UNINTERLINGUA 2015

U N I N T E R L I N G U A 109 love. Óscar wants to save Marina’s life at all costs, while Mijail wants to give back to Eva her beauty and a normal life. Óscar’s love for Marina is tender and innocent. Mijail’s love for his wife, earlier in the novel, makes him carry out actions that are more extreme. But in both cases, the men act out of despe- ration for the women they love. From the very beginning, Óscar is Marina’s protector. The first time the youngman saves Marina from harm occurs when the young couple starts to follow the “lady in black”, Eva. In an effort to find out who she really is, they end up entering Mijail’s glass green- house, but Marina accidentally releases the many frozen figures that are suspended above their heads. “En una décima de se- gundo aquel ejército de figuras congeladas se precipitó al vacío. Me lancé para cubrir a Marina y ambos caímos de bruces” (44). On their second attempt to investi- gate what is happening, we find the young couple in the glass greenhouse once again. They find a photo album filled with pictures of badly deformed persons, and Óscar deci- des to take it. Soon they are being chased by the frozen creatures that have now come to life. One of them gets a hold of Marina by the throat, “algo tiraba de Marina hacia las sombras. Marina aulló de terror y pude ver el rostro sin mirada… de la bailarina de madera rodeando su garganta con dedos afilados como navajas. Me lancé con todas mis fuerzas contra ella y la derribé sobre el suelo. Pegado a Marina, corrimos hacia la puerta” (113). However, as they are making their escape, another one of the horrifying creatures chases them and grabs Marina, “asió con su otra mano a Marina del brazo. Con la manivela que aún sostenía, golpeé con todas mis fuerzas el rostro de aquella figura inerte hasta quebrar la estructura del cráneo” (115). Upon seeing bone, Óscar realizes that the life-size creatures are not just puppets; somehow, they are alive. In both instances, the young couple is terrified, but Óscar finds the strength and courage to protect Marina and is able to save her from what would have been a sure death. Towards the end of the novel, the cou- ple still desires to untangle the story of the “lady in black” and go to the theater those years earlier Mijail had built for Eva. Upon arriving, Luis Claret lets them in and takes them to Eva. She explains everything about their lives, how Mijail has been experimen- ting on dead bodies since before they were married, and how the contents of the vials can keep Mijail alive. Mijail was a man who thought his destiny was to outsmart death,