One Of These Days

Gabriel Garcia-Marquez
Magical Realism Unit “I CAN” statements (learning
objectives)

• Identify and de ne hyperbole, symbol, and motif and provide

examples.

• Analyze a text for theme

• Determine author’s purpose

• Identify and discuss elements of Magical Realism in a text.

• Understand that magical realism is used in a variety of di erent

ways in order to represent di erent cultures and some of their
beliefs / conventions.
fi
ff
ff
ESLR of Focus

AIS Students are Creative and Critical Thinkers

who employ reasoning and problem-solving
skills across disciplines.

 Essential Questions
• Why do humans tell stories?

• How does a person’s cultural background in uence his/her

imagination?

• How do writers use magic to explain reality?

• What are some aspects that de ne the culture you grew up into
or the culture you live in today (if not your ethnic culture)?

• Every culture speaks a language, but languages and cultures

vary widely.  What are some di erent cultures in Myanmar?  In
Myanmar, how can language de ne or signify a culture?

• How can we de ne something as magical/mystical? Does culture

in uence this understanding?
fl
fi
ff
fi
fi
fl
“One Of These Days”

Important Takeaways
 In General
• "One of These Days" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is a very short
story, under 1,000 words.

• It features an interesting power dynamic between the two main

characters.

• Garcia-Marquez usually explores elements of his culture within

his ction. Three ideas that are heavily represented are:

• Corruption in government

• Power imbalance among social classes

• The in uence of the Roman Catholic Church

fi
fl
Brief and Superficial Summary
• Aurelio Escovar, an unlicensed dentist, opens his o ce at 6 AM. He arranges his
tools and starts polishing a set of false teeth. He works steadily and
absentmindedly.

• After two hours, he stops to look out the window. His eleven-year-old son tells him
the Mayor is there and wants a tooth pulled. Aurelio doesn't want to help and
continues his work. The Mayor threatens to shoot Aurelio and walks in uninvited.

• The right side of his face is unshaven and swollen. He sits down and Aurelio
prepares his instruments. He looks at the Mayor's tooth and says they can't use any
anesthetic because it's abscessed. The Mayor watches Aurelio as he nishes
setting up the work area.

• The Mayor braces himself and Aurelio grips the infected tooth with his forceps. He
tells the Mayor that now he will pay for the twenty dead men. The Mayor bears the
pain through some tears as Aurelio pulls the tooth out.

• Aurelio hands him a cloth to dry his tears. He tells him to gargle with salt water and
go to bed.

• As the Mayor leaves he says to send the bill. Aurelio asks if he should send it to him
personally or to the town. The Mayor says they're the same thing.
ffi
fi
Thematic Topics
Power & Corruption
• There's an obvious power imbalance between the dentist and the Mayor, mainly
caused by the local corruption.

• The dentist makes an initial attempt to refuse service to the Mayor and then holds out
for a little while, even implying he doesn't care if the Mayor shoots him. Once the
Mayor walks in and they're face to face, he complies without further protest.
Ultimately, he knows he can't refuse.

• Despite the Mayor's obvious power, the dentist has a temporary power advantage in
this situation. He seems to be using it when he tells the Mayor he can't have any
anesthetic. "The Mayor looked him in the eye" after he said this. Knowing he needs
the dentist right now, the Mayor could be deciding whether this point is worth
pressing. He gives in to the dentist.

• The level of corruption is made plain in the dentist's statement just before pulling the
tooth: “Now you'll pay for our twenty dead men.” The Mayor is an appointed
representative of a violent regime. The town has been strong-armed into submission.

• The corruption is highlighted at the end. In answer to the dentist's question about
sending the bill to the Mayor or the town, the Mayor replies: “It's the same damn
thing.” That is, the town's money and the Mayor's money are the same. There are no
ethics that enforce a separation between the personal and professional for the Mayor.
Class Distinctions (power imbalance)
• The dentist and the Mayor also represent di erent social classes, the common working
citizen and the ruling elite.

• The dentist is “...skinny, with a look that rarely corresponded to the situation”. His
skinniness suggests a material lack. His seeming disconnect from his environment
could suggest he's worn down by the drudgery of his life.

• The dentist is unlicensed. Was he ever licensed? Did something happen to cause him to
lose his license?

• The narrator tells us directly: “It was a poor o ce”, and then lists a few of its modest
contents.

• The dentist's work space has a “crumbling ceiling and a dusty spider web with spider's
eggs and dead insects.” These signs of decay con rm the dentist is from the poorer
class.

• We aren't told much of anything about the Mayor. We know his position in the town,
and that he's a part of the new establishment. This tells us he's a part of the upper
class.

• His statement at the end that he and the town are the same, tells us he has access to
the town's resources.
ff
ffi
fi
What can we infer by…
What can be inferred by the fact the Mayor has five days
beard growth on the sore side of his face?
• The Mayor's mouth has been very sore for ve days, and he
probably felt some discomfort prior to that.

• It seems he has waited as long as he could. This suggests he

wasn't eager to go to this dentist for treatment.

• He probably knew the dentist's feelings toward him.

• It also tells us he didn't have any other options.

• The only dentist in the area is unlicensed and hostile.

• The Mayor isn't presiding over a prosperous town.

fi
 Does the dentist really think he's getting
revenge on the Mayor?
• The dentist says that anesthetic can't be used because it's an
abscess. That’s a lie, so the dentist wants the Mayor to feel the pain.

• Before pulling the abscessed tooth, the dentist says, “Now you'll pay
for our twenty dead men.” On the surface, this suggests the dentist is
getting revenge.

• But the dentist says those words “Without rancor, rather with a bitter
tenderness”.

• This could mean the dentist wants revenge against the whole corrupt
regime rather than against the Mayor personally.

• He says the words without much conviction, knowing that this

temporary pain doesn't hurt the corrupt system.

• Even though the dentist takes the opportunity to make the Mayor
su er, he seems to know the gesture is trivial.
ff
What does the title mean?

• This isn't completely clear, though it seems related to the

question about the dentist's revenge.

• His revenge is weak—withholding anesthetic from a murderer, or

someone in league with murderers, hardly makes things even.

• It could foreshadow an eventual legitimate revenge.

• That is, one of these days the Mayor, and the whole corrupt
system in place, will get what's coming to them.

• The title sounds like something the dentist, and others like him,
would say to themselves over and over to help them endure the
situation they're in.