THE AVATAR IN PANAMA - Theses - Flinders University

2.1 The North American Double The Avatar in Panamathe right dream, the inference is then that he is able to affect theoutcome of his own actions and hence future events. Ostensibly, thestory is no more than a record of Murray’s dream yet there is noindication of where the description of the dream commences --it is hardto know and this may be the point. There may be two dreams with onescenario being set within the other. Is Murray actually on death row or isthis the circumstance of the first dream? The dream prior to hisimpending electrocution may provide a vision of his future as it wouldhave been had he not committed the crime in the first instance, that is,he is visualising his projected other life of the path not travelled and hisabsence in it is indicative of his imminent death. Has Murray willedhimself into a chosen dream by creating an oneiric projection? Therepresentation of the story-within-a-story structure, in this case the useof the dream-within-a-dream, reflects the internal duplication of the workitself. 34 This is a technique regularly used by Jaramillo Levi, especially inthe stories of “Simultaneidades”, the third division of Duplicacionesamong which “Agua de mar”, and “Mientras dormía” are notable.“Agua de mar” presents ambiguous and unidentified narrativevoices, alternating with a mixed narration of first, third, and first personplural, often in same sentence. This has the effect of disassociating anddistancing the character from the story’s events. The structure crossesfrom dream to nightmare to reality to death. The descriptions portray apure state of sensations and feelings. There is a doubling of time,planes, and perpectives. With the exception of ‘la cintura’, the bodyparts mentioned are all paired: “pies, rodillas, brazos, ojos, pulmones”. 35The dream takes hold of the character who is overwhelmed, the extentto which is revealed in the final line. Like O. Henry’s Murray, JaramilloLevi’s protagonist seems to be placed into the dream state: “El sueñose va apoderando de él. Al poco rato camina por una playa familiar”. Asthe character enters the water, he surrenders himself to its “sauvecalma” and then, “[d]e pronto se ahoga”. The dream which has becomea nightmare appears to end here so the character believes: “Abrimoslos ojos creyendo despertar de la pesadilla”. As Murray experiences theelectric chair, Jaramillo Levi’s protagonist is drowned: “Pero el aguaentra ya violentamente en sus pulmones y en seguida no sé más”. Thismay all be a dream also. Is this person committing suicide? Is he one ofa couple on the beach thereby explaining the use of the third personand the reference to “los brazos tibios de mi amada”? 36 Or is the imageof the sea being positively personified as the protagonist electsdrowning as his preferred means of suicide? Perhaps the character is34 In fact, the mise-en abime technique and the contamination of reality by the dreamare two of four components of fantastic literature as defined by Jorge Luis Borges.See Modernismo and its Masters, 97.35 Jaramillo Levi, “Agua de mar”, Duplicaciones.36 This is suggested by Ricardo Segura J. in his “Prólogo” to Cuentos de bolsillo,(Panamá: Universal, 2001) 13-18. (14-15).84