latin american essays maclas

the omniscient narrator talks about Gina in the third person, sometimes Gina
appears in the first person, whether as the narrator for one of her computer files,
her dreams, or her high school newspaper articles. The narrative voice alternates
between the omniscient narrator and Gina, and with other characters as well. An
example of another character’s narrative voice is Elisa’s first person narrative in
her personal journal. In one instance, she is narrating her exchange with the
members of the Pinos Verdes Auxiliary Board regarding the disappearance of
pets in the neighborhood. Elisa writes their dialogue in her journal, and then
proceeds to insert a fantasy story about her family, talking about herself in the
third person, as she told it to the ladies of the board (31-36). She relishes the
impact of her story on the ladies: “I paused, looked around, observed my
listeners. No one moved or made the slightest sound. They were all waiting for
an outcome, an end to my gripping tale. The grand denouement” (35). In this
case, the narrative voice is multi-layered, encapsulated in a Russian-doll style.
The scene in the novel where the narrator addresses Estela, the
grandmother, as “you,” leads the reader to wonder about the identity of the
narrator. Could it be Gina, writing her memoir referring to herself in the third
person In “Abuela” Estela’s deathbed scene, we see an example of the narrator
combining third and second person narrative:
“Monday night she was praying for you, Abuela, appealing to your
Buen Dios and her own god, the Stream Deity and carver of dreams. To
all merciful creatures (celluloid and cyberspace dwellers, holograms, and
artificial brains included) who might be able to help her. . . . To all
invisible beings and to your saints: Changó and Oshún, San Lázaro and
Santa Bárbara and San Zun Zun Zun. So they’d save you. . . . Tuesday
morning Gina was holding your hand. She wanted your last memory of
her to be a happy one, so she put on a smile.” (186)
Switches of perspective in the narrative voice, as seen in this sad but
humorous deathbed scene, are common, and the effect is one of narrative
fluidity, a weaving of voices in the narrative line. Different voices come and go,
on equal terms with the main narrator. The narrator may be third person
omniscient most of the time, but is, as it were, part of the family. 8
The narrator often begins a scene with a character (often female) seeing
herself, either in film, in a dream sequence, or in a mirror. At the beginning of a
dream in Chapter 4, Gina’s Cuban lover from a previous life suddenly appears in
her room: “She sees herself opening the bedroom window . . .” (84). In another
scene of the same chapter: “Two weeks later, we see her as she sees herself: At
Ramosa Beach sliding her hand down Robby’s arm” (81). Another scene states:
“Gina’s reflection in the dresser mirror: She’s wearing faded blue jeans and a
tank top; a long necklace of black rope, with a wooden peace symbol and bloodstain
color lipstick (the idea of “bloodstain” is repulsive, but the color is cool).
118