I am Felipe

Even before reading the novel Aura, the black cat on the cover of the novel gave me a spooky feeling. In Nepal growing up black cats were considered to be a formation of a cruel witch. It was considered unlucky to be in the presences of a black cat. While reading the novel, I always tried to avoid looking at the cover of the novel and when I was done reading the novel, I placed the novel in a position where I was unable to see the cover. However, the context within the novel was continuously keeping the spookiness of the black cat alive.

After learning about writers capability of manipulating and  lieing within novels for the past few months, I was ready to observe all of Carlos Fuentes lies and not fall in his trap. Within the few pages of the novel, I told myself obviously Aura is Consuelo and Felipe is falling into a trap as the readers are falling into the same trap. I felt smart that I was able to jump through that hole however,  Carlos Fuentes detailed oriented writing made the creepiness of the story come alive, even when the hints toward Aura being Consuelo is given, I was spooked out. When Felipe  goes to comfort Consuelo about her tyranny towards Aura, he encounters Consuelo mimicking Aura’s behavior as she “wipes her hands against her breast, sighs, and starts cutting the air again, as if –yes, you can see it clearly- as is she were skinning an animal.” I felt the motion of skinning as I read that part of the novel, without realizing I as the reader was playing the same role as Felipe.