–What do you think the significance of Allende’s title is? What does it mean to be made of clay? –
-What happens to Rolf in his encounter with Azucena?
–Why do you think Azucena becomes a symbol of the tragedy that is unfolding in the story?
–What did you make of the President’s visit to the site of the disaster? What kind of commentary is Allende making here?
–How can you connect this story with your own experiences of natural or other disasters? Are there elements of the story that you can relate to? How?
I can connect this story with my own experiences of living through a time of disaster. What comes to mind is the Sandy Hook Elementary School terrorist attack on innocent children. I can vividly remember watching the horror from my television screen. Using Allende’s quote “terrible distance, terrible proximity”, showed that in my own experience I was too far away to actually do something hands on to help in any way, yet I was close enough from watching from my screen to feel emotionally involved in the tragedy.
What happens to Rolf in his encounter with Azucena?
While Rolf encountered Azucena, he recalled some dreadful memory of his childhood when living with his brutal father, who sometimes abused his sister and him. At that time, his sister hid under the table with him in order to prevent from his father’s mistreatment. Be akin to tried his best to protect his sister in the past, Rolf laid his video down and ceased to record as well as made efforts to save Azucena. Unfortunately, she has died but Rolf seemly realized what ruthless and brutal the profession as a reporter is and he turned into be more sympathetic and be awarded of his reality. All in all, his connection made him moved and acted like a human again.
What did you make of the President’s visit to the site of the disaster? What kind of commentary is Allende making here?
The visit of the President is merely a show. The President is intending to appease peoples’ sadness cause by the disaster. If he doesn’t show up on the incident place he might lose his repuation as a supreme leader in the country. The President has giving some verbal commitment to comfort the victim’s feelings, for instance, he promises to get a pump to save Azucena from the clays. But he never fulfill any of his promises. He deceives all the peoples include those who are watching him through TV screen. The President doesn’t care about the life of those victims. His appearance is only a need for politics. His words and deeds demonstrate that he is just a hypocrite.
What happens to Rolf in his encounter with Azucena?
Rolf is reminded of his own past filled with bad memories during his encounter with Azucena. The struggles and the bad environment he grew up in with his abusive father and a mentally ill sister whom he protected while growing up. This was a tragic time for Rolf as he spent the last 30 years burying horror memories from his childhood and his past. All those bad memories began resurfacing during this tragic encounter with the young girl. After she dies, this situation provides him with a peace of mind and is able to deal with his past demons a lot better.
Azucena is used as the symbol of tragedy because her story gives the television networks and reporters better ratings. The horrible truth about the news industry is that the goal is to boost ratings and thus gain more revenue. When the news should be an accurate depiction of the news that unfolds, it is too often reporting isolated stories that give the networks better ratings. The story of Azucena is no different, the news reporters did not choose to focus on her because they were worried about her well-being, but rather because the image of a little girls’ head sticking up from the mud is a ratings booster. The text proves this point because it describes the reporters as vultures. Rather than the reporters being people who wish to care for her, they are merely hungry birds feeding off death.
-What happens to Rolf in his encounter with Azucena?
Rolf is a news reporter, who has seen many tragedies and has never been emotionally attacked by them. When Rolf hears of Azucena’s dilemma, this is the first time he reacts emotionally to a story he had to report. Azucena had touched his heart like no one has ever done before. Azucena is just a 13 year old girl going through such a tragedy, which made him think of all the horrific tragedies he had gone through when he was around her age. This lead him to staying by her side all three days, while assuring her that he has loves her more then he has ever loved someone before.
The President’s visit to the site is a medium for him to show his fake affection towards the victim that how much he cares about his people and for their loss. By doing so, people will think that he has a big heart and they have made a right decision on selecting him as a president. This incident is more like a opportunity for him to put a show on and prove his position.
What did you make of the President’s visit to the site of the disaster? What kind of commentary is Allende making here?
The Presidents visit is just an act of caring , it is not real. The only reason he came to give the girl false hope was so he would not lose his reputation a s a leader. Him being there was more of a duty rather than him actually wanting to go out there and help the girl. The narrator makes it obvious that the President will add no value in this situation and there will be no pump to save the girl. The visit was pointless as it didnt help the girl or Carle from improving the situation and saving the girl.
What do you think the significance of Allende’s title is? What does it mean to be made of clay?
I feel the title has two meanings, the literal one relating to the earth as we are made on this earth. The other reason for her title comes from the significance of the event. We see the truth in people when the tragedy is taking place especially in Rolf, the reporter. Rolf is reborn as a person from the event of the volcanic eruption in the clay with Azucena. In a sense he was made from the clay/mud as it helped him realize what he was doing in his job and the suffering of others. The ultimate moment at the ending where Azucena and Rolf are ascending to the heavens is where he is created from the clay.
What did you make of the President’s visit to the site of the disaster? What kind of commentary is Allende making here?
The President’s visit to the disaster was a way to uphold his reputation to the people. If he hadn’t addressed or acknowledged a story that was making waves throughout the world, it definitely would’ve impacted him negatively. Him showing up to offer words of encouragement will keep rumors and hate away. The President didn’t represent anything other than duty. It can be assumed, just from the way the narrator describes the scenario, that he wasn’t all that enthusiastic to be there. Also because there were many cameras around, he had to keep up his act until his exit. He spoke more to reporters than he did while interacting with the young girl. When he told the girl that she was an inspiration to many because of her courage, it just showed that he had no clue what to say; how can a girl who is in a situation that she has no control over, and who is barely succeeding surviving, courageous? What she requires is not given to her, the President stalling, along with many others, to hasten the actions to help.