EVA THE FUGITIVE, or, EVA Y LA FUGA by ROSAMEL DEL VALLE
SUMMARY
In an unnamed city man named R who narrates the book meets a woman named Eva as a child. He falls in love but she finds him melancholic and doesn't reciprocate. R forgets about her.
As an adult, R dreams of a woman named Eva. The woman floats between his country and Norway on a fiery bridge. Eva tells him in his dream of her dream in which she is kidnapped by a man who takes her to a hotel room and wants to chop her up.
R dreams he sees Eva in an arcade 2 days later where she tells him she thought of devoting the prior day, her birthday, to him, but decided not to. R complains about Eva to his friend Ignacio who encourages R to move on.
Eva and R cross a bridge in R's next dream but Eva stops and says she saw an illegal immigrant arrested on the bridge.
A man named Estefano begins to appear in R's dreams and R recognizes Estefano as the voice of love. Estefano speaks to a dove in one of R's dreams. Santiago has a dream in which he meets another woman who tells him that she possesses the spirit of Eva but he doesn't believe her. Eva appears in the dream and spreads her legs to open like a fork in the road. R sees Eva's death down one leg and love down the other.
Eva appears to R after being absent from R's mind for a few days and he imagines her bleeding in a blue dress before she transforms to an angelic figure and tells him a story about an ill-fated relationship she was in which both members pursued despite each knowing the relationship would not last. R and Eva meet in a crowd and walk together in the next dream and Estefano appears. Estefano tells R that death has just passed the group.
R imagines himself in prison where Estefano appears. After the prison dream R sees Eva in his room, and she is dressed in blue. She reads to him and leaves. R thinks that he will not see her again. In italics, a letter concludes the text in which R professes that he has lost all hope besides the possibility of an exit from the pain of life.
ANALYSIS
R likely has a psychiatric disorder which is causing him to hallucinate a girl he fell in love with as a child. The girl takes on an adult form he imagines for her in his mind. Eva tries to tell R to let go of her by hinting that their love is not meant to be through the story she tells him about an ill-fated love. Additionally, when Eva reminds R that she knew him as a child, she describes him as melancholic. Later in the novella, she tells him that she is leaving the world because it is too melancholic. Eva's stories are clearly meant to encourage R to move on.
The prison R finds himself in is a metaphor for the prison of love he has locked himself in, which is why Estefano, the voice of love to R, appears in the prison. The reference to illegal and immigration caused Santiago to feel mournful about wasting time hallucinating while people suffer. Eager to escape the misery R feels bound to in life, he writes what appears to be a suicide note which is the final page of the novella. I believe Santiago killed himself.
SUMMARY
In an unnamed city man named R who narrates the book meets a woman named Eva as a child. He falls in love but she finds him melancholic and doesn't reciprocate. R forgets about her.
As an adult, R dreams of a woman named Eva. The woman floats between his country and Norway on a fiery bridge. Eva tells him in his dream of her dream in which she is kidnapped by a man who takes her to a hotel room and wants to chop her up.
R dreams he sees Eva in an arcade 2 days later where she tells him she thought of devoting the prior day, her birthday, to him, but decided not to. R complains about Eva to his friend Ignacio who encourages R to move on.
Eva and R cross a bridge in R's next dream but Eva stops and says she saw an illegal immigrant arrested on the bridge.
A man named Estefano begins to appear in R's dreams and R recognizes Estefano as the voice of love. Estefano speaks to a dove in one of R's dreams. Santiago has a dream in which he meets another woman who tells him that she possesses the spirit of Eva but he doesn't believe her. Eva appears in the dream and spreads her legs to open like a fork in the road. R sees Eva's death down one leg and love down the other.
Eva appears to R after being absent from R's mind for a few days and he imagines her bleeding in a blue dress before she transforms to an angelic figure and tells him a story about an ill-fated relationship she was in which both members pursued despite each knowing the relationship would not last. R and Eva meet in a crowd and walk together in the next dream and Estefano appears. Estefano tells R that death has just passed the group.
R imagines himself in prison where Estefano appears. After the prison dream R sees Eva in his room, and she is dressed in blue. She reads to him and leaves. R thinks that he will not see her again. In italics, a letter concludes the text in which R professes that he has lost all hope besides the possibility of an exit from the pain of life.
ANALYSIS
R likely has a psychiatric disorder which is causing him to hallucinate a girl he fell in love with as a child. The girl takes on an adult form he imagines for her in his mind. Eva tries to tell R to let go of her by hinting that their love is not meant to be through the story she tells him about an ill-fated love. Additionally, when Eva reminds R that she knew him as a child, she describes him as melancholic. Later in the novella, she tells him that she is leaving the world because it is too melancholic. Eva's stories are clearly meant to encourage R to move on.
The prison R finds himself in is a metaphor for the prison of love he has locked himself in, which is why Estefano, the voice of love to R, appears in the prison. The reference to illegal and immigration caused Santiago to feel mournful about wasting time hallucinating while people suffer. Eager to escape the misery R feels bound to in life, he writes what appears to be a suicide note which is the final page of the novella. I believe Santiago killed himself.
- Adult man hallucinates his childhood sweetheart
- Man can't stop hallucinations
- She says goodbye to him and he kills himself
SOURCE
Valle, Rosamel Del. Eva the Fugitive. CA: University of California , 1990. Print. Tragic book about a delusional person.
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