THE AVATAR IN PANAMA - Theses - Flinders University

3.1 Shoes and Mirrors: Images of Doubling The Avatar in PanamaThe other yo is considered a separate entity, so much so thatironically, the anger, facial expressions and gestures of the mirrorimage enrage Gabriel. He is aware that the two selves are interiordriven: “A lo que parece, el otro le reprochaba interiormente a Gabrielciertas palabras nada corteses que había dirigido a un individuoantipático” (107). Gabriel then shoots the image in the head. It is herethat the mirror adopts the role of magical mirror and provides atraditional ending. The servants find Gabriel’s corpse at the base of thelooking glass with a bullet wound to the head: “El espejo había sidoestrellado por el proyectil, y Gabriel yacía exánime a los pies del cristal,con un balazo en la frente” (108). The tale’s finale is reminiscent of thedemise of Dorian Gray, especially when one considers the portrait, likethe shadow and reflection, is a derivative of the mirror. 33 In The Pictureof Dorian Gray it also falls to the servants to discover the protagonist’scadaver: “When they entered, they found hanging upon the wall asplendid portrait of their master as they had last seen him, in all thewonder of his exquisite youth and beauty. Lying on the floor was a deadman, in evening dress, with a knife in his heart”. 34Jaramillo Levi’s “Suicidio” features a narrating protagonist and afemale character, Andrea. The theme of vengeance through suicide andthe subsequent regret are dealt with through the employment of themirror reflecting the actual proceedings of the narrative. 35 The doublingrepresented in “Suicidio” takes the form of an active mirror imagedouble; ostensibly it is the protagonist’s reflection which enacts theevents and provides the mirrored manifestation of his own death.Following Grabes’ categorisation, the mirror in this instance isprognosticating. The narrator-protagonist, on the verge of discharging agun pointed at his head while facing the mirror, determines he is unableto go through with the plan as he hears someone at his door. He lowersthe weapon but the reader is told of a “detonación [that] lo hizo saltar”and he remarks “demasiado lejos, en un mundo derrotado por lainercia, estaba la mano cerrada sobre el arma”. 36 The implication hereis that he is now a mere observer of his own existence and the events33As well as spectacle, crystals and stones, shadows, images, and reflections are alsoderivatives of mirror images. Grabes 11.34 Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Complete Illustrated Stories, Playsand Poems of Oscar Wilde (London: Chancellor, 1986) 152.35 This is emphasised by the addition of ¡Por ella! to the final line of the story in thefourth edition of Duplicaciones and the substitution of “Empecemos otra vez, aúnpodemos” for “Todavía estamos a tiempo” in Jaramillo Levi´s version of the samestory in Cuentos de Bolsillo 1973-2001: Antología de minicuentos (Panamá:Fundación Cultural Signos, 2001) 82-83. There is a sense of irony in the last line: “Losentía por ella! Por ella!” compared to the tone of the first paragraph: “Ella podía llegaren cualquier momento y entonces no hallaría el valor” 36.36 Jaramillo Levi, “Suicidio”, Duplicaciones 35.171