The persecutor of Julio Cortázar: summary and analysis

Before delving fully into the summary of "The persecutor" by Julio Cortázar it is important that let us briefly know this work and why it is so important in the history of the literature. Cortázar was one of the authors of the Latin American Boom, a writer who fully immersed himself in a narrative subgenre inaugurated with García Márquez and who was baptized with the name of "magical realism".

The story that concerns us here is one of the most outstanding stories in 20th century literature, and the reason is that Cortázar manages to explain a story to us in a different and very surprising way. In fact, this account is considered to be the previous experiment what the author did before writing the novel that would launch him to success: Hopscotch.

In "El perseidor" by Julio Cortázar we find a story in which Johnny Carter is the protagonist. It is a story that has an existential background and where the main character, a saxophonist, moves between lucidity and madness with metaphysical reflections that invite the reader to think and question truths to which, many times, we do not even lend attention.

You should know that this story is written as a tribute to one of the jazz artists most loved by Cortázar, Charlie parkerThat is why throughout the narrative we find a rhythm and cadence similar to that of jazz in which improvisation and emotions become the soul of the work of art. Cortázar was passionate about jazz and, therefore, the trace of this style of music is very present in all of his literary production, as a "literary jazz" that allows the author to write in a free and improvised way.

We already begin with the summary of "The persecutor" by Julio Cortázar to delve into the plot of this story. History introduces us to Johnny Carter, an alto sax artist and that he has been a star in jazz music in the 1950s. Along with him, we find another main character, Bruno, a jazz critic who is in charge of narrating the story of Johnny.

The story starts when Bruno goes to a hotel room in Paris to meet Johnny. The musician is staying there with Dédée, his wife. Both of them have been in the room for some time because Johnny is ill, but this illness is not a common ailment but rather a condition that affects him mentally and spiritually.

Johnny is a character haunted by the incessant passage of time. A man that does not understand how time works and that he wants, by all means, to try to understand it. He is disenchanted with life and dissatisfied. His obsession with time and his disappointment with life is what leads him to become ill and, therefore, the character that we find ourselves presented from Bruno's perspective is a character that bordering on madness. In addition, to this must be added his habit of alcohol and drugs, something that he turns to more and more to bear his pain but which, each time, sinks him deeper into the abyss.

Bruno goes to the room to inquire about the status of his friend, but also to document himself so that he can write a biography about Johnny that he has in his hands. His interest, therefore, is not only that his friend improves but also in knowing how it is truly this artist so sublime that he is obsessed with subjects as "simple" as the mere passage of weather. Finally, only Bruno will be able to truly understand the true essence of Johnny, he will understand his ramblings and will end up understanding his metaphysical obsession with life.

"El perseidor" by Julio Cortázar is, then, a story that tells the story of an artist in his final moments. A sad story in which a man does not stop chasing things in his life to try to be more satisfied. But, no matter how much he chases, he will never reach it because, in reality, he does not even know what it is that he is chasing.

We are going to delve into the depths of this story and, therefore, next we are going to make an analysis of "The Persecutor" by Julio Cortázar. The first thing worth mentioning is that it is about a musical story, that is to say, a work in which the music has a lot of presence and great importance for the characters and for understanding the work itself.

Jonny Carter's character

To create this story, Cortázar was inspired by the Thomas Mann's work entitled "Dr. Faustus" in which we are presented with a composer at a decadent moment in his life. In this novel, music played a vital role and, until now, a work with so much musical presence had not been published.

Cortázar, influenced by Mann, thus laid the foundations for his story "The Persecutor." However, the Argentine author sought to create a less elevated character than Mann, a more mundane, simple man who had many metaphysical questions that overwhelmed him. And that's how the idea of ​​the character of Johnny Carter began to be generated.

But the drawing was not completely finished until Cortázar came across an obituary of Charlie Parker, successful saxophonist, in which it was explained that the artist had a somewhat tormented life because of drugs, his visits to psychiatric hospitals and his suicide attempts. The character of the pursuer appeared immediately thanks to the figure that Charlie Parker emanated, a man who, through his musical improvisations, wanted to break the barriers set by the weather.

The importance of loneliness

In order to create a character as deep and well worked as the one we find in "El persecutor "by Julio Cortázar, the author had to understand one of the most real parts of the musicians creators: loneliness. In order to create, the artist has to escape and get used to being with himself, in this way, they can "detach" themselves from reality and create something new, something powerful.

However, the character of Johnny Carter created by the Argentine author ends up crying inconsolably when he realizes that, as much as he wants to, he is totally anchored in reality but, thanks to the music, it is possible for him to touch that other reality, that unreal reality, that he feels when he is playing. But it is ephemeral, when they finish playing, they are again here, in this world, in this reality, in which they are still alone. One of the most prominent phrases that refer to this feeling of loneliness is also one of the most applauded phrases in this story. Says so:

I'm just like that cat, and much more just because I know it and he doesn't.

Opposition between two characters

In Julio Cortázar's "El persecutor" we meet two co-stars who are opposite of each other. On the one hand, we have Bruno, the music critic and, on the other, Carter, the overwhelmed artist. The plot develops thanks to a dialogue that is created between both characters. But the irony of the case is that, no matter how much they talk, they can't communicate. Both characters have a different way of seeing and understanding life, so it is not possible for them to understand each other.

The opposition between the two characters does not lie solely in the way of seeing the world but, Bruno, represents that most rational part of the human being, more "social", more united to the rest of society. He is the critic, the studious, the reflective, the observer. But, on the other hand, we have Johnny, a man who gets carried away by his most emotional partHe, for his instincts and leaves rationality aside. Therefore, it is the being isolated from society, the one who is alone, the one who does not quite fit in. Two sides of the same coin: the human being. And each of us decides which of them he wants to exploit in the majority.

And, precisely this, is one of the great keys of the author's text since, with the two characters, is describing the possibilities of the human being and what we get to do by the mere fact of "to fit in".

Jazz in Cortázar's "The Persecutor"

We cannot make an analysis of this Cortazarian tale without mentioning the influence of jazz in this text. The author was truly passionate about jazz and, therefore, in his creations we can find a great influence from the rhythm of this musical style. Starting with the same protagonist of "The persecutor", a saxophone player inspired by Charlie Parker, in this story there is more influence of this musical style.

Remember that jazz is a style that moves between the game between the normative and the freedom createdhe loves, it is one of the styles that most advocate improvisation by musicians and, precisely that contradiction between what must be done and what one wants to do, it is on which this story. The two characters reflect this duality but, in addition, this is one of the topics that is most talked about and debated in the story.

The obsession with time

Another of the most prominent themes in this story is about time. Johnny is in charge of talking and reflecting on time, he distinguishes the existence of two temporal planes, the one that is here, with us, and "another time" that is the one that is reached when music is played. But to understand this rambling and this temporary reflection, Cortázar gives us a sublime example that we are going to transcribe:

Riding the subway is like being stuck in a watch

With this metaphor what the character tells us is that, between station and station that does not elapse more than two minutes, he is capable of remember in great detail some episodes of his life, fragments that if he wanted to tell them in real life it would take a good quarter of hour. But in a matter of 2 minutes he is able to recreate that whole scene, with colors, sounds and smells, in a fleeting way.