Is Magical Realism More Real Than Realism ?

By Vedant Agrawal

It always amuses me that the biggest praise for my work comes for the imagination while the truth is that there’s not a single line in all my work that does not have a basis in reality. The problem is that Caribbean reality resembles the wildest imagination.

–Gabriel Garcia Marquez

When it comes to historical records, literature is a living document that reflects the cultural and political mores of the time. Poets and novelists use verse and fiction to express their creative acumen and hopes for a better world. Midnight's Children and Love in the Time of Cholera, the critically acclaimed novels by Indian-born Salman Rushdie and internationally renowned Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez, brought them worldwide fame and acclaim. Both the novels have been celebrated as masterpieces for their groundbreaking use of form and content. Their transnational accomplishment and excellence can be ascribed to the premise that they can relate to remotely familiar voices in a style that is both likely with resonate to their roots. Both the novels are widely praised as post-modern epics, in which the writers employ multiple indicators of magic realism, a strategy that reflects and exposes the distorted reality without the presence of the trappings of the weird. Midnight's Children and Love in the Time of Cholera are connected with a literary style that combines magical or supernatural happenings and actions within a realistic story without questioning the implausibility of the evidence and challenging the realism of the events. In ‘The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms’ Magical Realism is defined as “a quasi-surrealistic art form...mixture of realistic and fantastic elements. Realistic details and esoteric knowledge are intertwined with dreamlike sequences, abrupt chronological shifts and complex, tangled plots. Magical realists also frequently incorporate fairy tales and myths into their works'' (Murfin & Ray 1997: 242).

Using magic realism, author Salman Rushdie's monumental work Midnight's Children encompasses the entire reality of the Indian subcontinent. During the crafting of his most notable work, Rushdie invented a new literary style by adopting a synthetic language - which is a combination of English liberally laced with Indian terminology - to portray a thread that could be perceived as depicting the wide tapestry of India, which is typically described as magical realism. A significant milestone in postcolonial literature, this well-known novel has captivated readers and critics worldwide. Like Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel Love in the Time of Cholera, the theme of love is presented in an atypical manner. As Lindsay Moore aptly confesses, "one based on a rational view of reality and the other on acceptance of supernatural as prosaic reality" dichotomy, the book exemplifies the magic realism genre.

From the very onset of the plot line, When the protagonist, Saleem Sinai, recounts his birth in the prescribed sequence, the phantasmagorical tendencies of the narrative become increasingly apparent.; “I was born in the city of Bombay…once upon a time. No, that won't do, there is no getting away from the date, I was born in Doctor Narlikar's nursing home… India's arrival at independence, I tumbled forth into the world”(MC: 3)

The narrator warns the audience that they are about to enter a world of fantasy with this fairy-tale-style narrative. In this perspective, Saleem and the newly independent state of India become metaphorical parallels ; they were both brought into the world on August 15, 1947, during the first hour of independence. Transmutation, flight, prophecy, and wizardry are just a few of their impressive abilities. A future that was fundamentally different from anything the world had ever seen before was being seeded in an, “as though history arriving at a point of highest significance and promise, … differ from anything the world had seen up to that time”(M.C.-271)

Every child born between 12:00 a.m. and 1:00 a.m. on a Sunday has unique talents and abilities. The closer their births are to midnight, the greater the gifts they receive. Intricately linked to the novel's theme, this is a wondrous twist and the novelist has done an excellent job of presenting it. As for what's really going on here with the magical gifts being given to the newly born midnight children, not even our narrator knows for sure. He was unable to explain this fantasy in the following words: “During the first hour of August 15th, 1947–between midnight and one a.m.- no less than one thousand … or just conceivably by sheer coincidence, endowed with features, talents or faculties which can only be described as miraculous”(M.C.-271)

In an identical line of thought, lurks the august oeuvre of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s, Love in the Time of Cholera which traces the saga of the "sentimental education" of Florentino Ariza, a revamped version of the " mad hero," and his fidelity to a youthful adoration which can be implemented only after half a century. The relationship between romance, love and old age is a recurring motif of magical realism in the story. Thus, the plotline illustrates the uncertainty and complexities of approaching and tackling a matter that has occupied such a pivotal position in Western civilization, principally throughout the nineteenth century. This novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez may be read as a romantic and maudlin tale of love triumphing over death, but it's a cautionary fable about the dangers of clinging to one's feelings for too long. Dr Juvenal Urbino's investigation into Jeremiah De Saint-demise, the man who killed himself at the age of sixty because he was afraid of growing old, sets the tone for the rest of the book. The non-linear narration by Marquez complicates readers' understanding at first, as two plotlines are running concurrently. Even before the first page is turned, it's clear that the novel is hiding some secrets and mysteries that will eventually be revealed.

Florentino approaches Fermina Daza with a solemn confession after Dr Urbino's death. He announces, "Fermina, I have waited for this opportunity… eternal fidelity and everlasting love." (Marquez 50)In addition, magic realism demonstrates that time is cyclical rather than linear. It is probable that the similar incident will reappear in the plotline. Florentino is continually endeavoring to optimize and perfect himself, whether he is conscious of it or not, because he considers himself so subordinate to Dr Urbino. Florentino's personal thoughts regarding Urbino's demise are not vindictive. Urbino may expire before he can affirm his admiration for Fermina, for all he understands and realizes. It appears as though everything has already occurred, and the novel's central premise reinforces this impression in a cyclic fashion. Florentino, Fermina, and the father of Urbino had all been indisposed and died from complications as a consequence. Ultimately, Florentino proposes Fermina, Urbino proposes Fermina, and Florentino proposes Fermina once more at the conclusion.

Marquez uses several other symbols in this novel that must be interpreted in light of their mythological origin to be fully understood. Symbols of prostitution, like parrots, are used in this way. In the nineteenth century, a number of famous courtesans owned parrots, and this type of usage dates back to that time. They may represent courtesans because of their gaudiness and the fact that they are kept in gilded rooms. Magical realism and a wide range of cultural connections are used in Love in the Time of Cholera to exemplify a wide diversity and societal perceptions and psyches. In these two esteemed canons, Rushdie and Garcia use magic realism to embrace the grim and stark realities and instabilities of the Postcolonial and the Postmodern eras across the globe.

An in-depth examination of the novels reveals that magic realism is a subversive development that can be used to amplify a voice of protest against victimization and its after-effects in the Third World. It allows an author to create new and neutral areas somewhere between the real world and the fairy land, free from the constraints of realism. They are free to mix the real and the outlandish, in order to teach the lesson of tolerance to others. In addition, the study claims that magic realism is an enabling force for a degree of fusion between completely different worlds and demonstrates that people’s pleasure can co-exist with exactly opposite cultural contexts.

Regardless of who you are or where you come from, it is undeniable that magic realism satisfies the human desire to develop an attitude toward the amazing and absurd that shapes our perception of reality. Realistic fiction employs magic realism to enhance our understanding of the world. To decipher fiction with magic, the presence of magical elements, an appreciation of the story's plot or conventional knowledge, both surreal and unconventional, should be considered.

Works Cited

Garcia Marquez, Gabriel. ( 1988). Love in the Time of Cholera [trans. Edith Grossman]. Penguin Books. Harmondsworth.

----------------. “The Solitude Of Latin America”. Translated. From Nobel Lectures, Literature

1981-1990, Editor-in-Charge Tore Frengsmyr, Editor Sture Allen, World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore, (1993). Print. Transcript.

Lindsay Moore. “Magical Realism.” Magical Realism, 1998, http://mrhoyesibwebsite.com/Prose%20Texts/Chronicle/Critical%20Articles/Magical%20 Realism%20-%20Lindsay%20Moore.htm#:~:text=Magical%20realism%20is%20character ized%20by,the%20supernatural%20as%20prosaic%20reality.

Murfin, Ross C., and Supryia M. Ray. The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms.

Boston MA: Bedford books, 1997.

Rushdie, Salman. Midnight's Children. Random House LLC, 2010.

By Vedant Agrawal