Health and/as Sickness by Julio Cortázar. Short summary

5 seconds

In the life of a large family, bad things happen: first Alejandro died in a car accident, then Clelia died. But the mother, who everyone cares about, must not be told about it in any way.

1 minute

When Aunt Clelia fell ill, the whole family was confused. But it was decided not to say anything to mother, who had been sick for a long time and was constantly lying in her bedroom.

The death of her youngest son, Alejandro, had already been hidden from Mom for a year. He had been killed in a car accident, but they decided not to upset Mom, with her blood pressure and blood sugar. The housemates said that Alejandro unexpectedly got a good job in Brazil and left urgently. No newspapers were given to the old lady. Alejandro’s fiancée, Maria Laura, visited her mother on Thursdays and told her how her fiancé lived.

Alejandro regularly wrote letters to his mother, which his family read to the old woman. Mother wrote back, asking her son to come on vacation. But the vacation kept getting postponed for various reasons.

And then Aunt Clelia was taken to the hospital. Mom was told that she had gone to visit a friend. She wasn’t told about Clelia’s death either. A few months later Mom died. «Finally, you all get some rest.» — the old lady said before she died.