Physical and Imaginary Bridges in Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar Essay Example

by Cortazar. Some of them even call it a masterpiece. Right away it was published, the novel has got loud success in Argentina and soon after it has become popular all over the world. Translated by English translator Gregory Rabassa, it has become one the most popular works of Latin American literature. Due to its original structure, the work makes the reader not just an observer, but an active participant of the events described in the novel. The book is written as a paper hypertext. It has become one of the first examples of non-linear fiction.

The narration has no linear structure as the most literary works do. At the beginning of the novel the writer gives his instructions to the reader, where he explains that the book can be read in two ways. The readers can follow linear structure of the book and read the chapters as they appear in the book. In this case the reader follows a circle narration because the last chapters are connected in many ways with other chapters of the book. Another way of reading this book is to follow the numbers of chapters, given by the author.

The readers must follow author’s instruction and read the chapters in the order he advises. At the end of each chapter Corazar gives the number of the chapter, which should be read next. In the second variant readers should start reading from the chapter 73 and than follow the author’s instructions. After reading the last chapter, the reader is directed to chapter 58, which is linked with chapter 131, which is the final chapter. In this way the novel has an open ending

and the reader is circled in two last chapters.

Two ways of reading give readers two different books. Both variants are interesting and worth reading. Hopscotch goes far beyond the definition of the written book. It is an object of art, which stands beyond all literary structures and forms known before. “Much of its structural power is derived from the tension between Cortázar's devices and our expectations of a novel. The actual experience of reading this book depends on having to physically search through the pages for the next chapter in sequence.”(Standish, 42)

Reading the book in different ways the readers can get different kinds of narration and the variants are not limited by two ones. As the author himself notes in the “Table of Instructions” for his book, "this book consists of many books, but two books above all." (Cortazar, 12) The title itself is an allusion to the manner of reading, proposed by the author. When you read the novel in different order you get another perspective of the events described.

The reader has another understanding of the motives and driving forces of the characters. It is necessary to read the book two times in two different ways in order to get a full understanding of the author’s message Cortazar makes a hypertext experiment not only on the level of the chapters. He also makes text experiments inside the chapters. For example, chapter number 42 is written in a form of a dialog.

The numbers at the beginning of the remarks indicate the numbers of speakers. At the end of chapter 95 the footnotes refer to each other, i.e. the second one refers to the first one,

etc. In one of the chapters the character talks about Morelli’s writing. This reflection can give a better understanding of the author’s message to the reader. “Morelli had gone off into an adventure analogous to the work that he had been painfully writing and publishing over the years.

For some of his readers (and for himself) it was laughable to try to write the kind of novel that would do away with the logical articulations of discourse. “(Cortzar, 430) Chapter number 96 is written in a form of the play. It has the names of the characters and their remarks, which make a usual structure of the play. Sometimes the words of one character are not separated from the remark of another one and form one single text. In chapter 34 we see the Oliver’s comments about the novel, printed between the lines of the extract from this very novel.

This technique was used by the author in order to create a real-time effect of the reading, when the reader follows Oliver’s reading. Morelli, one of the characters of the book, appears only to those readers, who read the second (non-linear) variant of the book. Morelli supports non-linear structure of the text and so, he appears only in this variant of the book. This character exists between the chapters. “He is a creature of the spaces between chapters and the links between words. In the linear reading, he is absent, a mere phantom of possibilities unglimpsed.” (Yovanovich, 123) Non-linear reading contains all things presented in chapters of linear variant. But the kinds of narration are different.

The author uses his irony and great sense of humor to keep

the reader not only interested, but also centered on the reading. For example, in one of the first chapters, when following non-linear structure of the novel, we read about the lost pages, which will never be read. “A single situation and two versions... I keep on thinking of all the leaves I will not see, the gatherer of dry leaves, about so many things that there must be in the air and which these eyes will not see, poor bats out of novels and movies and dried flowers.

There must be lamps everywhere, there must be leaves that I will never see” (Cortazar, 405). The reader starts thinking about the pages and passages he misses. Ironically, the readers, who follow this type of reading, do not miss anything, while readers of the linear version do not see even this very passage about the leaves. The meaning of the words change depending on the type of the reading we choose. Each variant uncovers new nuances and shades of meaning.

Main Characters of Hopscotch

Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar is one of the major texts in Latin American culture within the twentieth century. The book “Hopscotch” is the story of life of an Argentine intellectual, who lives in Paris in the 1950s. He is about forty years old and spends his life analyzing himself and searching for the meaning of life. He spends his time with the bohemian friends, who call themselves “The Serpent Club”.

All together they listen to jazz, drink and discuss different themes: music, literature, politics, philosophy, art and others. Horacio Oliveira lives in Paris with his girlfriend “La Maga” and her baby, Rocamadour. Under certain circumstances this baby

and La Maga disappears. Oliveira is detained by the police. Soon afterwards he is deported to Buenos Aires in his native Argentina.

In Buenos Aires he meets his old friend named “Traveler”. At first he works in a circus and later in an asylum. He spends much time with “Traveler” and his wife and soon starts to believe that his friend’s wife is La Maga. Horacio Oliveria is desperately searching for his life meaning and tries to explain his destination on the earth. He is talkative and well-read and is absolutely fond of philosophizing. Horacio Oliveira is a wandering soul, who travels from one place to another and nowhere can find his place. All his life he tries to make bridges between reality, other people and himself.

As soon as it seems to him that he caught the glimpse of understanding the bridge is broken and Horacio is left alone again. He can’t change the situation in the violent and false society, he knows that only future generations are able to do this but he has no choice, but to break his head against the brick wall. He has chosen a wrong path in his life and the only thing that makes him continue his path is the question if all the paths he could have chosen would lead him to the same place.

“The same thing happens to everybody, the statue of Janus is a useless waste, the truth is that after forty years of age we have our real face on the back of our heads, looking desperately backwards. It is what in all truth is called a commonplace. You can't do anything about it, that's

about the strength of it.” (Hopscotch, 152). Unusual structure of the novel is a perfect example of different paths we choose. Horacio is occupied with the attempts to find the life meaning but in most cases he cannot succeed in finding the answer. Cortazar believes in multiple variants, which all are present at the same time.

The reader can choose the variant of reading the book and choosing this variant, he changes the life of main characters. Each our choice, each our action and event though has an extremely important meaning as it changes our reality and our future forever. This is one of the Cortazar’s messages and he uses not only artistic details, but also the structure of the book in order to bring his ideas to the readers. Such a model of world creates an endless number of possibilities since each our choice places us to the alternative Universe we choose and if to take into account that we make several hundred of choices per day we can understand that we determine our future with each of the choices. Our future depends only on us, and we must do our best to choice the right path in our life. Such a concept makes a strong accent on the events, which now take place.

The past is doubtful, the future is not determined and the only thing people possess is the present moment and the choices they make during this moment that influences their future and changes their past. The choices we make while reading the book give an example of the way our choices influence all our life. The main character of the novel makes

his choices every moment and different choices put him into different realities. He is sure that although his way is wrong and full of difficulties and pain he must follow it in spite of everything.

Horacio Olivera and La Maga seem so different. It seems that they have nothing in common. Horacio is preoccupied with the search of the life meaning and La Maga spends her days not bothering herself with anything. But there is a thing, which makes them alike. They both do not think about the future. They live at the present moment. They make no plans and believe in the series of coincidences. These coincidences once brought them together and same coincidences brought them apart. La Maga is an absolute opposite to him. She doesn’t try to choose the right way, she even doesn’t think about other possible ways, she just lives. She asks Oliveira simple questions about art and music, she is open and sincere.

She doesn’t spend all her time philosophizing and searching for life meaning. She lives as Horacio always wished to live. All in all, La Maga becomes his purpose of life. She becomes his muse and inspiration. She gives Horacio strength and will for self-investigation and development. With La Maga’s disappearance Horacio’s piece and quiet is shattered. He wants to find his girlfriend, he is filled with aspiration and strong will to be with her. After unsuccessful searches he returns to Argentina where meets his friend Traveler.

Traveler has a permanent job and he is happily married. He leads a normal but banal way of life. He lives in the society that Horacio absolutely despises. Horacio and Traveler are two

friends despite the fact that Traveler is an exact antithesis to Horacio. Two other main characters of the book are Ossip and Talita.

Life in all its Manifestations Cortazar depicts the life of Horacio in emigration. He can not find happiness and sense of meaning away from his motherland. The situation does not change when he returns to Argentina. The isolation and loneliness he experiences come from inside of his soul and can not be replaced by any external objects. For some time La Maga becomes that bridge, which unites him with the rest of the world and gives the meaning to his existence. With the disappearance of this mysterious woman this bridge is broken and Horacio has to look for new ways to make a connection with the reality.

The main theme of this book is to describe life in all its manifestations. Cortazar, the author of the book, uses a loose form of prose that is the only appropriate form to describe life in a such way. "I imposed the false order that hides the chaos, pretending that I was dedicated to a profound existence while all the time it was the one that barely dipped its toe into the terrible waters," says Horacio of himself and it’s absolutely true about everything in his life, when he wounds from one country to another, changes jobs and lovers. (Cortazar, 219). Cortazar chooses this kind of structure for his book to show that Horacio’s life is as indeterminate to readers as it’s to Horacio himself.

The two other major themes of Hopscotch are loneliness and isolation from other people and the surrounding world. Horacio can not accept this

world with all its violence that units people. He does his best to build bridges between himself and reality but fails again and again. Horacio can not adapt to the surrounding and all his searches for the meaning of life turn to disappointment. He can see people around him happy and tries to follow the life they have but soon understands that he can not be satisfied with simple and routine life, which makes happy the most of the world. Cortazar uses short and compressed chapters.

Such composition helps not to pay much attention to one definite theme of the play but helps to make an impression about the book (Peavler). With the help of short chapters and complex interconnections between them the author shows that there is no one general idea and purpose of the novel, same like there is no defeinite meaning of life in general. Life is a composition of different fragments and details. If we put these fragments in another order and add some details, we will see another picture. In the novel reality changes like in kaleidoscope and even the smallest turn changes the entire picture.

Life for Horacio is a combination of flashes, through which he perceives the world but at the same time he isn’t able to create something important, significant and valuable. Other minor themes deal with self-knowledge, madness and obsession and the nature of sex. The main character of the novel explores not only the physical world around him. He also makes a deep survey of the depths of his psychics and bind. His inner quest makes his experience the marginal states of mind.