comment on language/style

In order to dramatize the fictionality of his narrative, René incorporates different genres of fiction throughout his narration. For example, many characters speak “monologues.” At times, these characters and their monologues are realistic, such as Vasilia’s monologue, “concerning love and need”; but at other times, these monologues are explicitly unrealistic, spoken by characters who do not exist, such as “Baby Yaga inside Arsenyeva’s Skin” (93, 95). In the latter, Baby Yaga accuses Vasilia of being “false” and deceiving Nero and his family (95). Although Yaga and her monologue are necessarily fictional, Yaga accurately summarizes Vasilia’s character. After all, Vasilia does only Nero for his money. In this way, the explicit ficitonality of the speaker does not interfere with the speaker’s honesty, blurring the lines between fiction and truth.