THE AVATAR IN PANAMA - Theses - Flinders University

3.1 Shoes and Mirrors: Images of Doubling The Avatar in PanamaHoracio se había empezado a hamacar en lospies, miraba los zapatos de sus amigos y al finse decidió a decirles: -Eso es muy difícil…perolo intentaré. Mientras busco la manera deexpresarme, les rogaría que no me hicieranninguna pregunta más… (27). 48In José Saramago’s O Homen Duplicado, the actor “TertulianoMáximo Afonso está de olhos baixos, parece absorto na contemplaçãodas suas chinelas de quarto e da pálida fímbria de pele que assomaonde terminam as perneiras das calças do pijama”. 49Jaramillo Levi’s very compact story “Los zapatos” has as itscentral theme the prodigal protagonist putting on and taking off shoeson a beach. 50 Although fewer than three hundred words it is rich withimages of shoes, sand, tents, skeleton, all symbols of identity and areemblematic of the protagonist’s confused and fragmented notion ofselfhood. 51 The structure of “Los zapatos” can be divided with thesecond half being diametrically opposed to the first in terms of imageryand symbolism. The turning point is exactly halfway at line twelve when“un par de zapatos” is mentioned for the first time. If however, the text isapproached from a three-dimensional point of view its circular structurebecomes apparent with the first paragraph continuously following thelast without any alteration or disturbance to the action or theinterpretation.When the protagonist arrives at his destination of “la tienda decampaña”, it no longer exists but in its place are shoes belonging tohim. 52 He picks them up at once realising he is barefoot. Literallystripped of everything: “continúa de pie, desorientado, con los zapatospuestos”, although the inclusion of “desorientado” leaves his direction ina state of ambiguity. Z may well be headed for “la tienda de campaña”of paragraph one which has taken the place of that in paragraph six,and so the process is eternally repeated. Validation for the existence of48 Hernández, “Las hortensias” 27.49 “Tertuliano Máximo Afonso is looking downwards, he appears absorbed in thecontemplation of his slippers that peep out where his pyjama pants end” (103). JoséSaramago, O homen duplicado (Lisboa: Caminho, 2002)50 Jaramillo Levi, Duplicaciones (Barcelona: Casiopea, 2001) 81. In Jaramillo Levi’s“Mar afuera”, the protagonist also wakes up face down on the beach fully dressed andwith “los zapatos puestos”. “Mar afuera”, Cuentos de bolsillo, 34.51Symbolic meanings for the image of shoes suggested by Chevalier andGheerbrandt include: that of ownership; a journey or traveller not only to the otherworld but also in all directions; identification of the shoe with a person 1084 – 5. SeeAppendix C Images of Identity.52Henceforth the protagonist will be referred to as Z for the purposes of analysis.158