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What happens to a human being after death is a topic covered with mystery and confusion. People go out of their way to bicker and fight about their vision of the afterlife, of the void that one awaits after dying. They become so invested in trying to define their fate that they forget to pay attention to what is happening around them. Chuy, or Jesus, the main character in Gary Soto’s The Afterlife, is a fifteen-year-old boy whose sudden and senseless death shows others the value of cherishing the present. The author uses magical realism to embark the reader on a journey of reflecting on life when nothing can be done to change it. Such a technique of combining reality and the afterlife makes the readers lose themselves between the two worlds, empathizing with the main characters as if their fate could be redeemed.
The primary purpose of Gary Soto’s The Afterlife is to show the significance of human life and forgiveness from the perspective of those who lose it. Chuy, being a self-conscious 15-year-old kid, managed to discover the blessings of love and compassion only after he became a lifeless ghost whose days on Earth were counted. During a long journey coming back and forth to Yellow Shoes, a man who killed Chuy for a compliment, the boy discovers the power of forgiveness and love for others. The boy, whose insecurities catalyzed hatred for everything surrounding him, became the one to forgive his killer (Soto).
However, while he wanted to convey the message of forgiveness to his family, he could not do anything. No matter how one’s perception of life may change after death, it will never have a meaningful impact on real life itself. Hence, it makes sense to learn these things while one is alive.
Throughout the story, the author manages to successfully combine the worlds of reality and the afterlife. At some point, there were moments when Chuy stood among real people as there was no line between life and death. The only thing that somehow disrupted this convergence was the feeling of chill Chuy passed on to Richard (Soto 15). Moreover, the interaction between Chuy and Crystal was so natural and down-to-earth that it was easy to get lost between the afterlife and everything happening on Earth. The characters could easily wander down the streets of Frasco and reflect on the places they saw. However, at some point, the reader may become confused about why no one can see Chuy walking around the Yellow Shoes’ house. The ones who died felt more alive than the ones who faced grief and injustice.
The use of the supernatural element of the afterlife provides a contrast to the storyline. On the one hand, there is a real world of frustration, grief, and vigilance. On the other hand, there is a world after death that manifests forgiveness and love. At some point, it almost feels as if one needs to die to find peace with the cruelty of the world. Indeed, it is reasonable to assume that letting go of hatred is easier when there is no way back. However, the perspective of innocent children whose life ended so abruptly shows that if they can accept their death, the same should be done by others. The cultivation of anger that goes on in the real world, along with the power of forgiveness manifested in the afterlife, shows the two sides of perceiving an issue.
Such a technique of transcendent experience teaches the reader the power of cherishing life. Once the readers identify themselves with Chuy, they feel nothing but support and love for him. The process of accepting death and forgiveness could be shown solely from the perspective of the victims’ families. However, the emotive response would be different in such a scenario. The magical component of being in the same spot as the ones alive provides the reader with a more powerful identification with the character. The technique of bringing magic and reality together provides insights into the perception of the storyline. Hence, magical realism is a powerful tool in the hands of the creator.
The paradigms of life and death seem to intersect only at one point in one’s existence. This point is nothing else but death itself. However, when looking deeper into the problem, these two opposites go hand in hand. Gary Soto managed to bring these worlds together through the lens of an innocent and almost meaningful death. As a result, the level of compassion and empathy for the characters grew immensely. The notion of magical realism, in this case, presents how a singly story may be conveyed with the help of something supernatural. The Afterlife is a prominent example of a literary piece that combines ordinary life and magic to present the moral from various perspectives. The story of Chuy is the story of how imaginary narrative helps bring more meaning to the real one.
Work Cited
Soto, Gary. The Afterlife. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2003.
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