The Rabbit and the Cat

One of the first things that struck me as odd in Aura was in the first scene in which Felipe meets Senora Consuelo. A white rabbit with glowing red eyes is sitting on the bed next to Consuelo and after Felipe pets it, it jumps off the bed and disappears. Consuelo soon says “Saga, Saga. Where are you?” Felipe then asks, “Who?” and Consuelo then responds “My companion.” Felipe says “The rabbit?” and Consuelo responds “Yes. She’ll come back.” Then a few pages later Aura comes into the room and Consuelo says “I told you she’d come back” and when Felipe questions “Who?” Consuelo replies “Aura. My companion. My niece.” From this exchange, it seems as though the rabbit and Aura are interchangeable, that they are one and the same.

The rabbit is Consuelo’s foil; it represents almost everything that Consuelo is not. The rabbit represents fertility, reproduction, and lust. The only thing that Consuelo longs for that the rabbit does not necessarily represent is youth. Rabbits are fertile and reproduce throughout their entire lives; they don’t need to be young in order to reproduce. Also the rabbit is white which coincides with Consuelo’s white hair (representing age). However, the rabbit’s combination with Aura completes the foil because Aura adds youth to the picture. Aura represents youth, lust, and her green eyes and clothing represent fertility. Another interesting thing about the rabbit is its name; according to Cambridge dictionary online a saga is “a long story about several past events or people.” Saga the rabbit may be named so because it represents the saga of Consuelo’s struggle with fertility (or the lack thereof).

Another interesting symbol in Aura is the cat. Felipe hears cats yowling inside the house and sees many on fire in the garden but Consuelo insists that there are no cats. It’s an old myth that cats have nine lives and many ancient cultures held cats to be sacred creatures. Consuelo takes pleasure in torturing cats; this represents her hatred of a being that represents what she can never have, eternal life and eternal youth. Cats may also represent independence and self-sufficiency. Consuelo has lost her independence because she is dependent on Aura for her youth, Aura is never independent of Consuelo, and Felipe slowly loses his independence as he becomes part of Consuelo's world.

So overall, cats and rabbits are pretty darn important in Aura.