Time and Identity

I first tried writing this post about the significance of Fuentes flattening time into one time period, and instead, I ended up writing about how he manipulates identities throughout Aura. I tried, instead, to write further about the liquidity of identity and ended up referencing the issues posed by collapsing time periods. I have since realized that identity and time are two very intertwined themes in Aura.

By lifting the boundaries of time to render age to be inconsequential, Fuentes mixes generations of people together, who, by nature, do not belong in the same time period. It was unsettling for me to learn of the transformation of young Aura into her much older aunt. However, Fuentes, by flattening time, reveals to us that no actual transformation takes place; young Aura and older Consuelo Llorente are actually the same person taking on two different identities. Fuentes exacerbates the differences between the same person by calling Consuelo Llorente sometimes by her first name and other times by her last name. By creating a setting where time stands still, Fuentes gives himself the liberty to combine the same character at different points in her life into one complete setting.

Ironically, by making time irrelevant, Fuentes insinuates the idea that the spirit of a person persists throughout time. An aura, as marked by the symbolic title of this book, is portrayed as an essence that stays with a person throughout the course of his life. While it appears as though the identities of the characters change constantly, the essences of the characters remain the same. Consuelo Llorente holds two different identities, an identity as an older woman and an identity as a younger woman. However, her soul – her aura – is the same between the two identities. Similarly, the spirit of Felipe does not change during the story, but his identity is linked to the identity of Consuelo Llorente’s formerly deceased husband. We are given clues, like Felipe seeing flashbacks to a different time in the house, to know that Felipe and Senor Llorente share the same aura, because Felipe is actually Senor Llorente all along.

Regardless of the horrors and absurdities in Aura, Fuentes' message to us is a classic and universal one. Throughout our lives, we will face many changes and therefore form many different identities. However, external factors will never be able to alter our aura, the intangible structures that form our personality and mindset. Our auras are everlasting.