Introduction
to the Story
The Walk
is a translation of Spanish story“Paseo” by Jose Donoso.This
story was published in the book “The Best Stories of Jose Donoso”
published in 1966.
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| Jose Donose |
Summary
of the Story
This story is about a family
having five members Aunt Mathilda her three brothers and a child who is the
narrator of the story. Many years after the events related in the story, the
narrator passes by the house in which he grew up and attempts to reconstruct
the circumstances that led to the mysterious disappearance of his aunt
Mathilda. As a child, he lived in a home that included his widowed father, his
unmarried aunt Mathilda, and two bachelor uncles, Gustavo and Armando.
Aunt Mathilda originally moved into
the house in order to take care of the narrator after his mother passed away
when he was four years old, but once she settled in, most of her attention went
to caring for her own three brothers. Managing the household with a firm and
steady hand, Mathilda re-created the household in her own image—with more order
than warmth, and more impersonal efficiency than human affection.
Surprisingly, one day Mathilda
took in a stray white dog, which she had found on a street after it was hit by
a car. In her devotion to nursing the injured dog back to health, Mathilda
began to neglect her regular household duties and routines. Gradually the
mongrel bitch replaced the brothers as her principal companion. When she
stopped joining her brothers for a game of pool every evening in order to take
the dog for a walk, it was clear that the life of the family was no longer the
same.
This change put Mathilda’s
brothers in the same situation as the narrator, who had always been neglected
by his aunt. It was not in the brothers’ nature to say anything to Aunt
Mathilda about the disruptive impact of her relationship with the dog. As the
narrator remarks, it became “more important than ever not to see, not to see
anything at all, not to comment, not to consider oneself alluded to by these
events.” Thus, instead of voicing their concerns, they tried to ignore the
changes in their lives. As the dog became not just Mathilda’s companion but her
“accomplice,” Mathilda’s walks got longer and longer, and she often came home
dirty and disheveled. Finally, one day she went out for a walk and did not
return. Although the brothers tried to discover her whereabouts, they had no
success. Nevertheless, as the narrator states, “Life went on as if Mathilda
were still living with us.”
Symbolism
One of the most
notable uses of symbolism in Donoso’s works is the disintegration of order due
to some perturbing element, which can be described as an irrational force that
assault the destiny of man and consequently produces a rapture in the
satisfaction of order in which the character has created a refuge. Here in this
short story Donoso has used the symbol of dog to reflect the alter ego of the
main character so here dog causes a big change in the ordered life of the
characters. Donoso has used the same symbol in many other works like El
Lugar sinLimitesand in El Hombrecito
Major Themes
Complicated Relationship
The major theme
that Jose Donoso has discussed in this story is the theme of complicated
relationship. We see that all family members are alone and not connected with
one another. They are so limited and bound. As Donoso depicts the relationshipamong
his characters in this way “Respectwas the only form of contact left
betweenthosefourisolatedindividuals.” This statement explains how all
of them were isolated and self-centered. Although they have blood relations
with each other yet they had no emotions, feelings or connection with one
another.
The second major theme that Jose has discussed in this story is the
relationship between order and chaos. We see that before the appearance of
white dog the life of the family was totally in order. As the narrator says “Iexultedattheworld
of security thather words projected for me, that magnificent straight road
which leads to death that is not dreaded since it is exactly like this life,
without anything fortuitous or unexpected.”
So following
shows that how their life was in an order. But when the white dog became a part
of their family there was a great disturbance and disorder which finally cause
the disappearance of Aunt Mthilda. First of all this appearance of dog made
Aunt Mathilda careless about her duties as the narrator said; From that
night on, instead of going up after dinner to open her brothers’ beds, she went
to her room.It also made disturbance in their daily routine as Mathilda
started to stay out with the dog for hours and stopped to join her brothers at
billiard after dinner.
World of Security
Jose presented
that the house was a world of security for all the characters. They were not
connected the world outside and even they did not want to have anything be part
of their bound and limited word. Their lives were like a closed book as their
deep house revealed only its narrow spine to the street, it never opened itself
up to the threat of the exterior. As narrator himself explained the fact
talking about individual characters of his father, uncles and Aunt Mthilda; “who
walked the corridors of the house which, like a book, showed narrow spine to
the street.
This line
really depicts the limitation of their house in four walls totally disconnected
with the world outside.
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