Sunset

At first, I did not find “Aurora” romantic. Though Lucero clearly had strong feelings for Aurora, I was not convinced that those feelings qualified as love. Throughout the story, Lucero casually talks about the abuse that occurs in a nonchalant way so that the reader gets the impression that this behavior is a regular occurance. This disturbing aspect of their relationship makes it very difficult for me to label the nature of their relationship as one of love. It can be argued that the story is about an abusive relationship but that the characters still love one another, however, I do not believe that people who truly cared for one another would beat or scar one another, even when they are angry. Lucero and Aurora’s relationship also seems based on a dependency for one another rather than affection. At many points many points in the story, the nature of their relationship is compared to a drug addiction. Lucero even describes Aurora’s personality as “addictive”. The relationship i

For me, the most emotional part of reading “How” was the fact that I found both characters to be extremely sympathetic. It is relatively easy to see why someone may find “you” or the main protagonist to be hard to relate to or sympathize with. Afterall, she seems to be treating this man rather poorly, especially given how obviously dedicated he is in the relationship. She is cold and emotionless, maybe even cynical at times, in the way that she not just behaves, but thinks about him. However, it is clear from the beginning of the story that she was eased into the situation she ended up in. She fell for him and when things began to go south she made “attempts at a less restrictive arrangement” (55) only to “watch them sputter and deflate like balloons” (55). And it’s not all bad. She still has moments when she knows she loves him, when she feels genuine emotion for him and sees him as a refuge in her life. As the story progresses the reader can see the bad starting to build and begin o