K. Sello Duiker, author of ‘Thirteen Cents’, initiative behind Azure, the unreliable narrator, is effective in a genre such as magical realism. Azure experiences throughout the novel are unpredictable and are immediate (present tense) and not predetermined, that which has already happened. The unreliable narrator brings vital importance to the narration for the unreliability due to the absence of fact, which aids in the reader to express self-interpretation instead of definite closure.
An unreliable narrator according to David Lodge (Lodge), is someone who illustrates the connection between what is known and what is unknown (unconventional) leading to a novel evolving around magical realism (what appears to be Azure’s reality). With Azure as …show more content…
Initiation occurs thrice within the novel; prostitution, the rooftop and the mountain. Prostitution in ‘Thirteen Cents’ in accordance with growth, teaches Azure to grow and become a man by first experiencing what it feels like to be a woman (being raped by Richard and two other men), “That’s why they did that to you. I know that you understand what it means to be a woman already. You bleed through the anus when you shit, don’t you?” (Duiker 88). In contrast, when Azure mentions Liezel’s way of making money, Azure pity’s her and becomes selfless (what he appears to be), “Poor Liezel. I know what she does to make money. It’s not easy” (Duiker 8). Azure throughout the novel, continually reminds himself that what he is experiencing at that specific moment, can only make him stronger, to be bent and battered to achieve his full potential, “I’m getting stronger, I whisper to myself before I fall asleep” (Duiker 68). With initiation comes change; in order for Azure to be at the top (seagull), he has to know what it feels like to be at the bottom first (pigeon/a woman), …show more content…
Although, the character-narrator (Azure) is still a child who as a matter of fact doesn’t even have knowledge of when his birthday is (Duiker 77) and at the age of twelve, has been unable to receive any qualified education for the past three years (Duiker 6), it would not be seen as irrational for a reader to admit that Azure is unreliable, period. With regard to the magical realism genre of the novel, regarding the mythological ending, the reader becomes confused to the unconventionality, resulting in a lot of unanswered questions. The fact that Azure is a young ‘boy’, who had encountered a lot of disturbing experiences that is not suited for a person of his age as well as the consuming of drugs (‘stop’), gives the impression of a young man who had diagnosed schizophrenia as a result from his journey (experienced on the mountain), moving away from a bildungsroman
An unreliable narrator according to David Lodge (Lodge), is someone who illustrates the connection between what is known and what is unknown (unconventional) leading to a novel evolving around magical realism (what appears to be Azure’s reality). With Azure as …show more content…
Initiation occurs thrice within the novel; prostitution, the rooftop and the mountain. Prostitution in ‘Thirteen Cents’ in accordance with growth, teaches Azure to grow and become a man by first experiencing what it feels like to be a woman (being raped by Richard and two other men), “That’s why they did that to you. I know that you understand what it means to be a woman already. You bleed through the anus when you shit, don’t you?” (Duiker 88). In contrast, when Azure mentions Liezel’s way of making money, Azure pity’s her and becomes selfless (what he appears to be), “Poor Liezel. I know what she does to make money. It’s not easy” (Duiker 8). Azure throughout the novel, continually reminds himself that what he is experiencing at that specific moment, can only make him stronger, to be bent and battered to achieve his full potential, “I’m getting stronger, I whisper to myself before I fall asleep” (Duiker 68). With initiation comes change; in order for Azure to be at the top (seagull), he has to know what it feels like to be at the bottom first (pigeon/a woman), …show more content…
Although, the character-narrator (Azure) is still a child who as a matter of fact doesn’t even have knowledge of when his birthday is (Duiker 77) and at the age of twelve, has been unable to receive any qualified education for the past three years (Duiker 6), it would not be seen as irrational for a reader to admit that Azure is unreliable, period. With regard to the magical realism genre of the novel, regarding the mythological ending, the reader becomes confused to the unconventionality, resulting in a lot of unanswered questions. The fact that Azure is a young ‘boy’, who had encountered a lot of disturbing experiences that is not suited for a person of his age as well as the consuming of drugs (‘stop’), gives the impression of a young man who had diagnosed schizophrenia as a result from his journey (experienced on the mountain), moving away from a bildungsroman