Literature - Research Paper Example

PARODY OR PIRACY? Robert Antoni is a well-known critique that tries to figure out the creativity of many In his opinion, many authors are prone to imitating the creativity of other writers other than being creative. He considers this as a tradition that has been recurrent in the literature world. He includes the books The Home of the Spirits, written by Isabel Allendes, and Gabriel Garcia Marquezs One Hundred Years of Solitude. His comparison of the relationship between the two novels forms the basis of discussion in this literature research paper.

To begin with, Antoni entitles his criticism regarding the two novels in question as parody or piracy. He suggests that Allende is plagiarizing Garcia’s work other than being creative. Beginning with the starting few sentences of the house of the spirits, he acknowledges that they do belong to Garcia’s book (Antoni 16). The tone and technique used in Allende’s starting passage is a like to that of Garcia. This he refers to as “the language of the magic realism”. This he suggests is because as Allende tries to realize her own language in her writing, she ends up using Garcia’s already established language.

It is ironical to, also note that, from his analysis, the last few sentences from Garcia’s book are from Allende’s book. As Antoni compares the two novels, it is revealed further that though Allende is attempting to make a difference between her novel and that of Garcia, there are some parts that do not make a big difference (Antoni 19). For instance, she stipulates in her first sentence that the writing of the novel is 50 years after the occurrence of the events in the novel. Garcia, on the other hand, writes that Buendias were prophetically written by Melquiades a century before the events.

This implies that Garcia’s book is in the jurisdiction of the mythological time whereas Allende’s book is more of ancient than legendary (Antoni 20). Antoni further gives instances in the two novels that prove of Allende’s alleged plagiarism. In one instance, he views the characteristics of Tio Marcos found in Allende’s novel being obtained from Garcia’s Melquiades. This is because the two characters die, and are resurrected, they are adventurers, they bear the magical books, and are astronomers among other similar characteristics they acquire.

This implies that Allende’s novel fetches so much information from Garcia’s novel (Antoni 25).An instance where Allende is imitating Garcia knowingly iswhere; Clara insists that names should not be repeated in the family due to their “creation of confusion in her note books, which bore wimes to life” (Allende 223). In Garcia’s novel, the characters are given names and characteristics, such that they can be easily interchanged. In my own assessment, the house of the spirits is a viable book, independent from Garcia’s novel, one hundred years of solitude.

To support this, in her novel, Allend was trying to find a language for her book, unconsciously, she used Garcia’s language. This to me is a process of self-discovery, whereby a mistake was committed.In conclusion, the two novels according to Robert Antoni, they are similar. As seen above, he accuses Allende of mimicking Garcia’s work. This is a tradition that does not assist authors to become creative, though as he has further stated, it has found its way into many authors. This could be the explanation for the similarity between the two novels.

Works CitedAntoni, Robert. Parody or Piracy: The Relationship of "The House of the Spirits" to "One Hundred Years of Solitude”. Latin American Literary Review Vol. 16, No. 32 (1988): 16-28. Print.