Anna Maria Ortese takes you through
her novel, The Iguana, traveling
between reality and fantasy. The Count, otherwise known as Daddo defines
realism as,
The art of illuminating the real.
But people, unfortunately, don’t always affirm the awareness that reality
exists on many levels, and that the whole of creation, once you analyze the
deepest level of reality, isn’t real at all, and simpily the purist and
profoundest imagination. (52)
Looking at the novel through
Daddo’s definition of reality, the fantasy or dream he moves in and out of, is
not really a dream or fantasy but “the deepest level of reality”. Daddo’s
definition contradicts itself as well as brings up the question of whether
reality can be defined and what is considered reality. When speaking of nature,
reality’s new definition, allows nature to merge, and hold humanlike
characteristics. The image of Estrellita illustrates the blurred lines between
man and nature. Estrellita is portrayed as a mix between a young girl and a
reptile. At first Daddo believes that she is an old woman due to her wrinkled
appearance, however through her actions as well as personality he decided that
she must be a young girl. The concept of man vs. nature is portrayed through
the compassion and sympathy that Daddo feels for Estrellita. The count is on a
quest to purchase land, however also wishes to purchase Estrellita when he learns
that she has been bought. Because Estrellita has been purchased, she is forced
into a separation between man and nature. Daddo breaks the separation in man
vs. nature when he sacrifices himself to save Estrellita.
How is Daddo's definition contradictory? The "deepest level of reality" in the novel would be the very fact that he sacrifices himself for Estrellita. If one were to analyze the event, he would find "imagination" because it is not realistic to sacrifice oneself to mend the separation between man vs. nature when in fact Estrellita is human and not nature. It must be imagination to view her as a part of nature.
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