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The Woman Who Came at Six O'Clock | Introduction

‘‘The Woman Who Came at Six O’Clock’’ was first published in 1950 in El espectador, a Bogotá, Columbia, daily publication, where Gabriel García Márquez was already a renowned journalist. This twin pattern of fiction and journalism has influenced many of García Márquez’s works, including his best-known novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude. The novel is a key example of the magical realism movement—which García Márquez helped to develop. It was after the success of his longer works that the author’s earliest short stories, which had received little critical attention when they were first published, began to get reprinted and reviewed. Many critics consider ‘‘The Woman Who Came at Six O’Clock’’ the best of these early stories, which are often thought of as failed experiments.

The story tells of an unnamed woman prostitute who comes into José’s diner everyday at six o’clock for a free meal. One day, she comes in and convinces him to say that she came in earlier so that she has an alibi for the murder she has just committed. The story explores such themes as the justification of murder, the power of a person’s reputation, and the different realities that people experience. Critics note that García Márquez was influenced by other popular authors, including Hemingway, whose short story, ‘‘The Killers,’’ is considered by many to be a source of inspiration for ‘‘The Woman Who Came at Six O’Clock.’’ Although the story has been reprinted in various collections since 1972’s Ojos de perro azul (translated as Eyes of a Blue Dog), today it can be found in Collected Stories, translated from the Spanish by Gregory Rabassa and J. S. Bernstein, and published by Perennial Classics in 1999.

The Woman Who Came at Six O'Clock Summary

The Six O’Clock Ritual
‘‘The Woman Who Came at Six O’Clock’’ takes place in a small diner-style restaurant over a period of about thirty minutes. The story starts when the clock strikes six and a prostitute walks through the door, as she does every day at six o’clock. José, the fat restaurant owner, calls the woman ‘‘queen,’’ a pet name that he usually uses to address her. He wipes the counter with a rag, as he does after every customer comes in.

The woman is obviously on edge and says that José needs to be more of a gentleman—indicating that he should light the unlit cigarette that is between her lips. José lights her cigarette and tells the woman she’s beautiful. She says that flattery will not get her to pay him, and he mistakes her disagreeable mood for indigestion. He offers her a steak, but she says she can’t pay. He says that she never pays him anyway, but he still feeds her every day when she comes in at six o’clock. She says that today is different.

Turning Back the Clock
José gives an explanation of their daily dinner routine, which the woman agrees is correct. However, she tells him that she didn’t come in at the regular time today. He protests, saying that the clock is right, but the woman insists that she arrived fifteen minutes before six. José accuses the woman of being drunk but the woman tells him she’s been sober for six months. José finally gives up and says that if she wants to say she’s been there for longer, he doesn’t care, because it does not make any difference.

The woman says it does matter, and increases the time difference between her stated arrival time and actual arrival time by five more minutes. José agrees with her, saying that he would give her even more time if it would make her happy, and professes his love to her.

The woman gets agitated—which José once again mistakes for indigestion—and says that no woman could stand to sleep... » Complete The Woman Who Came at Six O'Clock Summary