THE AVATAR IN PANAMA - Theses - Flinders University

2.1 The North American Double The Avatar in Panamaenloquecer”; “los terrores de Sonia, ciertas visiones, se le precipitara lacrisis” (91). 17Jaramillo Levi himself states he was directly and consciouslyaffected by Poe’s work: “El sentido del misterio, la planificación muycerebral, lo dramático y macabro de los cuentos de Poe sin duda estánpresentes, con mi propio estilo y temas diferentes, en algunos de miscuentos”. 18 While “The Black cat” and “House of Usher” have beencompared above with “El olor” and “Es él”, “Ligeia” and “A Tale of theRagged Mountains” also treat the theme of reincarnation, a favourite inthis genre of literature and one subtly used in Jaramillo Levi’s work.Mister Mirror: Nathaniel Hawthorne“Monsieur du Miroir” is Nathaniel Hawthorne’s account of anunnamed character dogged by a curious stranger whose name providesthe title of the story. 19 As in Jekyll and Hyde and Dracula, the taleseems to have two characters but actually has only one. Thedescription of Monsieur du Miroir is cleverly disguised at first but therealisation that his existence is as the narrator’s reflection is reached inpart by the doubling terminology that is used throughout the narrative:“duplicates, facsimiles, twins, counterfeit, unison, redoubled, jointsufferers, identical, mutual ghosts, inseparably blended, reflection,mutually reflected”. 20 Even the protagonist’s name is cleverly duplicitousas while it suggests Gallic origins, Monsieur du Miroir’s lineage hasbeen traced by genealogists to the Spanish order of knights, Loscaballeros de los Espejoz [sic]. The narrator’s “acquaintance” causessome distraction as he denies ever having had even a disagreementwith the mysterious man and remarks on his strong personalresemblance to him, suggesting a blood relationship.Indications of Monsieur du Miroir’s being a double, in this caseas a reflection, are made more apparent by his lack of faculty ofspeech, the fact that he is always identically clothed and that heappears to be able to travel quickly and without impediment. Onrecalling his past, the narrator concludes they both came into existencetogether and aged together. Any doubt is removed about the mirrorimage identity by the situational anecdotes described: they wouldendure joint suffering such as toothache, and both expressmanifestations of being in love.17This also occurs in Cortázar’s “Las armas secretas”, see 3.3 Reinventing theDouble, 222.18See Appendix A1 question 1.19Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Monsieur du Miroir”, The Complete Short Stories of NathanielHawthorne (New York: Doubleday, 1959) 281-287.20Examples are taken from throughout the text.80