The Magical Realism Sample Essay

The Magical Realism Sample Essay Speaking of magical realism as a literary trend, we usually mean a kind of fusion of the real and fictional, the ordinary and the fabulous, the obvious and the wonderful worlds. This is a special way of seeing the world through the prism of folk-mythological consciousness. At the same time, the magical realism for Latin America is not a fairy tale (it’s not Walt Disney as Marquez contemptuously says), it’s one of the features of reality itself. The magical realism term is sufficiently coherent, it describes something that is characteristic of a number of works in which the reality is seen through the prism of folklore consciousness. Of course, this definition of magical realism as an artistic method does not exhaust the whole depth of the meanings of the novel “The handsomest drowned man in the world” by García Márquez. When people live in a closed world for many years in a row, any unexpected event becomes almost a miracle for them. Even if it’s the discovery of a drowned man. In an ordinary open world outside the settlement, this ordinary event would have caused only a brief attack of regret and irritation: its a pity for a man, especially a young man, but the unnecessary expenses and hassles of a fisherman-peasant are useless. People are so tired of age-old monotony here that even such a mournful event is somehow pleasant. There is an occasion to gather, dream, fantasize, try on someone elses life, which of course is better and brighter than your own. Surprisingly, the story, the whole plot of which is built on the description of the funeral of an unknown young man thrown to the seashore, does not leave a painful feeling. Apparently, this is due to the fact that the deceased person did not go to another unknown and lonely world. The women of the village were so carried away by fantasies that they came up with a name for him, presented his life among them, involved men into this game who were dissatisfied at first. As a result, the drowned man received parents and brothers. The death took its tribute. But people will remember him and they will be waiting for his return. After all, it does not fit into the way of life of a secluded fishing village, and the usual death is not associated with it. He just left, so he can come back in the future. And if people have something new, if its so big and beautiful, then they can get better and live brighter, at least they can try to do it. Not all the readers fall in love with the novel. Some moments can cause a sad smile when comparing women with their drowned men or the imaginary scenes from their lives. And the idea of the story is that a person can change the life of the unfamiliar humans by awakening their thoughts and imagination, and this person is rather interesting and profound. But it does not cling. Perhaps, because the idea has a flip side: you can escape from a closed world only through your own death or the death of someone else.