Marquez and suskind both utilize magical realism english literature essay

Marquez and Süskind both utilize magical realism in such a way to manipulate the emotions of the reader. The author’s use of magical realism is portrayed in many aspects of their works. This is especially true with Süskind’s Perfume in part one where Süskind describes the death of Baldini as he was ” hurtled into the river…occupants could be rescued.” (109) The juxtaposition of death in the river with the no occupants being rescued conveys the relation between life and death in the river of life. This river of life, brought up in the bible evokes contradictory emotions by the reader. Süskind’s sly use of magical realism in the previous quote is one of many methods he uses to create the overall theme to Perfume. As for Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Marquez also uses death to create the illusion of magical realism. The death of Santiago is treated with great happenstance that misleads the reader to think that they is something wooly going on in the plot of the story. The fact that Marquez creates a scene to where Santiago was shown ” an envelope under the door… waiting to kill him” (12) displays a sense of threat to Santiago; however, the following sentence states shortly that ” he didn’t see it”. (12) This not only shows Marquez’s use of magical realism but also tragic irony. This tragic irony leads to the death of Santiago Nasar and thus creates a magical mood in which the death of a main character is meaningful in its happening. Although both authors utilize magical realism in their works to convey a certain tone or theme, there are still many differences between how they (Süskind and Marquez) use this literary device to add to the overall plot and conclusion of the work as a whole. In Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Süskind uses the destructions of Baldini’s house during the earthquake on his street in order to kill him off as a prospect that Grenouille had encountered. Baldini’s death is used to show that exploiting others for one’s own benefit is an action need paying, and in this case was his life. This said action was the acts of having Grenouille create intricate perfumes for Baldini’s store. In subtle contrast, Marquez uses the multitude of unseen signs that were enabled to prevent Santiago’s death to emphasize the themes of selfishness and fate. These signs were displayed through the letter under the door that was overlooked and the constant death threats to Nasar. The idea that Marquez wants the reader to take from this section of his work is that with the countless amounts of times Santiago Nasar was warned of his death, the society around him failed to deliver the appropriate information to negate his inevitable death; and thus shows that society as a whole lacks a certain care for their surrounding neighbors. The tool that writers use that we have now announced as magical realism can be weaved into the works of many, may it be a classic, a modernesque work, or even a translated works as shown in Perfume by Patrick Süskind and Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Marquez. In Chronicle of a Death Foretold the death of Santiago was the magical realism at use while the death of Baldini was the same usage but in Perfume. Süskind uses other examples of magical realism, specifically in Grenouille’s first murder when he ” did not look… did not see her face…lips…as he strangled her, for he had only one concern-not to lose … her scent.” (53)Many literary elements are used in these two works, however magical realism is the only one in which the two novels are conjointly connected through many aspects that coincide with the theme and author’s intent of the effect on the reader. Both authors attempt to create a setting in which the main character is the protagonist and the narrator or outside characters are the antagonists when the truth is actually the opposite in reality; hence magical realism. The acts of murder (Perfume) and conspiracy to murder (Chronicle) are acts of antagonist not protagonist. And this fact is the leading support in the author’s usage of magical realism to mislead the reader into thinking the opposite so that the theme and plot of the work may surface. By utilizing many literary elements including magical realism, Süskind and Marquez happen to evoke many sought out emotions and complete the feeling of a solved mystery. The mystery being, what was so magical about this journey, and figuring out that the magic was in the time that you believed it to be real. The idea of creating a story that agrees with the logical reasoning of the human mind and appeals to the fantastical ideas of the inner child of the reader is a skill that Patrick Süskind and Gabriel García Marquez have mastered. Süskind, author of Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, and Marquez, author of Chronicle of a Death Foretold, use magical realism to illuminate unbelievable themes and motifs in their translated works through many unorthodox events to initiate a level of reality. Magical realism also allows the reader to make his own connections through his own knowledge and experiences, and thus with that enables the reader to go on a journey that the author initiated yet has no control over how it is perceived. The story is thus held upon the reader and his visualization of the magical realism.