Paralell Frustration

It took me a while to get a grasp on Aura, both the character and the novel as a whole. Finally, towards the end of class yesterday, I felt as though I was starting to understand Aura as a projection of Señora Consuelo. When Señora Consuelo feels herself fading away into old age, she uses Aura as somewhat of a sacrifice to bring back her energy and youth. Aura can do the things that Consuelo can no longer accomplish; even something as simple as skinning an animal. When Consuelo makes the motions of "beheading a kid," (91) Aura actually completes this task. However, the most important task that Aura can accomplish for Consuelo is the act of bringing her husband back to her. The two (one?) of them accomplish this by sending out an advertisement, bringing someone to them who posesses the exact same qualities as Felipe Montero, and transforming him in Consuelo's late husband, General Llorente, by having him read the general's memoirs and manuscripts. This is where my frustration set in. I saw the clear parallel between Aura and Consuelo, as well as the somewhat forced parallel between Felipe and the general. Then, we see Aura drawing Felipe in, and bringing him closer to her (which also means bringing him closer to Consuelo). I wanted to see a clear parallel between the two pairs, but the last scene ruins any hope of this. In the last scene, we are left with Felipe and Consuelo in bed together. Aura has become Consuelo once again, as her projection can only stay for 3 days. Why doesn't this scene end with Consuelo and the general in bed together? This would give us a clean parallel between the two pairs, and make sense of the point of the advertisement in the first place. It would give the novel purpose. Instead, we are left with an open-ended question of when Aura will return, and how Consuelo will be able to create another general for herself. Obviously, there is some element of magic in this novel. If Consuelo can create a projection like Aura for herself, why can't she use Felipe as a sacrifice to bring back the general?