Two short stories of both the
writers are used in this essay. The story of “The Utopia of a tired man” by Jorge Luis Borges and “The Incredible and Sad Tale of
Innocent Erendira and Her Heartless Grandmother” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. These two
stories of both the writers are utilized to don the comparison and show that
how they used magic realism in their works. Both the stories have different
topics and themes and both have different things to explain in the stories but
both the writers have used magical realism in their stories but in a different
way. As magic realism can be described
in many different ways: it can be fantasies and the myths as well as it can be
beliefs, traditions and culture of an area and every area have different
beliefs and cultures and the concept of magic realism is different in different
areas and parts of the world.
In the story of the Utopia of a
tired man the writer has been in a fantasy and describing the world with his
own imagination’s and fanaticizing it as he was travelling between sand dunes
and mountains and suddenly he met a future person who has described the harsh
reality of the future and has predicted the future. The tone or the theme used
in the poem is forbidding as it is a warning for the generation of the future
and the change in the human beings and their behavior, a prediction of the
future is described in this poem because the writer has used the magical
realism in is poem. Some views from different writers have been analyzed for
this essay. Jean Fransco has analyzed the story “The Utopia of a tired man”, he
said that this story has defined different view of the future and how the
person has travelled so far in the sand dunes and met a person of the future,
the critic says that there is a disadvantage of using the fiction and magical
realism in his poem and that is the persons reading the poems then does not
believe on the reality and it detaches the reader as well from the effects of
the knowledge that he can gain if he does not read a story that fakes the reality. (Franco, 1981)
And the most powerful thing in the story of
Borges is the community and the enigma and the rivalry of the people living in
the different communities. In his poem, the poet has discussed about how the
community will be in the future and what are the dangers in the future
regarding the people and the traditions, cultures and the beliefs. As well as
he has disused about different civilizations and different cultures of
different countries and how the civilized has become barbarian and how the
barbarian has become civilized, yet Borges has defined a myth with such
enthusiasm and connecting it with the reality, that the story seems so powerful
and related to the original world. Another writer who has given a review on
this story defined it as an imaginative tale, in which Borges has defined the
tales with his own imagination and has developed a story that has magical
realism. (The New Yorker, 1975)
And in this story Borges has meet
a person who is the man of the future and the person lives in his own
imagination. As the title of the story defines “The Utopia of a tried man”,
shows that the tired man has living in his own imagination due to the stress
from the world and the imperfect things that happen in the world so the person
has developed his own imaginative world in which all the things are prefect and
nothing in that world is creating a disturbance or problem in the life of the
future man. Borges has well defined the personality of the man and the feelings
he had, he has well executed the character in those words written in the poem,
as the future man s living his own life, believing that the human has a control
over their own deaths and the lives. Borges has defined a mythical story, in
which the belief of the future man has been defined in the story and these all
things make this story a magical realism. (Franco, 1981)
According to another review, In
the story of the Utopia of a tired man, the person who is travelling has found
himself in a world that is new to him and that is unrecognizable for him. In
this story, the traveler met a future man who has its own ideas, thoughts and perceptions
and who sees the world in a different way. As in this story the political
legitimacy and the cultural inclusiveness both is discussed as different there
is discussion about the different languages and different cultures and
different political administrations and some dangers of the future that how
will be the world in the future. So, this story is all based on the predictions
and imaginations and how the world was in the past and how it will be in the
future, how the people in the past act and what kind of people were in the past
and what kind of people will be in the future. And when a person is in
imagination, facts do not exist in the imagination and all he thinks is about
some pointless things and some doubts and have some mixed feelings. So, a mix
of the different themes and different traditions and people belonging to
different cultures and speaking different languages were discussed in this
story and all these things make this story a magic realism. (DeWeese-Boyd, 2008)
A different review on the story
of “The Utopia of a tired man” was seen. The reviewer describes about Borges
and his perception that he believes that the story exits before any writer
writes it or the writer exists. According to the reviewer, this story should
not be seen as a prediction for the future but it should be seen as a fear of
the future and how the future world will be and what will be the worst possible
future for the and all these fears and the imaginations and predictions are the
worst evil of the man because it takes the person to a whole new level, where
he is afraid of the future an the world that will change in the future and the
drastic changes that can occur in future. These all things predict the future that
has drastic change upon the human beings in the future and the community and
the society. (HENNESSY, 2015).
My opinion n this story is that
it has somehow depicted the reality and has focused on the reality as well even
the person is in imagination and living his own life with his own perceptions
and own different thoughts. The story has mix of different languages and
different cultures and it has a theme of traditions and cultures and how these
traditions and cultures and the behavior of the human beings can be changed in
the future.
The story “The Incredible and Sad
Tale of Innocent Erendira and Her Heartless Grandmother” by Gabriel Garcia
Marquez has a different perception and different theme than the Utopia of a
tired man but this story also depicts the magic realism. In this story a sad
tale of an innocent girl called Erendria was discussed as her cruel grandmother
forces her to become a prostitute and collect money for the loss, she has done
by destroying their house. Erendria was tortured by her grandmother but she
fell in the love with the person who she gives the pleasure. In this story the
magic realism is discussed in this way, that it depicts the harsh reality of
the world and the people and how these innocent people survive in this world. The
writer has depicted the story with such pleasure and has used the magic realism
as Marquez, uses literary magic realism. He explains the magical events and
their description as they were real and had a connection with the real world
and all the elements that were used in this story also appeared in the fairy
tales like the Erendria runs off from her cruel grandmother without his prince
like cinderella runs off without her prince. So, these things are connected
with the fairy takes and imaginations and all these things depict that the
story has used magic realism. (Beesley, 1991)
According to a reviewer, to give
a review of the story about the innocent Erendria and is very tough as it has
depicted different themes and thoughts as it is a story of the economic exploitation,
and a class war and has also discussed about the nature of the happiness and
the freedom and the struggle Erendria had during her life and the struggle
between the ego and the individual and the growing up of Erendira from her
adolescents to her maturity level. This story has depicted the different stages
of the life and how harsh life is of life and how all these things make the
life of innocent people struggling. (Esquire, 2014)
But there are some critics that
has given review on this story and one of them is Jerome Beaty, as he says that
we can accept the story or we can reject the story as the story is an
imaginative creation and it cannot be paraphrased or interpret. Moreover, in
this review the reviewer Frank Beesley has said that the Marquez has used his
fantasy and imagination in a really great way and he creates a surrealistic
reality that cannot be interpreted. And Marquez has used the political
criticism and economic violation in his story because Erendria’s role in this
story was as a prostitute which earns money for living and paying off the damage
occurred due to her and this has a bad impact on the economy and it destroys
the economy of a country. Moreover, the grandmother of Erendria was described
as an oppressor and the Erendria her victim and the theme of the story might be
the economic exploitation and the war of the class because in this story the
domestic oppression is depicted in a really great way and how the helpless and
the poor people in the economy of a country are destroyed or tortured by this domestic
violence and oppression all these things have an effect on the politics of the
nation and as well as on its economy. (Gayley, 1911)
Another reviewer Raymond Williams
depicted Erindrias grandmother as a min theme pf the story, because her
oppressive expressions and cruelty has developed the theme of the story and has
given it a proper shape. Moreover, the reviewer aid that the Grandmother of
Erendira is an interpreter of the story as through her expressions and act we
can interpret the story and its theme and what is going on in the story. The
political and the economic theme of the story combined with the surreal and
fantastic reality has given he story a different shape as the story has a magic
realism as well as some harsh truths of the life and the reality. (Jaeck, 1991)
Some other critics, has defined
the story with a different meaning and different perspective that the
characters present in the story are the mythical entities. And all these things
are the strength of the story and defines its theme. (Esquire, 2014)
Another reviewer called the
Ceaser G Lopez has described the story of the innocent Erendria, the sad story
of the Orphan Erendria, and the atmosphere of the magical reality that has been
developed during the story and the misfortunes that occur during the story as
the monstrous character of the grandmother was so powerful that she holds the
heart of the story and the main theme lies with the grandmother. And the story
also describes the fragile character of the girl and the how innocent she is.
The burden of work over the Erendria and the oppression and the cruelty she has
faced due to her grandmother looks like a fairy tale story of cinderella like
the same she has faced during her story by her step mother and the step
sisters. All these things have made the story a fantasy the use of the magic
realism is depicted carefully in the story. (López, 2006).
Similarities
and differences of Comparison
between the Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel Garcia Marquez showing how they used
magic realism in their works
The similarities between them is
that both the writers Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel Garcia Marquez have used he
magic realism in their stories by fanaticizing the world the reality and
predicting the future and focusing on different issues. The characteristics of
the magic realism that was common between both the writer’s story is the
fantastical elements, the real-world setting, the heightened awareness of the
mystery and the metafiction. Because both the writers have some ow depicted the
reality in a fascinating way and have fanaticize the reality and has used the magic
realism and the magical elements in their stories. Moreover, the authorial reticence was also
present in the stories of both the writers because both the stories explain
about the disconcerting fictious world and the fantastic events and made the
normal events of the world fascinating and the extraordinary magical evets. As
well as hybridity was also present in both the stories because both the stories
have multiple planes of the reality that takes place in different pats and
different areas such as the opposites in the rural and urban areas or the areas
with different culture traditions and different economic and political
conditions.
The difference between both the
writers is that the Borges was verbose as he gives sagas that are multi volume
on the other hand the Marquez, condenses a whole saga together int a single
volume and he also purify his writing styles so that they are simple and can be
easily understandable by everyone. Moreover another difference between these
writers is that the Borges has predicted about the future in his story and has
discussed abut the people, culture, the traditions languages and the human
behavior and changes that will occur in the future and the fear of change and
the worst situations that can occur in the future but on the other hand Marquez
theme of the story was about the economic exploitation and the political instability
and the domestic oppression. These things made a difference between both the
writers even they used the magic realism in their stories but there is
difference between the perceptions of the writer and how they use magic realism
differently in their stories. Borges has used the imaginary realism in his
story as he was imagining that he was in an unknown place and meeting the man
of the future but Marquez has used surrealism because he has depicted the
reality in a more proper way and has shown the harsh and cruel life of the
world. Borges has used Fabulism, the fables, myths and the parables as he has
critique the real world in his story and the has interpreted the real world and
the assumptions of the future but Marquez has discussed about the present
events and the happenings and the harsh realities of the life and the world and
what conditions are faced by the innocent people in the world.
Conclusion
of Comparison between the Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel Garcia Marquez
showing how they used magic realism in their works:
Both the stories have different topics
and themes and both the writers have used the magic realism in their stories
and has properly implemented the use of magical realism in their stories. Both
have imaginations and fascinations and both the writers have strong imagination
power that makes them write these kind f stories. Either they have used the
magic realism in their stories but still there are some similarities and
differences in their stories and how they have used the magic realism in their
stories because the magic realism has different usage by different people
belonging to different areas and different cultures. But still magic realism has
different characteristics, some characteristics were common between the stories
“The Utopia of a tired man” Jorge Luis Borges and “The Incredible and Sad Tale
of Innocent Erendira and Her Heartless Grandmother” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
And both the stories have differences as well because all the characteristics
of the magic realism cannot be same in both the stories and both the writers do
not have same utilization of these characteristics. So, similarities as well as
differences occur between these stories. The conclusion is concluded that both
the writers have a mythical and magical imaginations and both have some similarities
as well as the differences.
References
of Comparison between the Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel Garcia Marquez
showing how they used magic realism in their works:
Beesley, F. (1991). The Battle for Eréndira: Reason vs
the Procreative Force in García Márquez's "La cándida Erindira". Chasqui,
Vol. 20, No. 2, 20-29.
DeWeese-Boyd, I. D.-B. (2008).
Appropriating Borges: The Weary Man, Utopia, and Globalism . Utopian
Studies, Vol. 19, , 97-111.
Esquire. (2014, April 17). The
Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Erendira and Her Heartless Grandmother.
Retrieved from esquire.com:
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a28381/erendira-and-her-heartless-grandmother/
Franco, J. (1981). The Utopia of a Tired
Man: Jorge Luis Borges. Social Text, No. 4 , 52-78.
Gayley, C. M. (1911). he Classic Myths in
English Literature and Art. Boston: Ginn &. 25-35.
HENNESSY, A. (2015, April 14). UTOPIA
OF A TIRED MAN’ BY JORGE LUIS BORGES. Retrieved from Fugblog:
https://fugblog.wordpress.com/2015/04/14/utopia-of-a-tired-man-by-jorge-luis-borges-a-review/
Jaeck, L. M. (1991). The Incredible Sad
Tale of Erendira... : A New Look at Female Suppression." . Canadian
Review of Comparative Literature 20 , 113-122.
López, C. G. (2006). The Conquest
Revisited: The History of Innocent Eréndira from a Postcolonial Perspective . Chasqui,
Vol. 35, Special Issue No. 3: Going Transatlantic: Toward an Ethics of Dialogue
, 79-90.
The New Yorker. (1975, April 6). Utopia
of a Tired Man. Retrieved from The New Yorker:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1975/04/14/utopia-of-a-tired-man
Wallner, G. (2018, April 11). The
Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Eréndira and Her Heartless Grandmother’ is
an unusual, beautiful novella. Retrieved from dailycardinal:
https://www.dailycardinal.com/article/2018/04/the-incredible-and-sad-tale-of-innocent-erendira-and-her-heartless-grandmother-is-an-unusual-beautiful-novella