Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Letter to Carpentier - Caroline Janiszewski


March 13, 2012

Dear Alejo Carpentier,
           
            My name is Caroline Janiszewski.  I have just finished reading your book A Kingdom of this World.  I have a question about one of the images in Part 4, in the section entitled The Night of the Statues.  On page 158, Soliman comes across a statue of a woman in a chamber of an empty palace.  “It was a naked woman lying on a bed and holding out an apple.”  We learn that it is a statue of Pauline Bonaparte, but I think there is a deeper meaning.  I was wondering if the statue is meant to be an allegory to Adam and Eve.  Original sin was introduced to the human race when Eve offered Adam an apple from the tree of knowledge.  I was wondering if the statue is meant to remind Soliman of his sins because she is holding out an apple.  I was wondering this because, as Pauling Bonaparte, he knows he.  If he can relate her to the biblical Eve, it would give a deeper meaning to the way he felt when he touched her.  Please let me know.

Sincere regards,

Caroline Janiszewski

Caroline Janiszewski

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