Manuel Puig

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However, this is not permanent as Larry breaks the fantasy, “I’m not your son.” Breaking the bond he and Mr. Ramirez had, he breaks all the feelings of attachment with it. Once the feelings are broken, suspicion begins to arise from Mr. Ramirez, “Maybe you want to see me dead, that’s why.” Since Larry begins to depend on Mr. Ramirez for his journals, the transition from attachment to suspicion parallels the transition of dependence from Mr. Ramirez to Larry. Manuel Puig foreshadows the ending by the usage of the word, “dead” which is how Mr. Ramirez ends in the story. As their escape and the fantasy created begin to crumble down, it parallels the defeat of both characters, as Mr. Ramirez dies and Larry is left unemployed. Similarly, …show more content…

Working mainly with dialogue he creates characters in confinement who are forced to find a way to escape their own reality. In Kiss of the Spider Woman, Molina and Valentin escape their prison cell by telling movies. The importance of this is it helps them maintain their sanity and keep their brain thinking, their fantasies allow them to create their own reality based on their thoughts and ideas. Manuel Puig highlights the importance of their escape throughout the whole book by constantly using parallelisms to illustrate the change in his characters and their increasing similarities with the characters in the films. As well as having Molina and Valentin contrast femininity and masculinity in the story, and the manner in which they interact with one another. In Eternal Curse on the Reader of These Pages, Mr. Ramirez relies on Larry, and Larry relies on Mr. Ramirez to escape their own realities. Mr. Ramirez and Larry ultimately take on the role of a father and son and strengthen their relationship and bond. Manuel Puig weakens their bond as they become too convinced in their fantasy and believe that it is their new reality. However, the fantasy they create, which seems innocent at first, but ends up being their own curse, as they are hurt by the realization that their fantasy is not real. Although, in the end in both works the characters are defeated, they all manage to survive and cope with their situation a bit longer because of their alternate reality. As a result, Manuel Puig is highly successful in providing a theme of fantasy and escapism in his books, Kiss of the Spider Woman and Eternal Curse on the Reader of These Pages. The manner in which he describes his characters, a dependent on someone, allows for an understanding reading as one sympathizes with his characters

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