Julio Cortazar

The stories of Julio Cortazar demonstrate the deeper meaning of imagination, reality, and implication. My favorite story, Axolotl demonstrates the bigger interpretation of suffering. The reader has to look beyond the words in order to understand Cortazar’s meaning. A metamorphosis is a creative way to make people understand another person’s feelings. This story makes me think of the saying, you don’t know what it is like until you have a walked a mile in someone else’s shoes. Julio made readers realize the suffering of the axolotl without even walking that mile. I felt the suffering of the Aztecs and it was amazing how the perspective changed, reaching beyond the literal world. In life, we sometimes get confused with reality and imagination. I awake from dreams asking myself, was that real? I find myself lost in what my mind has created and that is exactly what Continuity of Parks portrays. The story is within a story and the reality is within the imagination. I enjoyed the magical realism in this story because it did play tricks with my mind. This story was very perplexing; yet, I learned that people can easily get lost in their fantasies. I was not aware of how many characters were actually in the story; on the other hand, I understood that a story can make you lose yourself. There have been plenty of times where I have gotten lost in a book. For example, What Dreams May Come was a book that I got lost in. I could not put the book down and after I did, I felt like a walking zombie. I wanted to be in that fantasy world. The last piece of writing that I could relate to was Our Demeanor at Wakes. This story was very humorous with its exaggeration of hypocrisy. I think that this story proves the extreme measures that people will go to because of their emotions. Teenage girls go through extreme measures to fit in and be a part of a group. Many people, even me have gone through peer pressure. My emotions assist me in the decision to go through with it or opt out. When the sisters and brothers over exaggerate their emotions it relates to what is real and what is fantasy. Their emotions are fake, but it can become reality. Overall, the author has taught me a lot about finding the deeper meaning and looking outside the normal implications. I enjoyed every piece of art that Julio Cortazar has written and I believe his stories challenge every person’s creativity and imagination.