Dark Humor By Julio Cortazar: A Literary Analysis

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Survival is something every species puts on top of their priorities. Us humans take extra measure to ensure the survival of our species. During the mid 1900’s, civil war was erupting all throughout Latin American countries. However survival becomes hard during civil unrest and revolutionary wars. Latin American authors use their literary works to tell the rest of the world the harsh conditions they face everyday of their lives. Authors like Pablo Neruda and Julio Cortazar from Chile and Argentina use many unique literary devices to create a serious tone. By using elements like Repetition, Antithesis, and Parallelism these authors create Dark Humor which helps to refine and clarify the harsh and serious tone they attempt to create. Repetition …show more content…

Author Julio Cortazar uses this literary device to create a serious tone in many of his short stories. In the story, the character by the name of Julia gets really excited about the changes taking place in the governmental system but is also scared of the side effects it will have. “Tomorrow will be a day to remember…next generations will suffer the results” (Cortazar 363). The author demonstrates how quickly the character changes her thoughts. This helps the readers understand the way the Latin American people think. This also intern creates Dark humor throughout the literary work. Placing the two opposing ideas next to each other demonstrates the extremes of life. “I finally start work tomorrow…fourteen hour days will be a killer” (Cortazar 363). The author creates a joyful tone for a while by mentioning that the character will have a job and make money but immediately kills t by mentioning the long work hours. This also helps to demonstrates how hard it is to survive on the daily basis. Julio Cortazar is widely known for his use of antithesis to demonstrate scenarios in extreme. “The poverty has gone down dramatically, but the work hours have increased to around 15 hours a day” (Cortazar 364). In the quote, Cortazar demonstrates how long work hours are for a little pay. With the use of Antithesis, the authors consequently create

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