Magic Realism and Archangel

Chapter 33 between the pages 196 and 201 provides a really thorough presence of magical realism. The chapter itself begins with the bus breaking down and Archangel miraculously pulling the bus forward with his steel cables. This act itself introduces the intensification of magical realism. The moment brings into question on how a frail old man could possibly accomplish this feat of strength, defining a walking contradiction. Moving on, he gives absurd answers to the border patrol agents, claiming he is Christopher Columbus, over 500 years old, and studied at Harvard, Standford, and a secret in Annapolis, which most likely refers to the U.S Naval Academy. As he moves forward with the orange, he yells how the orange is a native orange with an elaborate history. I believe in this moment, the author is trying to symbolize Archangel as a culture that combines American and Mexican aspects. Recognizing that when the agent says California has a no-orange policy, Archangel is saying this is absurd because the native orange cannot cross, despite the shared history and culture. This dispute in itself symbolically raises a critical point in that despite the similarities in culture, these artificial and cultural national borders are unnecessary, yet they are the only entities that divide everything. It is this political creation that disembodies an expansive culture that should naturally coexist. Overall, I thought using the elements of magical realism where we aren't sure if Archangel is being serious or not and the symbolic representation of a shattered, disoriented culture due to political creations ultimately shows the fragmentation of the idealized West.