Julio Cortazar develops a narrator who is a spiritual character to explore the world of fantasy with the real world. Through the use of vivid dreams and sensory imagery he invites the reader into the nightmare which effectively reveals the terror and the lack of control after the accident. Suffering the effects of terrible shock after the accident he enters an unusual dream where he is in flight from the Aztecs. He smells war and in the end feels himself lifted face up as a sacrificial victim. Through loss of control, personal helplessness and facing the reality of the dream world, the narrator battles in making sense of the two worlds and tries to determine which one is real.
At the beginning of the story the narrator seems to have a sense of order and to have control of his life. As the accident unfolds he ironically loses control and describes it as if “it was like falling asleep all at once” (Cortazar, 265). Cortazar uses imagery to convey the transition from being in complete control to literally falling off and losing his way. The narrator …show more content…
In the protagonist believed to be real life it is mainly set in a hospital describing every little detail and aspect “The pillow was so soft, and the coolness of the mineral water in his fevered throat. The violet light of the lamp up there was beginning to get dimmer and dimmer.” (270) the nightmare included vivid descriptions of the setting but also had descriptions of his physical well-being as if it were real. “he fought to rid himself of the cords sinking into his flesh. His right arm, the strongest, strained until the pain became unbearable and he had to give up.” (271) He uses an extensive amount of imagery to convey the feeling of falling, refusing to get back up and instead creating this fantasy of ultimate struggle that you eventually cannot decipher from
At the beginning of the story the narrator seems to have a sense of order and to have control of his life. As the accident unfolds he ironically loses control and describes it as if “it was like falling asleep all at once” (Cortazar, 265). Cortazar uses imagery to convey the transition from being in complete control to literally falling off and losing his way. The narrator …show more content…
In the protagonist believed to be real life it is mainly set in a hospital describing every little detail and aspect “The pillow was so soft, and the coolness of the mineral water in his fevered throat. The violet light of the lamp up there was beginning to get dimmer and dimmer.” (270) the nightmare included vivid descriptions of the setting but also had descriptions of his physical well-being as if it were real. “he fought to rid himself of the cords sinking into his flesh. His right arm, the strongest, strained until the pain became unbearable and he had to give up.” (271) He uses an extensive amount of imagery to convey the feeling of falling, refusing to get back up and instead creating this fantasy of ultimate struggle that you eventually cannot decipher from