Sarah B.

Cabug

Reaction Paper

One of These Days is a short story written by Gabriel Garca Mrquez and published in
1962. It is about a dentists encounter one normal day when the towns mayor visited him to have
his tooth extracted.

Aurelio Escovar, the storys protagonist, is a poor local dentist without a degree in a town
that we can only assume to be located somewhere in Colombia. The author did not expound as to
the reason why Escovar had no degree which leaves us wondering how he learned enough to have
his own practice. He may have been, at some point in his life, a dentists assistant, or his parents
had been dentists before him and he inherited the practice. We can venture a guess that the
corruption, which is explored in the latter part of the story, led to his poverty which prevented him
from getting a proper education, and thus a degree.

He seemed not to be thinking about what he was doing, but worked

steadily, pumping the drill with his feet, even when he didnt need it.

This line tells us that Escovar has been in this business for a long time. Everything he did,
he did everyday of his life leading up to that point. It was all routine to him, monotonous even.

Then, an unnamed character is introduced, the towns mayor, needing a tooth extraction
for his infected wisdom tooth. The relationship between the Mayor and Escovar is tense, to put it
mildly. The Mayor threatened to have Escovar shot if he doesnt treat him. However, it should be
noted that the Mayor tried his hand at diplomacy at first, asking Escovar, through his son, if he
would put a stop to his suffering, to which Escovar responded with the denial of his presence,
before the Mayor resorted to death threats. Surely, a simple toothache doesnt warrant one to dish
out death threats to others. However, the Mayor has already been suffering for five days and he
was desperate to do anything to ease his pain.

We expect that this threat would scare Escovar, and he would see to the treatment of the
Mayor right away, fearing for his life. But he appeared tranquil as he told his son to relay to the
Mayor that he come and shoot him.

The mayor appeared at the door. He had shaved the left side of his
face, but the other side, swollen and in pain, had a five-day old beard.

This caricature of the Mayor serves as a symbolism for his two sides: one that appears all
too powerful, the other is a vulnerability that he is still dependent on other people, as exemplified
by his appeal for help from Escovar.

The dentist saw many nights of desperation in his dull eyes.

 At this point, we see Escovar putting aside his personal biases and revert to his shell of
professionalism. Even without a medical degree, he lives by the Hippocratic Oath, which states
that First, do no harm. Escovar is resigned to the fact that he has to help the Mayor and alleviate
his pain. Despite this, he has no qualms in exerting his power in this situation, falsely impressing
upon the Mayor that the procedure has to be done without anesthesia. He wants the Mayor to
suffer, the reason for which is revealed by the line:
Now youll pay for our twenty dead men.

This completes the puzzle of Escovars ill feelings for the man. We learn that Escovar holds
the Mayor accountable for the death of some twenty men.

When all is done and the Mayor told Escovar to send the bill, he asks whether to him or to
the town, to which the Mayor responded with: Its the same damn thing. This suggests that the
Mayor likened his power to that of the towns, which reveals the extent of his corruption.

Throughout the story, Escovar encounters the conflict (vs self) of whether he should help
the Mayor bearing the knowledge of all his depravities, or deny him treatment. Escovar came out
to be the better person for choosing the former, his decision detracted only by the fact that he
manipulated the situation to his own advantage, which is a foreshadowing of the theme. Central to
the story is theme of power and the response of those who wield it. In the case of the mayor, he
used it for corruption. However, when he is betrayed by his own body and brought to heel before
Escovar, a member of the society that he corrupts, Escovar used his power to inflict unnecessary
pain to others i.e. the Mayor.

The title One of These Days itself is an allusion to the characters desire to exact revenge,
which he attained.

Its the same damn thing.

The way Marquez ended the story works for it translates to the modern-day mic drop, which
illustrates that the Mayor has had the final word. Despite the subtle power play earlier in the story,
the Mayor holds the winning card. He will go on to continue corrupting the town, pillaging its
treasury, whereas Escovar is left to wait for the next time the Mayor gets a tooth infection, for his
power is constrained only in his own space, his practice, contrary to that of the Mayors.