People are always surrounded by phenomena and situations that make them behave in a particular, unique manner. The theory of the derive described by Guy Debord is a pointer to the psychogeograpgy that usually encounters human beings and sometimes gets them unawares. When one finds themselves in such a situation, they have to behave in a way or manner that will portray them as human beings with the dignity that they deserve. The novel Hopscotch, especially some selected chapters like chapter twenty one through to twenty three have a characteristic derive nature as portrayed by the characters. The fundamental differences between Olivera and La Maga in this novel also portray the characteristic nature that can be likened to the theory of the derive. This essay aims at comparing the experiences of a personal derive taken at the cities of Pasadena CA, Downtown LA, and Santa Monica CA, with the experiences of the main characters of the novel, Hopscotch. Further, the essay seeks to incorporate the fundamental differences between Olivera and La Maga into this discussion.

The experiences of touring the areas of Pasadena, Downtown and Santa Monica, with zeal to making a personal derive brigs an experience that rhymes so much with the experiences of the main characters of the novel, Hopscotch. In consideration of the organization of the book, its organization as a counter-novel makes it to fit in the description of being said to be a post-modernistic literature. This goes hand in hand with the experiences that the character in the book portray as going through. The novel seems to be influenced strongly by many figures and elements of the modernistic tradition. The experiences of characters in the novel has even been portrayed to us through the exploration of the figures in a spatial form, with a kind of an urban setting, that is the one of Paris in the early years of the 1950s. The display of these features of the experiences of the characters in such a setting is completely rhyming with the experiences the personal derive one can take in the cities of Pasadena, Downtown and Santa Monica. The similarity here comes in the aspect of the setting. These cities are all in a setting that is almost post-modern, and the setting in the novel portrays a post-modern situation. This rhyming feature is what brings about the similarities in the two sets of experiences.

Looking again at the organization of the book, the reader is completely enjoined into being a very active participant in creating the paths to walk through in the novel. This is despite the elements of the novel that seem almost disjointed. This kind of organization is to a great extent meant to create and portray an urban environment. Again this rhymes with the experiences of a lone ranger doing a derive in the cities of Pasadena, Downtown and Santa Monica.

The differing characters of Olivera and La Maga come out clearly because of the roles they play in the novel. Olivera takes the role of a reader of Morelli. He majors in trying to fathom the reason as to why the main readers of the novel are not able to win the game that the novel brings out. In this case, Olivera takes the role of the male reader. By taking this role, Olivera automatically becomes one among the two main pragmatic readers in the book. On the other hand, La Maga has to take the responsibility of the female reader. One fundamental difference in these characters comes about in the roles they take. It is evident that the reader in this book becomes completely a follower of Olivera. He is even calculating his moves. La Maga admits of him: “You think too much before you do anything” (20). Whatever area of the book one intends to read, one finds that avoiding Olivera is next to impossibility. The book, indeed come up as if it is a game in which Olivera is always there. Any action Olivera takes lands him in the game. Worse still, if he decides not to take any step, he still lands in the game. A difference also energies in the behavior portrayed by Olivera in trying to commit suicide. In doing this, the audience is left with a big question concerning the fate of the character. The question of resurrection arises, which proves hard to answer. This kind of character is not found in La Maga.

There is a feature that comes out in the novel to show that Olivera is caught up in the game to an extent of never coming out. This is very evident in his incoherent thought and speech, as well as, inadequacy of progression that occurs in the final chapters. Here Olivera portrays some kind of ritualized brutality. In this persistence of Oliveira in the game, Hopscotch, he acts as the trap in the book. From his role as a male reader, he is trapped by the novel to an extent that he cannot move, in this position, he is used by the novelist to trap the readers because as one follows him, one does not realize the maze, but is made to follow further.

One of the very major differences between these two characters is seen in the outcome of their roles, and the way they have been used by the novelist to fix readers. While Oliveira does not lead the reader out of the game, La Maga, the female reader does so, but does not allow the readers either happiness or sadness. The behavior of La Maga in her leading of female readers represents freedom. She is the guide to exiting the game. This is pointed even by Olivera himself when he directs the readers how they will exit thus: “…she goes around bumping into everyone…” (317). This is also evident in the degradation that Olivera inflicts on La Maga because of failing to continue eight the game to the tenth square. He says: “You lost on the third square…” (317). This is because La Maga had left the game in third square after getting tired of playing a game that one may not even understand when they have won. This portrays a fundamental difference between the two characters.

In conclusion, this essay has looked at a personal development of a theory of the derive in the cities of Pasadena, Downtown and Santa Monica. It has discussed this in relation to the experiences of the main characters in Hopscotch. Finally, the essay has looked at the fundamental differences between Olivera and La Maga in Hopscotch.

Work Cited

Cortazar, Julio. Hopscotch. 1^st Pantheon pbk. ed. New York, NY: Pantheon Books. 1987. Print.