Word: marquez
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...central figure in Erendira is the corpulent grandmother who exerts ironfisted control--Marquez calls it a spell--over her granddaughter. When a "wind of misfortune" knocks over Erendira's candle igniting a fire that destroys the grandmother's opulent estate, the grandmother "with sincere pity" sells Erendira into a life of prostitution...
Erendira is physically incapable of revolt although her thoughts turn to it often. On one level Marquez is pointing out the stifling effects that can result from deeply ingrained traditions of family loyalty, particularly strong in Latin cultures. Also, he is protesting any form of authoritarian rule when it passes the bounds of reason and dignity...
Unfortunately only one other story in the collection works these techniques to as great an advantage. "The Sea of Lost Time" explores Marquez's primary obsession, death, but unlike most of his gloomy musings on the subject, this' story suggests that though death is frightening because of the uncertainty connected with it, the world of the dead may be more charming than that of the living...
...other stories in the collection were mostly written in the '40s and '50s before Marquez had a name for himself. They are interesting because they show the genesis of what is now a marvelous style, but the myth-making in these early stories is ponderous and inelegant...
...Marquez is not a true philosopher; his stories do not probe deep truths and profound metaphysical concerns. Instead, he is a cataloguer of everyday feelings and attitudes. He realizes, however, that everyday feelings are more complicated than they may seem and are best dealt with by pulling one step away from the commonplace. He has said that the ideal novel should "perturb not only because of its political and social content, but also because of its power of penetrating reality, and better yet, because of its capacity to turn reality upside down so we can see the other side...