closed for long. Suddenly I saw them disappear.” Elisa’s eyes disappeared from her face which makes you think if this really happened or if this is just Ramon’s imagination. On page 39 Ramon thinks he sees “an intense glow radiating from the tallest buildings,” but is eleven o’clock in the morning when there are no lights, only sunlight. Is there really a glow of light from the buildings or is Ramon just imagining it? On page 44 Ramon states, “Except that her body had no head.” How can a body have no head? On page 51, Ramon states, “I held her gaze and discovered that Elisa’s eyes had no eyelashes; she had the eyes of a serpent.” No human being has snake eyes so this must not be real. In the bible, the serpent tempted Eve, so Ramon might be comparing Elisa’s eyes to that of the serpent in the bible, because Elisa has tempted Ramon.
The binary of male and female is apparent in this story and on account of this binary, the reader can draw a comparison with his persecution for homosexuality in Cuba. Ramon likes men and is attracted to them so this makes the reader second guess whether or not Elisa is a male or a female. On page 40 Ramon states, “One of her shoulders seemed to bulge out sharply, as if the bone were out of joint and in the shape of a hook.” This description of Elisa by Ramon makes her seem like she has the body built of a man. On page 38, Ramon states, “She would begin a word in a very soft, feminine tone and end it in a heavy voice, almost masculine.” This quote contributes to the idea that Elisa is both a man and a woman. On page 49, Ramon states, “At dawn, when I again started an attack, sliding over her naked body, I saw that Elisa had no breasts.” At this moment, Elisa is like a man, because she has no breasts. Ramon discovers that Elisa is both a man and a woman on page 57. On page 41, Ramon writes, “Once, instead of her face, I thought I saw the face of a horrible old man.” I think that Ramon was insecure with his homosexuality and although he wanted to see the face of a handsome man in Elisa, he made the image instead be an unappealing and ugly man. He did this, because he knows deep down inside of him that it is wrong to be attracted to the same sex, so he makes this man that he sees in Elisa to be unappealing in order to convince himself that men are unattractive and are not beautiful. On page 62, Daniel is sucking his dick and to me it seems like the sexual encounter was mutual, but Ramon makes it seem like he was appalled by the situation even though I think he secretly enjoyed it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Mona encompasses magical realism and this can be seen in binaries such as male and female, real and imaginary, timelessness or infinity and through the proximity if the object as spiritual creation.
ReplyDeleteThe footnotes add to the magical realism aspect of the story. The purpose of the footnotes was to better tell the story. Ramon says that the Mona Lisa is in the metropolitan museum, even though the Mona Lisa is not really located there but instead is in Paris. He also uses the footnotes to give authority and present the reader with evidence. Moreover, the footnotes give the story agency by investing power with the editors and everything else to make the story seem credible on account of it being so outrageous.
This story is about art. It is about the artist living on through his work and the art living on after the artist. Ramon is afraid that his art will not live on after he dies. Thus, throughout the story he gives life to his art and makes it seem real and powerful as if it will withstand the test of time. Roh states from the magical realism packet, “Painting now seems to feel the reality of the object and of space, not like copies of nature but like another creation” on page 23. Elisa is another creation of the Mona Lisa. On page 50, Ramon draws the comparison between the Mona Lisa painting and Elisa in this quote, “That woman, with her straight, dark reddish hair and perfect features, with one hand placed delicately over the other wrist, was smiling almost impudently, against a background that seemed to be a road leading to a misty lake.” On page 56 and 57 Ramon declares that Elisa and the Mona Lisa painting are the same thing and need each other in order for the other to exist. This painting of the Mona Lisa has a background that appears timeless, and infinite with atmospheric light that gives the impression of being changeable. Like the Mona Lisa, Elisa is changeable, because she is a man and a woman, a real person and a figment of his imagination, and she is timeless and infinite (these are two key words of magical realism). On page 43, Ramon writes, “I…watched her vanish in the glow of the morning mist, following a yellow path that disappeared among trees.” If you look at a picture of the Mona Lisa, you will see the glow of her face giving her an almost magical quality like that of the face of Elisa and in the Mona Lisa, you will see a yellow path in the background which disappears among the trees like the scene that Ramon describes with Elisa. Elisa also resembles the painting of the Mona Lisa, because like the beautiful and perfect picture of the Mona Lisa, Elisa is also beautiful and perfect. On page 37, Ramon writes about Elisa’s beautiful long hair like that of the Mona Lisa and talks about her perfect features such as her nose like that of a painting. On page 44, Ramon states, “Her bottom, her back, her shoulders, her neck, everything was perfect.” Elisa has perfect features like that of a painting. Not only does Elisa resemble the object of a painting, but she possesses this spirituality of an animal as well. She is a person, a painting and an animal all in one. On page 39, Ramon mistakes Elisa to be an animal which can be seen in this quote, “I remember one point a strange sensation of having close to my lips the thick underlip of some animal.”
ReplyDeleteTimelessness and infinity is an important part of magical realism and this can be seen in this story. Elisa has infinite knowledge of architecture and knowledge and she knows how to fix motorcycles and can do it in the blink of an eye. On page 35 Ramon states, “She knows where I am and any moment now will come to destroy me.” This statement makes Elisa seem immortal, infinite and timeless as if she knows everything and is always there. On page 36 Ramon states, “I am saying she, and perhaps I should say he, though I do not know what to call that thing.” Elisa is infinite in being. She is human in both male and female form and she is nonhuman as well for she is an object and an animal. She is every being in one body. On page 64, Ramon states, “But she was everywhere.” This represents timelessness and infinity, because Elisa is all around him all of the time.
ReplyDeleteThe binary of real and imaginary can be seen in this story as well. On page 43, Ramon states, “She had fallen asleep, but her eyes did not remain closed for long. Suddenly I saw them disappear.” Elisa’s eyes disappeared from her face which makes you think if this really happened or if this is just Ramon’s imagination. On page 39 Ramon thinks he sees “an intense glow radiating from the tallest buildings,” but is eleven o’clock in the morning when there are no lights, only sunlight. Is there really a glow of light from the buildings or is Ramon just imagining it? On page 44 Ramon states, “Except that her body had no head.” How can a body have no head? On page 51, Ramon states, “I held her gaze and discovered that Elisa’s eyes had no eyelashes; she had the eyes of a serpent.” No human being has snake eyes so this must not be real. In the bible, the serpent tempted Eve, so Ramon might be comparing Elisa’s eyes to that of the serpent in the bible, because Elisa has tempted Ramon.
The binary of male and female is apparent in this story and on account of this binary. He wants to eradicate that someone has just manly features or just feminine features. Thus, he makes innuendos throughout the story that although Elisa is a woman and has feminine features, she has masculine features as well. On page 40 Ramon states, “One of her shoulders seemed to bulge out sharply, as if the bone were out of joint and in the shape of a hook.” This description of Elisa by Ramon makes her seem like she has the body built of a man. On page 38, Ramon states, “She would begin a word in a very soft, feminine tone and end it in a heavy voice, almost masculine.” This quote contributes to the idea that Elisa is both a man and a woman. On page 49, Ramon states, “At dawn, when I again started an attack, sliding over her naked body, I saw that Elisa had no breasts.” At this moment, Elisa is like a man, because she has no breasts. Ramon discovers that Elisa is both a man and a woman on page 57.