Essay On Magical Realism

Magical realism has many elements. One of the most common ones are the elements of the magical and the mundane interwoven seamlessly, the story is set in an otherwise ordinary world with familiar historical and/or cultural realities, and objects and setting within the story taking lives of their own in a way that is ordinary to the characters. These characteristics can be found in the following stories. Magical realism is the blend between reality and the extraordinary. Both texts, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings: A Tale for Children,” and “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World,” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, include magical realism. They are both set in an ordinary world with familiar historical or cultural realities. Certain things in the story cannot always be explained by universal laws or familiar logic. For example, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings: A Tale for Children,” states, “...it was an old man, a very old man, lying face down in the mud, who, in spite of his tremendous efforts, could not …show more content…
Events that may not seem ordinary in our world, are ordinary in the story’s world. A text that shows this is Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya. The book takes place in New Mexico roughly after WWII. The narrator retells his memories as a child when Ultima, a curandera, first came into his life. In a specific part of the book, three witches, the Tenorio sisters, had put a curse on Tony’s uncle. While Ultima is trying to cure Lucas, “the cry of hungry coyotes sounded outside.” Ultima then sends her owl after the coyotes and Ultima states, “Oh those Trementina girls will be cut and bruised tomorrow.” These witches are part of their world and the characters go on with their lives without questioning it even though they do not like witches. The townspeople also dislike Ultima and claim she is a witch after curing Lucas of something neither a doctor or a priest could cure witch