I’m sure that the dates on the syllabus for this class were assembled strategically, because as we’ve seen, when we move from one book to the next, we always seem to find an aspect(s) of the previous reading in our current reading. Moving from Kindred to Aura, the most noticeable connection is the idea of time travel; and how a shift from present, to past, to future shapes a person’s identity. Because we discussed identity so thoroughly in class, I’d like to focus more closely on the role of memory within that time travel.
In Kindred, we saw that as Dana traveled from the 1970’s to the 1800’s and back, one of the things she carried with her was her memory. Memory was especially important to Dana in guaranteeing her own safety, and fulfilling her goal of ensuring the birth of Hagar. Dana needed to establish positive relationships with the people of the antebellum south, so that their memories of her would be a positive. Therefore, she could be assured that her return to the south would be a peaceful one. Dana also had to keep the memory of her ancestry alive, for that was, as she thought, the purpose of her time travel. Because Dana’s relationship with Rufus is based on their ancestral connection, if she had forgotten her ancestry, her relationship with Rufus would have been altered, and in turn, changed the storyline. Memory is not only important in such long-term ways in Kindred, but also in short-term ways as well. Memory influences our perception of others, so if we have an experience with another person, the outcome of that experience will influence how we see that person. More often than not, it is very difficult to just forget that experience, and alter your perception of someone else. This power of memory is especially true in observing the relationship between Alice and Rufus. Rufus’ attempt to kill Alice’s husband, and rape her became a painfully vivid memory for Alice that constantly dictated her perception of Rufus. Despite his attempts to gain her affections, Alice could not forget that violent incidence, which eventually led to her suicide. In Kindred, long term and short term memory plays an enormous role in making events and character interactions especially clear.
In Aura, short term and long term memory are not as clear to Felipe as they were to Dana, and because of the second person point of view of the story, memory therefore becomes less black and white to us as readers. Although memory is not as clear in this case, it is just as important, because the blurred lines of memory purposely perpetuates the ambiguity that Fuentes has created throughout the novella. In Aura, there is often a trigger to memories, although these triggers can be somewhat subtle or confusing, making the reader question the validity of the memories in the first place. Felipe often serves as the trigger for Senora Consuelo’s memories. Because Felipe transforms into the General, he triggers the memory of youth and beauty for Senora Consuelo, which appears in the form of Aura. This is demonstrated during Felipe and Senora Consuelo’s initial meeting; when Senora Consuelo “moves for the first time since [he] entered the room,” to reach out to Felipe, Aura immediately emerges, “her arrival so unexpected” (p. 25). Felipe continues to serve as the mechanism to bring back memories, both physically and emotionally. By re-writing the General’s journals, he is “re-membering” the past; he is at once piecing past events back together, but also recreating the memories in the present. His physical presence re-embodies the General, and therefore the emotions and memories associated with the General; such as the beautiful, youthful, sexual relationship with Senora Consuelo. Since time and space become flattened, our perception of long and short term memory become muddled. The uncertainty of memory therefore perpetuates the ambiguity present throughout the whole story, and in contrast to Kindred, demonstrates that perhaps one does not need perfectly clear memories to have loving relationships with others. Maybe like the types of truth we’ve discussed, memory too can be broken up into “emotional” and “actual,” in which, depending on the situation, on is more powerful than the other.
The reflection on what can be remembered by each protagonist is a big part of each novel. If the respective author had changed how much was remembered, the whole novel is altered.
ReplyDeleteIf Dana had not remembered her trip back in time, she would have spent a large amount of time in the present trying to figure out what happened. With Rufus as a witness, the task of figuring out would be harder (especially with the missing arm). There would also have been less of an impact of Rufus returning to the present and how he takes a long time to remember everything. It plays upon frustration that follows the characters everywhere, not just in the past.
Felipe in Aura suffers from a different side. We don't know what constitutes as his memories of life before going to Consuelo's house, but whatever it is were not the General's memories. There becomes a question of what time is, as things appear timeless while at the same time maintaining a flow. The merging of the General's memories into Felipe makes for questions that the novella does not answer, and probably never will.