Question

The sunset flares behind a row of brownstones, linking them as if by a flaming ribbon. Lourdes massages her eyes and begins walking with legs that feel held by splints.

“I’m glad to see you, Lourdes. Thank you for everything, hija, the hat, the cigars. You buried me like an Egyptian king, with all my valuables!” Jorge del Pino laughs.

Lourdes perceives the faint scent of her father’s cigar . . .

“Where are you, Papi?”

The street is vacant, as if a force has absorbed all living things. Even the trees seem more shadow than substance.

“Nearby,” her father says, serious now.

The author uses magic realism by
revealing Jorge’s appreciation for his valued burial gifts.
describing the support for Lourdes’s unstable legs as she walks.
using words such as “flares,” “faint,” “vacant,” and “shadow.”
comparing the description of the setting sun with a flaming ribbon.

Answer 1

Comparing the description of the setting sun with a flaming ribbon.

That image takes a realistic scene (a sunset behind brownstones) and blends it with a fantastical, surreal element (a flaming ribbon linking the buildings), which is characteristic of magic realism.