One Of These Days by Gabriel García Márquez, 1962
The magic trick:
Staging a political-personal showdown at a dentist’s office
I love this story.
We’re tracking personal leverage today via a trip to the dentist office.
The tension starts almost immediately. For a moment, the reader feels the mayor is in the control. But then the dentist steps up into the role of torturer.
And then?
And that’s quite a trick on García Márquez’s part.
The selection:
Aurelio Escovar turned his head toward the light. After inspecting the infected tooth, he closed the Mayor’s jaw with a cautious pressure of his fingers.
“It has to be without anesthesia,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because you have an abscess.”
The Mayor looked at him in the eye. “All right,” he said, and tried to smile. The dentist did not return the smile.
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