One Of These Days by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Analysis Essay

“One Of These Days” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, uses characterization found in a degreeless dentist and a corrupt mayor to assert that a dictation like society, will result in political corruption, and proves that internal conflicts of society cannot create a balanced society. 

The viewpoints of both the mayor and the dentist are significantly characterized through the use of attitude, creating conflict between the mayor and the dentist. The ideology of the Mayor is fairly strange. When he arrives at the dentist he is told his tooth is infected and will not be performed on so he threatens to kill the dentist. During the procedure it is evident that the tension between the two -- the corrupted mayor and the easy going dentist -- was on thin ice, yet somewhat personable. The pain from the mayor was excruciating as the procedure was undergone “without anesthesia”, showing the necessity of the removal of the rotted tooth; this symbolises the immorality found in the mayor, a central part of a well organized political society, thus proving the town is an unbalanced society. The dentist is a very easy going man who wants to live a basic life. He has a son who is told to tell the mayor the detistist is “not here”. 

Marquez does this in order to show how unpersonable the mayor is, and this is the reason the dentist does not want to be associated with the mayor. Later the dentist heard from his son, “if you don’t take out his tooth, he’ll shoot you.” The dentists did not act worried, rather calm. This proves that the dentist is not the kind of person to start a fight with, but will intervene if he feels like he is at risk. The dentist is the understanding type, and realizes the uncontrollable pain the mayor is going through. 

Although the dentist does not forget about his reasoned spitefulness, he removes the harsh tone towards the mayor during the procedure treating him like a patient. As a mayor, the job description is to keep the city or town safe, and to be the perfect example of a role model; while threatening to kill people is evident of an unbalanced society, which leads to uncontrolled checks and balances from within.