The woman who arrived at six

1. The black novel and “The woman who arrived at six”

In the Introduction (in Blackboard) it is mentioned that the story “The Woman Who Came at Six” has some of the characteristics of a  noir novel  (a type of 20th century American detective novel that is based on the earlier crime or detective novel) . What aspects of the black novel are found in ‘The woman who arrived at six’? Are there any elements of the crime novel that do NOT appear in García Márquez’s story? (The first person to comment must create a definition in their own words of the crime novel to start, and then they can apply the definition to the story.)

2. The open ending of “The Woman Who Came at Six”

The end of García Márquez’s story is an  open ending  because we don’t know if José is going to offer himself as an alibi for the woman when the police arrive to ask about her. So the reader has to imagine a likely ending to this conflict of interest, which requires us to think about justice, criminality, and individual responsibility. In his opinion, what is José going to do? Is he going to lie to protect the woman, or not? What does this decision to (not) keep his word to the woman tell us about his character, even if he gets into trouble with the law?

3. Existentialism and “The Woman Who Came at Six”

Compare the two main characters in the story “The Woman Who Came at Six”, José and the woman he calls ‘Queen’ (not her real name but a nickname). What values ​​are associated with each character? Who is the person who lives more according to their own concept of  free will  and with more autonomy compared to what other members of society think (the most important values ​​to live well according to  existentialism )? Does it sound like an  existentialist tale ?