Aubrey holds a Ph.D. in English and has published many articles on twentieth-century literature. In this essay, Aubrey discusses magical realism and shows how other fiction by Morales reveals his interest in curanderismo and sheds further light on "The Curing Woman."

Morales is known as a writer who explores the Mexican American cultural heritage and often uses the techniques of magical realism to do so. Magical realism deals with the "transformation of the common and the everyday into the awesome and the unreal," writes Angel Flores in the essay "Magical Realism in Spanish American Fiction." This describes exactly what happens in "The Curing Woman," and it is not surprising that a magical realist writer should be fascinated by the topic of curanderismo. Morales's interest in the topic is apparent not only in "The Curing Woman" but also in the only other short story he has published...