Uncle Marcos

Uncle Marcos and his stories are still fresh in Clara's mind, and are told to others by Alba. Clara and Uncle Marcos always got along and were good friends, "Each time Uncle Marcos had visited her sister Nívea's home, he had stayed for several months, to the immense joy of his nieces and nephews, particularly Clara" (10). Whenever Uncle Marcos was over at his sisters', Clara was the only one that did not mind having Uncle Marcos stay and live with them. "It has been two years since Clara had last seen her Uncle Marcos, but she remembered him very well. His was the only perfectly clear image she retained from her whole childhood . . ." (9). Clara had a great interest in her Uncle's stories when she was a child and had remembered all of them because of her fascination in the stories, "Of all the del Valle children, Clara was the one with the greatest interest in and stamina for her uncle's stories. She could repeat each and every one of them" (17). Alba had read Uncle Marcos' books in the basement of the big house on the corner and had remembered them very well ever since. Alba was so entranced with Uncle Marcos' stories that she was able to remember them even after most of her life had passed. Alba told Uncle Marcos stories to the girls in the concentration camp as a way for them to block out the horrible situation they were in at the time, " . . . I had sat with a child in each arm and told them magic stories from the enchanted trunks of my Great-Uncle Marcos until they fell asleep . . ." (427).