Women are portrayed differently in literature depending upon the societal customs and the acceptance of women in the culture of the author. Although this is true, it is only partially so. An author is not obligated to write about his customs and norms, and in fact may use completely different ones in order to show dissent to the ones he has lived with. Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude takes place in a Latin American setting. The passage(1) used from the novel in the comparative analysis involves a strong willed woman who is respected, however, is unaware of the situation she is part of. The young woman is unknowingly sleeping with two men who are identical twins. Similarly, Jorge Borges' short story "The Intruder", also set in Latin America. The woman, in this case, is involved with two brothers, but she is weak and her awareness of the situation is questionable. Both selected pieces share common ties in situation, however, differing outcomes arise, thus, a thoughtful analysis can be generated.
Petra Cotes, the young woman in the selection from One Hundred Years Of Solitude, intrudes in the narrative and distracts the Segundo twins from their normal daily activities in the isolated village of Macondo. Aureliano Segundo meets Petra Cotes while she is selling raffle tickets for an accordion. He doesn't reveal to her that he has a twin brother when she oddly greets him familiarly. Petra likes Aureliano Segundo and his brother José Arcadio Segundo. She does not know that they are two different people. Aureliano Segundo discovers after two weeks of sleeping with Petra Cotes that she has been sleeping with his brother too. Once again he doesn't clear up the girl's confusion that they are one person and instead he continues to share her with his twin for two months. One morning Aureliano Segundo is really sick and he does not know why. A few days later José Arcadio Segundo becomes sick and tells Aureliano that Petra Cotes is disgusted with the "low-life sickness" he has given her and consequently refuses to see him.