Of Being Condensed In Luisa Valenzuela's The Censors
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Reality is a question of perspective; the further you get from the past, the more concrete and plausible it seems-- but as you approach the present, it inevitably seems incredible.
-Salman Rushdie, Midnight’s Children
The conflict of being condensed in the past seeming most reasonable is made clear in Luisa Valenzuela’s excerpt from the short story, “The Censors.” In the short story, the main character, Juan, lets an overwhelming commitment to his job take over his sense of reality. He feels as if someone has forgotten about him and then he decides his only hope is a letter. The letter causes Juan to lose contact with the world around him. The conflict between reality and the letter is revealed here; “Little by little there were days when his work so absorbed him that the noble mission that brought him to the Bureau became momentarily blurred”…show more content… In Valenzuela’s short story the series of events are very well put to show this “feeling proud of himself, he was at the point of knowing that he had finally found his true path, when his own letter to Mariana reached his hands” (Valenzuela 411). This is the last paragraph in the short story, with the last event of when he knows the letter has finally reached the one person. It shows how well he felt after the constant lost contact with the world. Alike, Kelley’s short story also gives a great series of events to show that being lost in reality is not good. Chig’s father had gone pale. He spoke very softly. “You’re about thirty years too late, Mama.” He bolted from the table. Silverware and dishes reang and jumped. Chis heard him hurrying up to their room” (Kelley 141). Charles is finally coming to reality after his rant about how poorly his mama treated him. His mother says what she needs to say and then he calms down and lets her know how he feels about the whole