The Trail of Your Blood in the Snow Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Trail of Your Blood in the Snow - Essay Example This research tells that one of Marquez seminal short story collections is Strange Pilgrims. While this collection contains an array of stories, one of the most indelible is ‘The Trail of Your Blood in the Snow’. This essay examines this story in terms of Marquez’s authorial techniques. One prominent consideration is Marquez’s implementation of syntax and diction. While authors such as Ernest Hemingway heralded a minimalist writing style, Marquez implements complex sentence structures. In the opening segment of the story, Marquez writes, â€Å"The Civil Guardsman, a rough wool blanket covering his patent-leather tricorn hat, examined their passports in the light of a carbide lantern as he struggled to keep his footing in the fierce wind blowing out of the Pyrenees†. This sentence is indicative of the richly-textured and descriptive sentences that are thematic throughout the story. While Marquez at-times contrasts these sentences with short and choppy statements, this remains the most dominant form of diction. Throughout the story, Marquez implements a number of notable literary elements. One such technique is the use of metaphor. In one instance, Marquez writes, â€Å"her adolescent dream pierced for the first time by lightning flashes of uncertainty†. In this instance lightning functions as a metaphor on the uncertainty that had suddenly overtaken Nena Daconte. In another instance, Marquez makes use of symbolism in the form of a saxophone. Throughout the story, Nena Daconte is characterized as having been a proficient tenor saxophone player. This character description is repeated in a number of instances and woven into the fabric of the text such that it becomes symbolic of her sexual prowess. Still, perhaps the most prominent authorial technique implemented in the story is the use of allegory. During the story, Nena pricks her finger and must enter a hospital. Billy Sanchez must then face the absurd levels of hyper-rat ionality and bureaucracy in the hospital. In this way, Marquez implements the hospital as an allegorical comment on bureaucratic structures. Eventually, Nena dies and because of this hyper-rationality, Billy is unable to be there or even be discovered.