And Of Clay Are We Created By Isabel Allende

And of clay are we created by isabel allende
  • “And of Clay We Are Created” is a short story by Isabel Allende about a young girl named Azucena who has been trapped in the mud after a volcanic eruption in her village home in Columbia. Eva Luna is the narrator of the story and she is in her apartment watching the news on television as her lover Rolf Carle reports the tragic events unfolding.
  • The story “And of Clay are We Created” is fictional but is based on a true story about a volcano eruption in Colombia in 1985. Likewise, what does the pump symbolize in and of clay we are created? One of the central symbols of this story for me at least is the pump.

The Miseries of Misfortune In Isabel Allende’s short story, “And of Clay Are We Created”, Azucena, a young Latino girl, endures a number of hardships after an avalanche traps her in the mud, while in Gabriel Gracia Marquez’s short story, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”, an angel man, who brings good fortune to a family, struggles with mockery. Both characters deal with misfortune throughout each of the short stories, and unlike the angel, who has no one, Azucena, has Rolf, a caring reporter, to comfort her through her experience.

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“And of Clay We Are Created,” written by Isabel Allende, explores what social psychologists refer to as the bystander effect. In the story, Azucena is a little girl who is trapped in the mud, and needs help if she is to survive. While the girl suffers and was filmed by countless reporters, no one actually comes to save her. 'What's in a Name?' 'What's Your Mud?' Azucena- Spanish for 'Lily,' her first communion name. Resurrection The resurrection of Jesus is the Christian belief that Jesus Christ miraculously returned to life on the Sunday following the Friday on which he was executed by crucifixion.

And Of Clay Are We Created By Isabel Allende

Over the course of both short stories each character suffers in some way. As soon as the angel arrives, Pelayo, the owner of the property “drag[s] him out of the mud and lock[s] him up with the hens in the wire chicken coop” (588). The angel withstands physical discomfort, even as he brings good fortune to the family that he stumbles upon. Azucena suffers as well, when “they [discover] [her] head protruding from a mud pit” (258). Azucena, like the angel, undergoes physical pain because of her dreadful and horrific situation.

Azucena and the angel endure moments of suffering, as well as experiencing the burden of exploitation by the people surrounding them. At the scene of the mud pit, “[the reporter’s] camera zoom[s] in on the girl” (289). Azucena, growing in popularity, soon develops into the top news story, deprived and stripped of her privacy as she lies in the mud. In addition, the angel, turns into the town attraction, and people “without the slightest reverence, [toss] him things to eat through the openings…as if he weren’t a supernatural creature but a circus animal” (588).

And Of Clay Are We Created By Isabel Allende Pdf

The people of the town treat the angel poorly instead of treating him with the respect and seeing him as a gift from God. Not only do the angel and Azucena have commonality as characters, but they also share differences as well. In “And of Clay Are We Created” Azucena begs Rolf and says, “don’t leave me alone” and Rolf stays for her (261). When Azucena begs Rolf, she simply makes a plea for comfort; and he abides never leaving her side.

And Of Clay Are We Created By Isabel Allende

Where as, in “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”, “the angel was the only one” without anyone to care and comfort him (591). Unlike Azucena, the angel appears all alone. Through all his suffering and mocking, people continue to disrespect him and not honor him in the way he so deserves. Together, Azucena and the angel endure misfortune and disrespect at the hands of humans and Mother Nature. Ultimately, both share the burden of suffering, one consoled and one not.

And Of Clay Are We Created By Isabel Allende Summary

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This, therefore, brings upon change to people’s lives. The angel brings about materialistic gain, while Azucena’s changes a person’s heart. Works Cited Allende, Isabel. “And of Clay Are We Created. ” Elements of Literature. Ed. Laura Wood. 3rd ed. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2005. 257-265. Print. Marquez, Garcia Gabriel. “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings. ” Elements of Literature. Ed. Laura Wood. 3rd ed. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2005. 587-595. Print.

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In the short story “And of Clay Are We Created” by Isabel Allende, a young girl named Azucena (which translates to Lily) head sticking out of the ground. The child has strong symbolic meaning within the piece. Azucena is a symbol for death and the freedom from the natural world that comes with death. To show this, first the paper will look at how the child symbolizes death and then how she symbolizes the freedom of pain, suffering, and other constraints of the natural world.
First, the young girl symbolizes death. The first way that Allende does this is the child’s name as said on page 171. Allende writes that, “She had a First Communion name, Azucena. Lilly” showing that the child has become known as this name. In many cultures, this flower has become known as a symbol of death. This is because it is the most common flower at funerals and some cultures even leave a lily on the coffin as it is laid to rest. Allende was surely thinking this while composing this piece, and named the child Azucena, or Lily, because of this strong connection to death.
Another way the child symbolizes death is her location. At the beginning of the story the author states that “In that vast cemetery where the odor of death was already attracting cultures from far away, and where the weeping of orphans and the wails of the injured filled the air, the little girl obstinately clinging to life…” (171) showing that the young girl was in a cemetery, where people bury the dead. She was surrounded by death and even the area around her smelled of death. This young girl being in this area around deceased and having the aroma of the dead leads one to believe that she is a symbol of death.
Throughout the story, Allende shows how much this girl is suffering. She states how she is cold and she is in pain. Even at one point it begins to rain outside and she begin to cry because her conditions. However, when she was finally about to die, she was at peace. She said “Don’t cry. I don’t hurt anymore. I’m fine” (176). It shows that she accepted death. The pain and the suffering was too much to bear and she welcomed death. Along with this, her death also lead to her being free. She was no longer stuck in the clay. While she lived, her body was stuck in the ground and unable to move. After she died, her spirit was free and she was no longer stuck. Her death lead to her being free from all the pain and physical restriction that was present during her life. Because of this, Azucena not only b
All and all, Isabel Allende created her young girl character to be a strong symbol. She makes choices and decisions to make her character to symbolize death. These choices include the character’s name and her location. However, by showing Lily’s acceptance of death and because she no longer hurts, the young girl symbolizes freedom of pain and is no longer suffering, along with symbolizing death.