Death Of Artemio Cruz

8 Pages 1911 Words

A writer can usually connect characters in his novel through parallels, foils, and other literary devices. In The Death of Artemio Cruz, by Carlos Fuentes, Fuentes links the main character and the father, Artemio, to his son, Lorenzo with parallels and foils put there in order to help his reader better understand the depth of Artemio Cruz. In the section titled, “1939: February 3,” Fuentes describes Lorenzo’s and Dolores’ love for each other. This description helps the reader fully understand Artemio Cruz, his love for Regina, and his life as a whole.
Artemio and his son are different types of lovers, but lovers nonetheless. Lorenzo is romantic while Artemio is rough. This can be seen in the love scenes Fuentes describes.
Lorenzo’s first act of love with Dolores is explained with beauty, desire, and sensitivity. “They touched hands, embracing it, and they wrenched themselves from their tree to embrace each other, Dolores and he, so he could caress her brow and she his neck. She stepped back, so he could see her moist green eyes better, her half-open mouth, before she buried her head in the boy’s chest, raised her face to give him her lips...” (Cruz 227). Fuentes describes this encounter in a passionate way. He explains that Dolores stepped back so that her beautiful green eyes could be seen better. Eyes are important in relationships as they hold the key to love. One looks into the others’ eyes in order to see love as an image rather than just a feeling. Fuentes recognizes this as he makes Dolores move merely for the sake of allowing Lorenzo to gaze into her eyes and see her emotion. This is an effective gesture in showing the romanticism of the two lovers. Fuentes uses great diction to show their desire for one another. They both “wrench” themselves off the tree so that they both can arouse the other. It involves the workings of the two figures. Neither sex is dominating over the other. Lorenzo does not need t...