I can’t really answer this question for you but some of the things the mayor is experiencing in my opinion are:

– desperation (evidence by the fact he is threatening to shoot

the dentist if he doesn’t take the tooth out)

– pride (how he doesn’t make a sound even though he is

clearly in pain)

– Detachment – (from the pain once the tooth was

removed, much like we are from other’s suffering, precisely

because it’s not us.

3.you know that “machismo” is very important as a social-psychological phenomenon in the hispanic world. How does marquez utilize this concept in this story?

“Los hombres no lloran” (Men don’t cry) Marquez shows how prevalent this is in our culture when 1. the mayor gets the tooth removed without anesthesia, and he concentrates on being strong, and not showing his pain, and 2. when the dentist hands him a piece of cloth and says “here, wipe off your tears”… not rinse/wipe your mouth, your forehead (he says the mayor was sweating)…

Good luck,

Hablar dos idiomas es un pasaporte a mundos diferentes…….