ISABEL ALLENDE’S “THE STORY OF EVA LUNA” ESSAY
Introduction
This article aims to highlight Robinson’s thoughts and ideas in “Imagination and Community,” the meaning of living well, and the relationship between realism and communal living. Reading through Marilynn Robinson’s “Imagination and Community,” one can easily experience a reflection of the writer’s ideas (Robinson, 33). As a strong believer in Christianity, Robinson insists that there is a need for one to inculcate reverence for others and to live in peace and harmony with one another in a society of people without which our very existence loses meaning (Everson, 37). The writer’s ideas are further reflected in the passage where she asserts that “As individuals and as a species, we are unthinkable without our communities.” (Robinson, 26)This statement is further explained in her belief that we find love and acceptance in a society in which we live and from people who are not necessarily known to us. Robinson explains that we live among people in schools colleges, homes, and even church, as a social agent, where we don’t know everyone. While writing fiction, she reiterates that fiction is the best means through which she could express her feeling of the importance of society in individual “I think fiction may be, whatever else, an exercise in the capacity for imaginative love, or sympathy, or identification”( Robinson, 21)
To understand the meaning of living well, Robinson explains that the characters must continue to serve the best interest of the community. The characters insist that differences undermine stability and strength (Everson, 38). Imagination and magical realism are very important to an individual, as they help one to empathize and sympathize with others as the individual tries to understand the predicaments of others. In this manner, imagination helps us to understand people from different backgrounds, races, religions, genders, and ages. Magical realism is further reflected in community or society in Marilynn Robinson’s “Imagination and Community,” when we come to realize that language is communal and while speaking it in a social gathering, it grows day by day to enhance communal relationship as opposed to an individual solitary life as reflected in many passages in the text (Robinson, 33). The magical realism, in this case, is the growth of language and how it enhances understanding among people who live communally. According to Robinson, the work of imagination is taught by the community, and “the more generous the scale at which imagination is exerted, the healthier and more humane the community will be” (Robinson, 32).
Summary
The passages reflect Robinson’s ideas of communal living as opposed to a solitary life. She claims that language is developed as a result of speech among the members of the community and is helpful to tighten interpersonal relationships in a way that causes magical realism. Love, acceptance, empathy, and sympathy are results of using imagination to understand people whose fates, religions, races, and cultures are different from ours.
Works cited
Allende, I. (1991). The Story of Eva Luna, Sudamericana: Chile. Print.
Everson, L (1997). Dancing with Allende: Night Stories Spin off Eva Luna; Retrieved: 21 June
2020.
Robinson, R. (2012). Imagination and Community. Commonwealth. Web