In Anna Maria Ortese’s novel, The Iguana, the fantastic is integrated with reality, causing the
reader to question the actuality of many events in the plot. The protagonist,
the Count Aleardi, on a quest to find real estate, encounters and explores the
mysteries of the little island Ocaña. Here, he perceives a dark presence of
evil and a rejection of God’s virtues. In an effort to bring meaning to his
life, Count Aleardi acts as a Jesus figure, sacrificing his life out of love to
restore peace and benevolence to the island. From the outset, the Count
naturally feels responsible for the inhabitants of the world, believing, “that
all creatures everywhere were eternally dependent upon his strengths, that he
personally had been entrusted to bend his body over them in unflagging acts of
protection and vigilance” (117). His fatherly tendencies exist in his
consciousness before his suffering-induced delirium causes him to lose his
grasp on reality. However, his natural urge to protect life never promoted
action, and “he looked back at his life and found it futile” (62). Upon his
arrival at Ocaña, he is suffocated and pained by the evil existent in the noble
family. His suffering reduces him to madness, and, in his insanity, he believes
that “God is dead,” a metaphor for the wickedness that has exiled, or “killed,”
God on the island (168). He reveals himself as “’God’s Witness,’” responsible
for restoring goodness to Ocaña, acting in and for God’s name (173). When a
bestial servant he adores and desires to protect attempts to commit suicide, he
assumes the role of Jesus, following her into the well to save her, dying for
her out of love. Surrounded by tremendous malevolence, the Count’s goodness prompts
him to sacrifice himself, in an effort to save both the physical and spiritual
lives of the island’s inhabitants. Count Aleardi’s genuine purity and belief
that he himself is “God’s Witness” prompts his actions, reminiscent of Jesus’s,
and his final effort to justify his life by saving someone else’s.
This was an interesting take on the novel. I personally thought his entire time on the island was a dream because I believed that The Count's role as a "Jesus" to the island was unrealistic. The amount of importance and responsibility placed on the Count and his willingness to justify Perdita was out of the ordinary. Especially because the creature he was justifying wasn't human, I was led to believe that this story was all a dream.
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