Aura: Language

When first reading Aura, I was very confused about the whole thing with the cats. At first I thought cats may be symbolic of something but never figured out what the cats were symbolic of. I only understood the importance of cats when, in lecture, the translation of the French portions of the book were discussed. I found it odd that the author did not incorporate the translations into the text, so the reader could more fully understand what is going on. However, thinking more about it, had author Carlos Fuentes written the novel so that the narrator translated the French for the benefit of the reader, would have completely destroyed the effect of the second person narration used in this novel.

This type of narration assumes that the reader knows all that the narrator, in this case the main character Felipe, knows as it is written in a way that tells you what you have seen and are doing as if you are actually there narrating the story to yourself for your own benefit. Put in this position makes the reader much more involved in the story as the reader becomes the main character, who is supposed to be fluent in French, explaining why the author did not translate the French parts of his book. Translating these parts of the novel would have omitted the effect of the second person narration as it would have acknowledged the that the reader and the narrator are not, in reality, the same person.

However, I also wonder if perhaps the French was not translated just to keep the reader as much in the dark as Felipe is kept in the dark (literally and metaphorically) throughout the novel. Even though the narration makes the reader feel more involved in the story, the reader can still have a more objective point of view and different insights into the story then the narrator himself, making the French a way in which to ensure the narrator and reader maintain the same level of confusion throughout the duration of the text.

Or do most people in South America speak French and Spanish? That is definitely a reason why the author would not feel a need to translate the French, but regardless in not doing so the second person point of view remains intact.