Abstract

Magical realism is a genre of literature where fantasy and magic are normalized in reality, and the real world has an undercurrent of magical elements going on. The research is based on the qualitative method within the framework of the theory of Magical Realism presented by Wendy B. Faris (2004). The study at hand explores different aspects of magical realism in the selected novel by analyzing major themes according to Faris’s theory of Magical Realism. The research aims to show how the typical presences of people in the novel have been super naturalized through heavenly magical realist segments. Moreover, the significance of this study lies in the fact that it explored seemingly opposite phenomena of ‘magic’ and ‘realism’ and established a connection between them. The study seeks to find how each character of the novel The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake is enduring in their own particular manner, representing the suffering of individuals in the real world considering the situation after World Wars. This research will open the ways for future researchers to work in the direction of magical realism and enhance its scope in general.

Key Words

The Absurdity of Modern Life, Faris’s Magical Realism, Feelings in the Food, Magic,       Realism, Ordinary Sufferings

Introduction

Magical realism is based on a combination of magic and realism, which describes the real world in terms of fantasy or magic. It is certainly not a simple term to characterize or apply in the works of art. It is the mix of "realism" and the "magic"; realism is identified with the real world while magic is identified with a dream. The current study applies the theory of magical realism to the novel The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, written by Aimee Bender in 2010. The theory of magical realism has been proposed by several authors with slight modifications over time. The latest version of this theory utilized in the study at hand has been proposed by the theorist Wendy B. Faris in 2004. The study tends to identify the magical realist themes in Bender’s novel and evaluate the text through the theory proposed by Faris. Moreover, the works of several authors have been reviewed in order to enhance the scope of this research. Similarly, the research presents a detailed analysis of the textual data by using the provided theoretical framework, methodology and research tools. The research is descriptive in nature as it utilizes the qualitative research approach to analyze the data. As most of the authors have reviewed Bender’s novel, it is assumed to be the perfect site for magical realist criticism. Magical realism was initially known as “Magic Realism”, that emerged in the early 20th century from the post-Expressionist German painting. The term magic realism was originally coined by Frantz Roh, an Art critic. The German nation suffered from the feeling of abandonment and disillusionment after the country’s defeat in World War II. As Bowers (2004:11) asserts, the period was characterized by political as well as economic turmoil in the country as the leader was exiled and the economy collapsed due to the war reparations. The right and left wings fought in order to gain the control of country’s politics. Moreover, the researcher Joseph (2010) claims that the magical realist art tends to reduce the emphasis on the artist’s hand in the art and to increase the focus on life’s absurdity. He further claims that the Italian author Massimo Bontempelli focused on surrealism earlier, but then he was influenced by German magic realism. Moreover, he is included in the authors who initially used the term ‘Magical Realism’ in their works after it was coined. The paper further explores the relationship of magical realism with post-colonialism as “Some scholars have posited that magic realism is a natural outcome of postcolonial writing, which must make sense of at least two separate realities—the reality of the conquerors as well as that of the conquered” (Para. 2). The example of this relation can be seen in Pakistani literature as well as the author Abdullah (2014) of the investigation, named “Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children: Connection between Magical Realism and Postcolonial Issues”, depicts how the issues and struggles of the partitioned India that have been portrayed by Salman Rushdie in Midnight’s Children are an option in contrast to the Eurocentric point of view. While referring to the magical realism and its connection to post-colonialism as well as the colonized civilizations, the critic Ben-Ur (1976:10) wrote, “The Indian thinks in images; he sees things not so much as a phenomenon in themselves but as translated into other dimensions, dimensions in which reality disappears and dreams appear and are transformed into visible and concrete forms”. Similarly, the author Thamarana (2015:263) tends to define the term magical realism as “The term ‘magic realism’ is extensively refers to the style of writing or technique which includes magical as well as supernatural events narrated realistically without any doubt about the improbability of the events”. 

As Joseph (2010:4) suggests, the comparable marvel has been applied in the content of Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll as it manages the European fantasies and legends, yet it has been applied in the pragmatist settings. Additionally, Ray Bradbury's tale Dandelion Wine is likewise an illustration of magical realism. In 1995, the educator of English and Comparative writing, Wendy Faris, turned into the primary writer nearby magical realism. Faris and the co-creator Louis Parkinson Zamora altered a conclusive rendition of magical realism theory in 1995. Additionally, Faris improves her hypothesis in her book Ordinary Enchantments: Magical Realism and the Remystification of Narrative, published in 2004. In her book, she extends her theory alongside its significance in the artistic messages and gives the investigation of different writings as indicated by her altered hypothesis. As indicated by Faris, magical realism will, in general, furnish the readers with a more exact point to see the truth of their general surroundings. This study is significant in the sense that it explored the previously un-researched theme of magical realism in The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Bender. This study is intended to fill this research gap. Moreover, the aim of this study is to open pathways for future researchers to conduct their research on similar lines, however subjective it may be. By investigating how magic and realism are intertwined in this novel, the researcher intends to show the significant sufferings of the common people and their common lives. The significance of this study also lies in the fact that it explored the seemingly opposite phenomena of ‘magic’ and ‘realism’ and established a connection between them. Overall, this study will be a humble addition to the bulk of literature in general.

Aimee Bender has applied the phenomenon of magical realism in her novel incredibly. Each character of her novel is suffering in their own specific way, this is the unforgiving reality of the current world that the total of the people living here is persevering through, and their condition is remarkable anyway they all are suffering in their own specific spheres. All the people in the contemporary world are in a state of nonstop enduring somehow; as Bruce Rogers (2002) claims in his essay, “Magical realism is not speculative and does not conduct thought experiments. Instead, it tells its stories from the perspective of people who live in our world and experience a different reality from the one we call objective” (Para. 6). In brief, Bender, through magical realism, depicts the harsh reality of the contemporary world. It amazes the reader because it seems supernatural, but the pain that it portrays is felt by every reader.

Research Problem

The current study aims to look for the elements of magical realism in Bender’s novel and how she makes the common lives of people magical through such incorporation. As the theory of magical realism has been subjected to prejudice due to its uniqueness and tendency to combine two completely opposite phenomenon together, the research tends to explore how the theory actually helps to portray the real, genuine and most deep-rooted problems of modern individuals. The issue that the researcher intends to address is the portrayal and de-coding of the magical realist elements in the novel The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (2020). There has not been observed a significant number of researches on the novel from the perspective of Faris (2004), and the current study is a step towards filling that gap. 




Research Questions

? How are the common lives in the novel embellished by magical or supernatural elements?

? How is the genre of Magical realism applied by Aimee Bender in her novel “The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake”?

? How is the sadness and suffering of common people shown through unusual and supernatural elements?

? How is the connection of “magic” and “realism” portrayed in the novel?

Literature Review

In order to understand the connection of magical realism and post-colonialism, the critic, Slemon (1995) in his book “Magical Realism in Postcolonial Discourse” describes that the implication of language is vital in the scenario of postcolonial literary notion since colonization tends to offer a bipolar view of the colonial culture, introducing a concept of duality in a language with opposed characteristics. The aspect of magic realism in a text can be indicated by its discourse, style of narration, real situations of speech and understanding of that speech which is interconnected with the social patterns of postcolonial traditions. This dialectic between the visionary globe and among the language leads us to Mikhail Bakhtin's idea of the novel as dialogical discourse. A text containing the element of magical realism, this binary opposition of two different modes can never be streamlined categorically, but instead, both the real and the fictional narrative element remain as a separate entity from the other, where neither of the one notions suppresses the other. Bakhtin's notions of grotesque and carnivalesque realism are also linked with magic realism and can be a significant help in the analysis of the text. Contemporary practitioners of magical fiction in the United States tell us about their affairs of displaced post-coloniality in hybrid narratives which represent a multifunctional nature of worlds.

Similarly, Zamora (1998), in “Introduction: Moveable Boundaries – Public Definitions and Private Lives” expresses that Magic realism is possessed with a radical capacity as well as a strong political implication that make this mode of analyzing the text very beneficial for the female writers generally and specifically catering to the woman from different low-status ethnicities. Such examination of the text leads to putting the concepts like race, gender, identity and community into the light. These ideologies are actually the representation of the culture, which further tells us that who are deliberately cornered, such as women, while keeping the others as the centre of the society. Various cultural perspectives can never be detached from the feministic viewpoint, and there had been a great surge in the American minority women writers whose works are exclusively known as the representation of the magic realism consisting of different supernatural elements which are actually the real presentation of the society. Women writers require exceptionally modified and refined means of expression in their attempt for self-identification. They try to depict the complexities and the struggles of their lives using magic realism as a tool through which they can be heard and acknowledged as a complete being. Literature has been used for many years as a channel of emotions and human thoughts, and in the same fashion, magic realism is also used for that specific purpose. In their writings, they integrate the notions of Western literary practice and merge elements from women's culture with narrative stories exclusive to geographical norms and traditions, which have been abolished because they have been considered suitable by the stagnant grade of realism. The addition of magic into the narrative is provocative because it puts a question mark on some of the preventive and conventional tendencies of realism.

Moreover, a book review by Michelle (2016) on ‘The particular sadness of lemon cake’ propagates that the story demands reflection and interpretation. She recognizes the brilliance in Mr. Bender’s accomplishments within the novel as it put the reader in her family’s shoes to experience that how torturous normal life can be whose brain is wired a bit different from everybody else. It provides a spectacular use of magical realism as it arouses feelings of empathy for fellow human beings. Further, she explains that stewing on the story for long arouses the sense of wonder at the emotions of Ms. Bender and her marvelling ability to write a novel that is not easy to neglect at any cost. After thoroughly concentrating on its meaning and getting into its depth, make one aware of the social reality that is mixed with magical realism.

Furthermore, Baig (2017), in her article “Realism Vs Magical Realism in Mohammad Hanif’sOur Lady of Alice Bhatti, the writer is of the view that the feminist approach and the empowerment of women can be strengthened by employing the ways and means of realism and magical realism. By using this technique, Hanif depicts a society that overpowers the lady from the poor class and minority religion as well. This reflects Pakistan’s treatment of minorities in particular. Baig (2017:89) further defines that magical realism “is an oxymoron because it proposes a binary opposition between reality and imagination. In a magical realist narrative, a fight between two oppositional frameworks happens, each moving in the direction of making a different sort of fictional world from other”. Hanif’s work on the character of Alice Bhatti is almost similar as his conventional onset of the narrative proclaims that the piece of literature to be entirely restricted within the domain of realism, but as the text proceed, the narrative is more inclined towards magical realism to portray the character of Alice as a noble spirit of a saint. Alice Bhatti attained the rank of holy person when she helped saving an infant in the maternity ward. The research paper throws light upon that how rigid the core realities are of society and above that it is as hard as almost impossible to believe the magical traits of a certain character, shaping her life and Hanif made a mark by providing an explanation about the techniques of realism and magical realism. This also gives us an idea about that how the living condition of women belonging to a minority religion suffers in a male-oriented society regardless of the fact that she comes from a noble profession.

Likewise, Shaheen, Qamar and Rehman (2017) stated that “Magical Realism as a tool for women empowerment in our lady of Alice Bhatti by Muhammad Hanif” explains the way Hanif strengthened his character of Alice Bhatti through using magical realism. Alice’s mother, Margaret Bhatti, shows a low-status character who is vulnerable in the novel. Margaret Bhatti was physically molested and then killed by a big landowner she used to serve in that house. All the female characters seem quite vulnerable under the male-dominated society. The difference between rich class ladies and poor class ladies is very much obvious, too, as Begum Qazalbash is quite empowered one than that of other females because she belongs to the elite class. The article deals with descriptive research and uses an analytical approach with the elaborated method of research. The results are defined by them as “Mohammed Hanif uses the tool of magical realism to empower the female characters of the novel, especially the protagonist female character Alice Bhatti. One can unhesitatingly trace out the trend of Latin American Magical Realism in this discourse of the novel” (p.114).

 Hassan (2017) draws a “Comparison between magical realism in Borges’s and Marquez’s short stories” and articulates that the concept of magical realism is used to create a false impression of the real world and often makes the audience question its relation to real-life situations. The idealized reality, which often exaggerates landscapes, bodies or emotions, allows the ‘fantastic’ and ‘real’ to be accepted in the same line of thought. Therefore, this paper compares magical realism in Latin American short stories. Borges created a number of short stories that are filled with magical realism, including The Memorious, Funes, and he incorporates magical elements into emotions. Hassan (2017) defines their stories, and their attribution to the “genre of magical realism is aimed at the Latin culture to help form a new consciousness in South American through depicting a superior reality with the help of tools such as fantasy, automatism, mesmerism, and magical realism” (P. 5).

Theoretical Framework

The term “magic realism” (later known as magical realism) has been defined multiple times over the course of history. The definitions proposed by several authors have been regarded as contradicting since the first time the theory was proposed and applied on a painting in 1920. However, the theory of magical realism has been of special interest to critics over time, and instead of abandonment, it has been used in the works of literature, that is, poetry, painting, cinema etc. The theory can be used to define the thematic and structural composition of many pieces of literature if properly defined and applied. It can also be distinguished from fantastic literature and surrealism, which it has often been confused with if it is defined properly. In the earlier twentieth century, there was a social campaign named Weimer Republic (1918) going on. During that movement, the term now known as ‘magical realism’ then known as ‘magic realism’ emerged, and the origin was from the post-expressionist German paintings during the Weimer republic. Roh’s (1925) description of the painting made by German painter Schrimpf highlights his stance on magical realism, that is, “[He] insists that the landscape has rigorously to be a real landscape, which can be taken for an existing one. He wants it to be ‘real’, so that it strikes us as something ordinary and familiar, but, however, he intends it to be a magical world, that is ... that even the smallest weed can refer to the Spirit” (P. 274). In 1927, Roh’s book about magical realism was translated by Jose Gasse, which enhanced the scope of the theory and became frequently used by various authors in Latin America. The phenomenon did not stay in Europe as it also got adopted by the indigenous population, and in this way, its individualistic European notion was also discarded. In 1995, the educator of English and Comparative composition, Wendy Faris, transformed into the rule author in the region of mystical authenticity. 

Faris overhauled her speculation in her book Ordinary Enchantments: Magical Realism and the Remystification of Narrative, distributed in 2004. In her book, she developed her speculation close by its importance in the creative messages and gave the examination of various compositions according to her changing hypothesis. She further recommends that magical realism will overall give the readers a more precise highlight to see the reality of their overall environmental factors. The reason behind its frequent usage, especially in the postcolonial context, is that it provides the authors with a ground for “a significant cultural work; within its texts, marginal voices, submerged traditions, and emergent literatures have developed and created masterpieces” (Faris, 2004). The technique has been modified and been given a significance by the author Wendy B Faris as she elaborated it in detail along with co-authors in 1995. 

The current research utilizes the modified version of the theory of magical realism that has been published in 2004 in the book Ordinary Enchantments: Magical Realism and the Remystificationof Narrative. A detailed study of the selected text has been performed while generally focusing on the different views of scholars on magical realism and particularly targeting the theory of Faris (2004). According to Faris (2004), Magical Realism is a cultural phenomenon and by combining realistic representation with fantastic elements, which portrays reality in some incredible and magical ways. She put forward this technique as a way to probe the hidden beliefs of life and to question the realities of this world. It contains the details regarding the theory of magical realism, its background, its progress over the course of time, its evolution and then the final product that this study utilizes. Moreover, the evidences regarding the theory from the works of other authentic authors have been taken in order to enhance the knowledge of the researcher and the scope of this study.

Methodology

To analyze the different elements of magical realism in the novel, the qualitative method of study has been applied. As the current research entirely consists of the exploration of a fictional novel and emphasizes the phenomenon as well as themes used by the author, the research needs a qualitative approach because it fits well with the demands of this case study. The sample for the study is the novel that has been selected, that is, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. The text of Bender’s novel has been used as the sample for this study. The novel has been read thoroughly in order to find the relevant textual examples that fit in the selected research design and theoretical framework for the analysis. The research subjects, in this case, can also be considered the thirty passages from the text of the novel that have been selected for analysis according to Faris’s theory. The technique is subjective as it includes the detailed analysis of text passages from the novel. The passages have been sorted out through their magical realist qualities, which determine the overall theme of the current research. 

Results and Discussion

The current investigation tends to discover the magical realist components in the novel The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, written by Aimee Bender in 2010. The tale is investigated by considering the hypothesis proposed by Faris (2004) on Magical Realism. This investigation utilizes the expressive and subjective technique. The point of the study is to show how the normal existences of individuals in the novel have been supernaturalized through supernatural pragmatist components. The study investigates the various parts of magical realism that are undoubtedly present in the novel The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. Most of the authors and critics tend to differentiate between fantasy and surrealism (the real), but Faris’s narrative is unique in itself as she tends to compare both of these tendencies, which are very different from each other. Moreover, she equates these narratives with those of postmodernism, post-colonialism and feminism. She further examined eighteen different novels in the book and applied her theory to their texts. Moreover, she explores the texts and identifies their qualities that make them magical realist texts. 




Combination of Magic and Realism

Magical realism combines realism and the fantastic in such a way that magical elements grow organically out of the reality portrayed” (Faris, 2004). The phenomenon of magical realism tends to combine the narratives of realism and fantasy in order to make something that grows from the ordinary. In the selected novel, the instances of tasting the feeling in food seem magical, but actually, it is realistic at the same time. A nine years old kid cannot comprehend the feelings that an adult experience throughout their day, but it is considered very normal as adults to feel tired and exhausted while doing normal chores, as Rose’s mother has been shown. Elders do not tend to show these minor feelings to the young kinds and always encounter them with a happy and positive self, just like Rose’s mother did when she greeted her every day after school. As a young kid, Rose found it very upsetting that her ever-loving mother was actually a little annoyed and exhausted while baking her birthday cake. This realization was accompanied by a sense of concern about her mother. Rose titled the cake as empty and hollow as she could not taste the emotions that she normally would expect from her mother to have. 




A Precise Highlight of Reality

Faris further recommends that magical realism will overall give the readers a more precise highlight to see the reality of their overall environmental factors. According to her, magical realism tends to provide the readers with a more accurate angle to view the reality of the world around them. Moreover, she proposed that magical realism theory helps to appreciate the writers’ individual sense of reality and culture. The revealing of feelings through the taste of an edible item seems an unnatural phenomenon apparently, but it has its significance in the novel as it is a magical realist text. In the text above, the real-life situation that adulating individuals face very often has been portrayed. Most of the people (especially parents) tackle a lot of problems that have a direct effect on their mental and psychological states. As much as they suffer, they tend to hide it from their children or younger fellows in order to save them from the similar sadness they have been experiencing. But upon adulating, they find out that the people who have been acting perfect and flawless also have their limitations as humans. The text from the novel shows Rose’s experience where she learns about the real emotions her mother had while baking her birthday cake. Rose felt the emotions of sadness, frustration and upset in the cake that her mother had but upon reading the text, it has been found out that her mother welcomed Rose with a smile on her face when she came back from school. Bender tends to show the reality of her society by using the technique proposed by Faris, that is, using magical realism to view the reality more accurately, making her composition a unique and intimidating. 

Challenging the Dominant forms of Representation

Faris suggests that the theory of magical realism challenges the representation done by the dominant form of realism that has prevailed in western literature. Magical realism modifies that dominant form of realism. By portraying the human suffering through magical ways in her novel, Bender tends to challenges the pre-perceived standard forms of literature, that is, realist literature. She utilized the mediums of food in order to portray the misery of a person that gets to know about the sufferings of others and cannot help it but to feel miserable for them as they are unable to help them in effective ways. The other medium used by Bender is furniture, as she has tried to portray the lack of sense of identity in the individuals living in this modern world. 




Magical Realism as the Modern and Contemporary Narrative

Faris further situates the technique of magical realism as the modern and contemporary narrative. Similarly, she situates it at the intersection of modernism and postmodernism in the rapidly developing world in her later work. In this regard, her theory tends to destabilize the ideas of time, space and identity that are related to realism. Through the portrayal of the character ‘Joseph’ in her novel, Bender tends to challenge the ideas of time, space and identity as well. Through the magical skill that she gave to this character, she tends to portray the absurdity of life and identity crisis in modern man. Joseph tends to disappear suddenly and turns into a piece of furniture or any wooden object. He is seen to be disappearing several times in the novel as he struggles with his loneliness and introverted personality. At the end of the novel, Joseph is presented to be turned into a chair for the rest of his life. In this way, Bender presented the suffering of individuals that experience this sense of loneliness and struggle with an identity crisis. 

The Portrayal of Social, Cultural and Political Ideologies

There are many examples of the studies which locate magical realism as a narrative technique, but they tend to ignore the social, cultural, political and ideological contexts in which it has been engrained into the fictional works by the authors. The most important contribution regarding magical realist theory proposed by Faris is that she considered it as a social institution. In her article about Faris’ theory, author Janet Walker states that “Going far beyond the viewing of magical realism as a narrative mode or technique, Faris gives a complete picture of it as a genre possessing a social function grounded in a specific narrative mode and characterized by a textual poetics and cultural politics” (Walker, 2017). For instance, there are a lot of examples where parents have been portrayed as the ideal beings that provide their children with an environment filled with love, attention, support and time. Such portrayals are far beyond normal as despite being attentive at all times, some of the areas still get missed as raising little emotional beings is a tough task. This passage above shows the similar kind of situation that can be witnessed in real life as parents appear to be trying all their best, taking care of several things at once, but the gap is still left at some points that make children question their parents’ roles. 

Feminist Perspective in Magical Realism

Faris’s theory (2004) also highlights the feminist perspective in the narrative of magical realism. In the third chapter of her book, she states that “it may be possible to locate a female spirit characterized by structures of diffusion, poly-vocality, and attention to issues of embodiment, to an earth-centred world, and to collectivity, among other things, that is active in magical realism generally” (P.46). The phenomenon of magical realism can also serve as empowerment for marginalized women. The novels like The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, The Girl Who Could Silence the Wind and The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender portray the young female protagonists with magical abilities and they are shown as shaping their lives in their specific spheres very significantly through magical realism. Jenkins (1994) states that these novels “explore the use of the supernatural to create women’s stories that challenge scripts, literary and social, of their larger cultures” (P. 62).

The analysis has been done according to the research questions presented in the introductory chapter of the paper. The first question that has been formulated concerns the embellishment of the common lives of the characters in the novel by the application of magical realism. Throughout the detailed reading of the text of Bender’s novel, it has been identified that although the characters are shown as living very ordinary lives, their lives have been made more interesting with the help of the theory of magical realism. As the theoretician Wendy b. Faris has attested in her theory of magical realism that the enduring of people living, in reality, appeared in the progress of writing by the writers by utilizing the mystical or unprecedented marvel. The idea doesn't bode well at the outset; however after considering, one can track down the comparable idiocy in the day by day lives of the people. Fact that the characters are living very ordinary lives, they are also seen to be suffering from the problems like depression, family problems and other existential crisis. This ordinary lifestyles and suffering of common people have been made interesting to the reader by adding magical instances into the novel. Moreover, one of the research questions deals with the portrayal of the suffering of common people through unusual and supernatural techniques, that is, magical realism. With the fast expansion in the turn of events, the ways of life of individuals are also changing. This change is not just in certain terms as it has to do with the cutting edge enduring of humanity from multiple points of view. During and after the World Wars, the deficiency of living souls and enormous obliteration changes the existences of individuals across the globe. The authors seem to show an agreement that the theory of magical realism, along with other forms of literature, aids to portray life in its real and unhidden form. While referring to this absurdity in life and its portrayal in fictional writings, as quotes by Ahmed (2015) states that “I think that life is very mysterious. Things happen that I can’t control, that I can’t explain. And, if I accept all that in my life, it comes naturally in my writings. But, it is not like salt and pepper that you sprinkle on anything you can write” (p. 29). 

Conclusion

The current examination, in general, finds the magical realist segments in the novel The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, composed by Aimee Bender in 2010. The story is explored by considering the speculation proposed by Wendy B. Faris (1995) on Magical Realism. This examination uses expressive and subjective strategies. The mark of the investigation is to show how the typical presences of people in the novel have been supernaturalized through heavenly realist segments. The first question that has been formulated concerns the embellishment of the common lives of the characters in the novel by the application of magical realism. Throughout the detailed reading of the text of Bender’s novel, it has been identified that although the characters are shown as living very ordinary lives, their lives have been made more interesting with the help of the theory of magical realism. For instance, “I felt overstuffed with information…feeling very good about any of it” (Chapter 17, p. 88). These lines show that Rose really got overstuffed by all the information that she got by tasting the food. In the novel, it has been portrayed that the feelings that Rose tasted were very real, and there was nothing magical about them. A normal person would have similar thoughts as they wander into their world of sadness and misery while performing their daily chores. Rose depicts a person who has a kind heart but has found out the secrets about his loved ones against their will. Their sadness, suffering and misery, all are exposed in front of her as it gets too much for her to handle it sometimes. It is a perfect portrayal of mankind in today’s modern world, where not a single person is immune to the feeling of misery. 

The research questions further deal with Bender’s use of magical realism in the novel and the ways in which she tends to create an interesting relationship between the magic and the real. As it has been mentioned in the analysis as well as in the discussion above, this study has analyzed Bender’s novel, particularly in relation to the situation of individuals in the real world and their suffering. However, instead of presenting the reality in a straightforward way, Bender chose the magical realist techniques to portray the situation in her novel that seems very similar to the real world if looked closely. For instance, the elements of magical realism in it deal with the portrayal of misery and suffering, but it has been actually caused by the magical qualities that Rose has. Rose has been shown to be struggling with hiding her magical skill and the information that she gets from tasting food cooked by other people. But this text shows that it gets overwhelming for her sometimes, as one such instance shows that she tears up while crouching on the floor, begging her mother to get the taste of the food out of her mouth that contained her mother’s feelings in it. The suffering has been portrayed through a magical phenomenon; the nature of suffering remains very real in the novel. A person who has found out grim secrets about his loved ones and continues to know about their internal dilemma on a daily basis would show a similar reaction as Rose did in the text above. The helplessness in the situation above shows human’s helplessness as they continue to suffer, but they cannot do anything about it. Another instance when Rose discovers her magical skill, she meets disappointment at every step of this discovery; that is, the emptiness in the cake can represent the vacancy in the existences of people in the contemporary world.

 The study explores the different pieces of mysterious authenticity that are, without a doubt, present in the novel. Likewise, the examination presents an itemized investigation of the text-based information by utilizing the given hypothetical structure, philosophy and exploration devices. This research will open the ways for future researchers to work in the direction of magical realism and enhance its scope in general. 

Future Implications

This research will open the ways for future researchers to work in the direction of magical realism and enhance its scope in general. Magical realism is the most advanced field in literature, and students can use this research from a different perspective. It covers the psychological elements along with the connection of two seemingly opposite terms, magic and realism, so the future researcher can do their part in that frame of mind.

Literature is not a narrow field; instead, all we see on screens shows the essence of literature. This study can help future researcher on the media and theatre side as well. Now a day’s Magical realism is immensely prevailing on screens as well. Every other person wants reality and truth with a thrill, so this research can be so helpful because it shows how you can portray the common lives of people through magical realist elements. Hence this research can open pathways and gives future researchers different angles to enhance their research.

References

• Abdullah, A. S. (2014). Salman Rushdie's Midnight's Children: Connection between Magical Realism and Postcolonial Issues. International Journal of English and Education, 3(4), 341-349.
• Ahmed, M. (2015). MAGICAL REALISM AND SOCIAL PROTEST IN THE WORKS OF GABRIEL GARCÍA MÁRQUEZ. HEC Government Pakistan .
• Baig, S. (2018). Realism Vs Magical Realism in Mohammad Hanif's Our Lady of Alice Bhatti. Linguistics and Literature Review, 3(2), 87-102.
• Bender, A. (2010).The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (Reprint ed.). Anchor.
• Ben-Ur, L. E. (1976). El realismomágicoen la críticahispanoamericana.
• Bowers, A. M. (2004). Magic(al) Realism (The New Critical Idiom) (1st ed.). Routledge.
• Faris, W. B. (2004). Ordinary enchantments: magical realism and the remystification of narrative. Vanderbilt University Press
• Hassan, L. (2017). Comparative Literature, Borges and Marquez.
• Holland, R. B. (2002).What Is Magical Realism, Really?Writing-World. Com.