Aura and The Sixth Sense

Aura and The Sixth Sense

                Carlos Fuente’s Aura, depicts a romantic, yet disturbing love story that blurs the boundary between the worlds of the living and dead. The supernatural elements and symbolism depicted in Aura are similar to those in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense.

The story of The Sixth Sense illustrates the relationship between child psychologist, Dr. Malcolm Crowe, and his patient, Cole Sear. Like his former client, Vincent Gray, Cole is troubled by his extraordinary ability to see the dead. At first, Dr. Crowe is hesitant about helping Cole; his previous sessions with Vincent had ended in a failure. However, he eventually becomes invested in Cole and advises him to communicate with the ghosts.  Given this suggestion, Cole learns to overcome his fear by helping the dead who are trapped in the living world. At the same time, Cole aids Dr. Crowe in discovering that he also dead, a realization that leaves the most viewers in shock.

Though the endings of both the novel and the movie are startling, there are numerous details hinting at the true identities of both Felipe and Dr. Crowe. In Aura, when Felipe views the advertisement in the newspaper, he instinctively knows that it is addressed directly at him. The nature of Felipe’s job, completing and writing General Llorente’s memoirs, also serves as a valuable clue because memoirs usually contain the writer’s memories. Similarly, in The Sixth Sense, though Dr. Crowe appears to communicate with living people, aside from Cole, there is no actual interaction. His wife’s refusal to converse with him at the restaurant, also demonstrates this point. Although these subtle hints are dispersed throughout the book and movie, it is difficult to deduce the truths about both characters without reaching the stories’ conclusions.

                Furthermore, both stories contain moments that illustrate synchronicity between two characters. Fuentes reveals a scene where Felipe witnesses the doubling of Senora Consuelo with Aura when he writes, “Senora becomes motionless, and at the same moment Aura puts her knife on her plate and also becomes motionless…”(69). In the same way, the movie connects Cole and Vincent, who share the unique ability to see ghosts, by depicting both characters with white portions in their hair. The use of mirroring characters provides insight into the characters’ future; Cole may have followed in Vincent’s footsteps without Dr. Crowe’s help, and it is exposed that Aura is Senora Consuelo in the end.       

                Additionally, color plays a significant role in emphasizing important features of both The Sixth Sense and Aura. The darkness engulfing Felipe as he enters Senora Consuelo’s house creates a sense of distortion and confusion. The audience is left questioning whether Felipe is following the ruffling sound of Aura’s taffeta or Senora Consuelo’s. Aura’s black Christ also adds to the eeriness of her character. The use of red to highlight significant scenes is also prominent in The Sixth Sense; Shyamalan deliberately uses red when ghosts are present. For example, Cole’s tent when a ghost appears is red, and whenever Dr. Crowe is around, his wife is shown sleeping covered in a red shawl.  

                Clearly, Aura and The Sixth Sense share many similar features through the symbolism, characterization, and story line  The conclusions in both stories leave the audience stumped, and thus are works that encourage us to reread or re-watch over and over again.