Summary Of Amulet By Roberto Bolaño

“Latin America was born in blood and fire” (Chasteen 1). In 1968, Mexico held the summer Olympics in Mexico City, attempting to redeem their reputation to the rest of the world. Due to months of political unrest in the Mexican capital, social tensions rose and in turn, a new movement against the government rose as well capturing the attention focused on Mexico for the Olympics. The government claimed they were provoked during this event, which lead to the Tlatelolco massacre. Roberto Bolaño educates about this event, written originally in Spanish, in his novel Amulet, as he indicates the voices lost will always remain. Bolaño utilizes the stream of consciousness style to portray a sense of uncertainty regarding time and space in his novel,

When describing Auxilio’s ability to see the future, Bolaño includes the short phrase, “Voices” (158). By only including the phrase “voices” in the sentence, he demonstrates the overall significance of it in the novel and the importance of these voices after this historic tragedy. Also, Auxilio’s ability to see the future changes the rules of time and space. Because the voices sprouted from the Latin American Social Revolution, it verifies they are important after they were sacrificed and their importance drives them to always exist. Bolaño confirms the voices are important because “that song is our amulet” (184). Without the inclusion of correctly structured sentences, Bolaño illustrates there is no correct structure in life and though these people have died, the incorrect structure Bolaño follows proves their voices can escape the correct structure of life and the constraints of death and still exist. Referring to the song the voices make as an “amulet” creates the idea the voices act as a sense of protection over Latin America and will always serve as a reminder. As Bolaño recreates the rules of writing through the use of the style of stream of consciousness, he also recreates the way sacrificed voices are recognized, as a sense of