The reader of “The Parade Ends” by Reinaldo Arenas must relinquish their need for linear storytelling in order to progress through the story. The story fundamentally operates on a different epistemology of time — time does not progress linearly forward; instead, it oscillates forward and backwards triggered by motifs. Arenas writes that “I was, again, like so many years ago already, at the extreme where life is not so much as a useless and humiliating repetition, but only the incessant memory of that repetition” (Arenas 99-100). Arenas summarizes the structure of his story within this explanation. The story is not about the banal repetition of life; instead, it’s one step removed from life, it is only the memory of life. Thus, time does not need to function linearly, or perhaps, time can no longer function linearly. Tormented by the fragmented memory of his past, Arenas can no longer stay in the present.
“The Parade Ends” reminds me of Quentin’s internal monologues in The Sounds and the Fury by William Faulkner. Quentin’s monologues are devoid of all punctuation, and the reader floats ceaselessly tugged forwards and backwards by whatever memory Quentin happens upon. While Arenas does not deprive the reader of all punctuation, the prolonged sentences lull the reader through the mind of the narrator forwards and backwards without respite. In both cases, the narrators cannot reconcile with the linear time, and thus, their narrative cannot be constrained by the normal grammatical structure. The reader must adopt this epistemology of time as they progress through the stories in order to experience the story (rather than figure out the story).
Hi Mandy! I think the lack of linearity in the text is what caused most of us to be very confused about what was happening. It made us have to reread some parts and have lots of questions about what many of the included concepts in the text were. Although it’s not my favorite way of presenting a text, it does offer a very interesting approach to the narrator’s experiences, where this stream of consciousness aids in the understanding of the chaos and agony during these times. It adds an extra layer of depth to the narration so that we can further relate to and understand the mentality of the people that had to live through this.
Hi Mandy, this was very well written. I think also the temporal jumps were highlighted with punctuation, particularly with the use of parentheses. Because the narration was written as a stream-of-consciousness, you’re bound to have random jumps in thought patterns, which is where parentheses come into play. For example, when they were getting searched, the protagonist says: “something I didn’t even know you’d be able to get hold of (and now, worst of all), a compass” (p. 106). The events are unfolding before him, so in a way we’re getting his reactions in real time, and we as readers can experience the same panic and confusion as he does. I think this is relevant to what you were saying about how Arenas is “tormented by the fragmented memory of his past, [he] can no longer stay in the present” because this is what trauma does to people, is gives them flashbacks as if they’re back in the time that gave them trauma in the first place.