The Narrator as Creator and Critic in "The Invention of Morel"

Author(s): Margaret L. Snook

Source: Latin American Literary Review, Vol. 7, No. 14 (Spring, 1979), pp. 45-51
Published by: Latin American Literary Review
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20119173
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 The Narrator as Creator and Critic in
The Invention of Morel
MARGARET L. SNOOK

Many of the first person narrators of Bioy Casares' fantastic fiction are
writers, men whose literary interests vary from poetry to journalism.1 This
literary background, often important in the characterization of the narrators,
usually plays another vital role in the thematic development of the work. It
provides the perfect opportunity for presenting theories related to creativity
and writing, both recurrent themes in Bioy Casares' prose.2
This use of the narrator-writer is especially significant in The Invention
of Morel, which deals with substantially more than a scientist's attempts to
gain immortality through a photographic device designed to capture the
thoughts and sensations of its subjects. The novel is not only an ingenious
adventure story set on an unchartered island in the Pacific, it is also a com
mentary on the relationship that exists between literature and other forms of
artistic expression.
This theoretical dimension of the novel is revealed through careful con
sideration of the dual role played by the anonymous narrator as creator and
critic. He is the author and commentator of the text in which he appears and
makes frequent allusions to its tone and veracity. He is the editor and literary
critic of the document written by the scientist Morel, which the narrator
encloses within the body of his own text. The narrator is also the creator as
well as critic of an unusual pictorial presentation, a floral image depicting the
woman he loves. Each of these circumstances, the latter in particular, provides
an opportunity for a literary discussion very relevant to the novel's inter
pretation.
However, like many of Bioy Casares' protagonists, the narrator seems
inadequate for the task he undertakes.3 His creative ambitions and aspira
tions no doubt exceed his talent. The reader knows little about his back
ground except that he is a writer: "...I am a writer who has always wanted to
live on a lonely island;..."4 The gap that exists between the narrator's real
accomplishments and his pr?tentions is perhaps indicated by his inability to
complete two essays, "Defensa ante Sobrevivientes" ["Apology for Sur
vivors"] and "Elogio de Malthus" ["Tribute to Malthus"], both mentioned in
the first entry of his diary. This failure is attributed to his involvement in the
events that transpired on the island. In any case, an unoriginal apology of

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46 LATIN AMERICAN LITERARY REVIEW

Thomas Malthus' ideas is included in his diary only to be removed by the

fictitious editor before reaching the reader.
The narrator demonstrates a familiarity with a wide range of readings
through references to such authors as Dante, Swedenborg, and Cicero, but
the depth of his knowledge is questionable. Both the relative scarcity of these
literary references and the inaccuracies demonstrated in his writings by the
editor's corrections and clarifications cast a dubious light on the narrator's
scholarship (pp. 12, 20, 45).
Nevertheless, it is through the limited perspective and often naive state
ments of this narrator that the reader is given a glimpse of more profound
truths. His simple, common sense language is a cloaking device meant to
disguise the otherwise obvious theoretical discussions usually avoided in
tales of adventure because they tend to slow the pace.5 This use of common
sense language, constructed with clear and concise statements, to mask the
self-reflecting discourse of the narrative is a familiar technique in Bioy
Casares' works.6
It is particularly effective in the description of the narrator's most
important creative endeavor which is developed in five successive chapters.
He creates a flower garden which in fact is a pictorial representation of himself
adoring Faustine, the woman he has come to love while on the island. Later,
he discovers that Faustine and her mysterious companions are images pro
jected by Morel's invention. She had died as a result of the photographic
process long before the narrator's arrival.
It is significant that the narrator, a writer according to his own words,
should choose to communicate the story of his love to Faustine by means of a
visual presentation as opposed to a written narration. He does this although
he is aware of his personal limitations as a painter and acknowledges his lack
of ability to the reader: "I have never worked with colors; I know nothing about
art..." (p. 27)
The narrator also composes some verses as an inscription to be written
with flowers directly beneath his floral images. After considering several
possibilities, he decides in favor of the simple statement: "the humble tribute
of my love." (p. 30)
His failure to achieve an illusion of depth in his portrait of Faustine and
his inability to complete the project as he originally planned are attributed
to the problems that arise in working with flowers: "But I was not able to
create it as I had planned. In imagination it is no more difficult to make a
woman standing than to make one seated with her hands clasped on one knee;
but in reality it is almost impossible to create the latter out of flowers." (p. 29)
The deceptively simple language with which the narrator expresses his
critical commentary on the garden conceals the deeper implications which lie
beneath the surface of his words. His remarks allude first of all to the artist's

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 The Narrator in The Invention of Morel 47

need to consider the limitations imposed by the inherent characteristics of the

medium he is using before determining the direction of his works. One cannot
realistically tell a complete story in a drawing, nor can one paint a portrait
with flowers or words. The writer cannot play the role of painter with any
great degree of success nor can the painter achieve the same effects as the
writer because each is dealing with essentially different art forms. Form in
the plastic arts is basically spatial since the whole object can be presented and
perceived in an instant of time.7 Literature, on the other hand, is composed
of language "which is a succession of words proceeding through time."8 The
essential temporal and spatial properties of painting and prose place certain
limitations on the artist. Consequently, although such projects as pictorial
prose and narrative painting may be easy to conceive in theory, they are
difficult to achieve in practice.
However, the implications of the garden episode are even broader in
scope. They refer not only to past attempts at narrative painting but also to
the modern writer's more recent efforts to create a work which lies in the
direction of spatial form. In such works, the events are portrayed as occurring
at the same moment in time thus breaking the pattern of gradual, sequential
development characteristic of the traditional novel.9
The narrator demonstrates a similar purpose when he chooses an art
form that can be perceived in its entirety at one given moment in time in
order to narrate the story of his love to the oblivious object of his affections.
As such, it may be interpreted as an attempt to overcome the temporal
restrictions of prose.
This concern with the traditional spatial and temporal definitions of art
forms is not altogether unrelated to the general theoretical basis of the novel
which deals precisely with the manner in which time and space define and
limit man's existence.
The narrator's experiment with his unusual art form may have other
closely related ramifications as well. His remarks reveal a concern with the
manner in which his work is perceived both during and after the creative
process. The individual components of his picture story, viewed separately
from within the work itself, give no clear indication as to the form of the
whole: "I had to concentrate on each part, on the difficult task of planting
each flower and aligning it with the preceding one. As I worked, the garden
appeared to be either a disorderly conglomeration of flowers or a woman."
(p. 29) Only when the narrator removes himself from the work to gain a
broader perspective can he view the project as a whole.
The narrator's message on the need for global perspective in compre
hending his picture story may be applied to literature as well. In fact, it may
be interpreted as a reference to the two types of reading activities that
necessarily occur in the comprehension of any work of prose. The first reading

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48 LATIN AMERICAN LITERARY REVIEW

is a temporal activity in which a succession of isolated phenomena unfold in

the reader's mind.10 The second is a global reading or comprehension "which
considers the work in its totality and contemplates the whole series of events
in a simultaneous fashion, as in the plastic arts."11
Without applying this second global perspective, the reader will probably
not appreciate the subtleties and irony of The Invention of Morel, to say
nothing of its myriad of theoretical implications. Thus, statements made
earlier in the novel cannot be understood until the final events have unfolded,
until the scenes can be placed in proper perspective forming a complete pic
ture.
A good case in point is the scene in which the narrator describes Faustine
as she sits peacefully reading: "The sight of her: As if she were posing for an
invisible photographer, she surpassed the calm of the sunset." (p. 24) The
narrator is unaware at this time, and so is the reader, that Faustine had in fact
posed unknowingly for an unseen camera and that it is this camera's image
that both the narrator and the reader are contemplating. The irony becomes
apparent only when the reader discovers the truth of the situation much later
and is able to view the scene in relation to other events and as part of a com
prehensible whole.
The narrator's reflections on the garden episode also explore the relation
ship between the artist and his work and the difficulties the artist experiences
in maintaining proper perspective. This difficulty arises from the fact that
the artist, like the anonymous narrator of our story, is often a critic of his own
work. In order to play the dual role of critic and creator, he must detach him
self from the work while at the same time he continues to identify with the work
as its creator.
A task equally as difficult as that of maintaining a separation between his
consciousness as author and his consciousness as critic is that of maintaining
a separation between himself and the fictional character he creates, thus pre
serving the autonomy of the character. In short, the author must view the
work from within and from without and must think like character and critic
as well as creator. The difficulty in maintaining these different attitudes
simultaneously is indicated in the narrator's remarks: "I was going to Say that
my experiment shows the dangers of creation, the difficulty in balancing
more than one consciousness simultaneously." (p. 30)
The artist's and reader's perceptions of art forms in time and in space
is not the only matter of consideration. The discussion centering around the
garden episode also encompasses a comparison of the images created by
literature, painting and science. The basic difference between the three lies
in the degree of realistic detail they attempt to achieve and the amount of
realism they are capable of producing. The verbal image is incapable of pro
ducing a three dimensional life-like object, and so the narrator resorts to a

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 The Narrator in The Invention of Morel 49

visual presentation in which he again fails to reproduce reality.

The narrator's brief and indirect reference to his garden images and his
written descriptions of Faustine focus attention on this issue of realism in
modern literature. He compares his pictorial and written images, created
artistically with flowers and words, to the image produced scientifically by
Morel. He concludes that his work is inferior because it lacks the realistic
detail of Morel's image: "A recluse can make machines or invest his visions
with reality only imperfectly, by writing about them or depicting them to
others who are more fortunate than he." (p. 70)
His statement and what it seemingly implies give rise to some thought
provoking questions regarding the objectives of literary realism and the role
of artistic creativity. It can be asked, for example, if creativity lies in duplica
ting reality with photographic precision, or if the artist should emulate the
scientist's attitude and methods and evaluate the success of his attainments
by comparing them to scientific achievements. Is the literary image mimetic in
nature or is it, according to Burke's conception, more reflective of inner
reality?12 Such a concept would approximate the poetic image more to music
than to painting.13 Music also lacks the mimetic capacity of painting and is a
temporal art form, that is, one that is perceived as a succession of notes pro
ceeding through time according to a sequential pattern.
These questions, posed by the narrator's implied comparison of scientific
and artistic images, are part of a broader consideration of the type of literary
realism advocated in the nineteenth century. In fact, the entire plot of The
Invention of Morel is interpreted by Gallagher as a humorous comment on
the nature of nineteenth-century realism which, like the scientist Morel,
attempts to create three dimensional characters who think and feel.14
The narrator's remarks concerning his diary also focus attention on the
role of realism in the portrayal of language and events in fantastic prose. He
demonstrates an apparent awareness of modern theories regarding the
advisibility of natural, everyday settings into which the fantastic event is
gradually introduced.15 The relationship between verisimilitude and natural
setting seems foremost in his mind when he transcribes an important
conversation between Morel and his guest:
I tried to write down the above conversation exactly as it occurred.
If it does not seem natural now, either art or my memory is to blame.
It seemed natural enough then. Seeing those people, hearing them talk
no one could expect the magical occurrence or the negation of reality
that came afterward (although it happened near an illuminated aquar
ium, on top of long-tailed fish and lichens, in a forest of black pillars!),
(p. 56).
Other literary allusions made by the narrator focus attention on fictional

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50 LATIN AMERICAN LITERARY REVIEW

forms closely related to fantastic prose. Their inclusion serves to highlight

the difference in treatment that is accorded certain conventional devices in
the narrator's story. For example, various references to ghost stories (pp. 34,
41, 47) lead inevitably to a comparison of the narrator's tale of strange
appearances and disappearances to the traditional tale of phantoms, thus
paving the way for the ironic surprise that awaits the narrator and reader. The
ghosts of The Invention of Morel by no means resemble the ghosts of
supernatural stories. The phenomenon described by the narrator does not
flagrantly contradict everyday reality. It bases its explanation on science, in
which modern man believes more readily than in the spiritual.
The narrator's comments on an accident that occurred while working
with Morel's equipment lead to yet another comparison with tales of terror.
The narrator carelessly allows his hand to be photographed. Later, the hand
appears separately, engaged in the gestures it was performing at the time it
was photographed. Such a sight might create suspense in the typical horror
story, but it is treated by the narrator as an insignificant event. However, its
literary possibilities do not go unobserved by the narrator:
I am keeping the projector on so that the hand will not disappear.
The sight of it is not unpleasant, but rather unusual.
In a story, that hand would be a terrible threat to the protagonist.
In reality?what harm can it do? (p. 81)
The fact that The Invention of Morel deals with questions of literary
criticism and issues related to fantastic prose should come as no surprise in
view of the ideas advanced in the novel's prologue by Jorge Luis Borges.
Borges introduces both topics in his discussion of Ortega y Gasset's theories on
the novel. Not ony does he challenge the concepts set forth in The De
humanization of Art but he also raises the issue of realism and verisimilitude.
Borges assigns a positive value to the term (artificial) concluding that "...las
obras de arte que tratan de ser realistas caen en un error grave porque el arte
no debe ser una imitaci?n de la realidad sino una invenci?n, una ficci?."
[...works of art that try to be realistic fall into a grave error because art should
not be an imitation of reality but rather an invention, a fiction]."16 In addition
to furthering our insight into the novel's title, Borges' observations develop
reader awareness and receptivity for the aesthetic themes presented in the
text through the narrator's commentaries.

Southeast Missouri State University

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 The Narrator in The Invention of Morel 51

NOTES
1 Some examples are the narrators of "En memoria de Paulina" ["In Memory of Pauline"],
"De los reyes futuros" ["The Future Kings"], La invenci?n de Morel [The Invention of
Morel], "El perjurio de la nieve" ["The Perjury of the Snow"], "Historia prodigiosa" ["Pro
digious Story"], "Los milagros no se recuperan" ["Miracles Are Not Recovered"], "Clave para
un amor" ["Key for a Love"] and "Un viaje o el mago inmortal" ["A Trip or the Immortal
Magician"].
2Ofelia Kovacci, Adolfo Bioy Casares (Buenos Aires: Ediciones Culturales Argentinas,
1963), pp. 11-12.
3 See D. P. Gallagher, "The Novels and Short Stories of Adolfo Bioy Casares," Bulletin
of Hispanic Studies, LII (1975) 247-266.
4 Adolfo Bioy Casares, The Invention of Morel and Other Stories, trans. Ruth L.C. Simms
(Austin: University of Texas Press, 1964), p. 54. Subsequent quotes will be taken from this
edition of the novel.
5A. A. Mendilow, Time and the Novel (London: Peter Nevill, 1952), pp.118-128.
Maribel Tamargo, "La invenci?n de Morel: Lectura y Lectores" ["The Invention of
Morel: Reading and Readers"], Revista Iberoamericana, Nos. 96-97 (1976), p. 491.
Joseph Frank, "Spatial Form in Modern Literature," Sewanee Review, LIII (1945), 223.
%Ibid.
9Ibid., p. 22.
10 Marcello Pagnini, Estructura Literaria y M?todo Critico [Literary Structure and Critical
Method] (Madrid: Ediciones C?tedra, S.A., 1975), p. 18.
"Ibid.
l2Ibid.,p.2\.
l3Ibid.
"Gallagher, 256.
15 Roger Caillois, Antolog?a del cuento fant?stico [Anthology of the Fantastic Short
Story] (Buenos Aires, 1967), p. 9. Also see Louis Vax, L'art et la litt?rature fantastiques
[Fantastic Art and Literature] (Paris, 1960), p. 5.
16 Alfred J. MacAdam, "Narrativa y Met?fora: Una Lectura de La invenci?n de Morel"
["Narrative and Metaphor: A reading of The Invention of Morel"] in Otros Mundos, Otros
Fuegos [Other Worlds, Other Fires], ed. Donald A. Yates (Michigan State University Latin
American Studies Center, 1975), p. 310.

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