–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?
What do you think the significance of Allende’s title is? What does it mean to be made of clay?
The title reminds people the biblical reference of people were made up of the clay. In the story, Azucena is killed by the clay. I think this sarcastically reveals an idea that something creates people can also destroys people. For instance, humanity is something originated from people, but sometimes can ruin people as well. In the story, Humanity plays an important role. Media cares more about how Azucena would bring more viewers instead of trying to save her life. People are distant from Azucena’s feeling except for the Rolf. I think clay is also a symbol of indifference of the world. Peope do not associate themselves with the disaster while the media only cares about their own benefits. Pathetically, the natural disaster is not the most terrible thing to human beings, while the indifference of humanity is killing people.
What happens to Rolf in his encounter with Azucena?
When Rolf was trying to comfort the trapped little girl, he was reminded of when he was growing up in an immigrant family with an abusive father and a mentally ill sister whom he was there to protect. This was a tragic time in his childhood that Rolf spent thirty years burying in his subconscious. Also while he is with Azucena, he shells his reporter persona and gets to a more personal level and shows vulnerability. After she dies, he is essentially relieved to end this horrible situation. But the narrator sees how he has changed and is more human as he mentally deals with his past demons.
What happens to Rolf in his encounter with Azucena?
Rofl is the most complex character in the story. We are provided with intimate information about him, and all those details are exposed in his encounter with Azucena. When he is comforting the little girl he begins to see a lot of himself within her and sympathizes with her situation. He too was trapped as a child, trapped in an abusive household. This connection that arises between him and Azucena makes him retreat within himself by making him recall memories that he spent most of his adult life trying to forget. His connection allows him too feel again and act like a human again. By this I mean that he no longer was a cold, workaholic reporter who did not care about those he was reporting. By making his camera men stop filming as Azucena neared the end of her life he was showing how he has changed from the beginning of the story. He has become compassionate and aware of his reality and reality itself.
–Why do you think Azucena becomes a symbol of the tragedy that is unfolding in the story?
Azucena becomes a symbol of tragedy because she is a perfect symbol for the media to use. Being a young girl who is trapped in such a sad and hopeless state really tugs at the heart strings. The media knows that by using her, she will attract more viewers as well as their sympathy for her hopelessness. Besides the media, her personal situation is very sad and depressing. Her discussions with Rolf show the tough life that she had to live and it only makes her death more tragic.
–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?
About fifteen years ago I was living in my home country, Greece and there was a terrible earthquake that hit the country. When the earthquake occurred, I was safe because my family and I had gone on a small trip which was 3 hours away by car. Thankfully, the earthquake was felt a little less in that part of Greece. When we returned home, a lot of the houses were destroyed and some people got really injured. The media was showing all the devastating, hopeless scenes just like in this story and some couldn’t be saved (like Azucena).
-What happens to Rolf in his encounter with Azucena?
Rolf’s encounter with Azucena takes many turns of transformation in Rolf’s character. His encounter with Azucena makes him forget the mask he has been wearing in front of camera to report tragedies and he gets in the mud to help the kid for the sake of humanity and morals. That was the first transformation. Staying with Azucena for longer than he expected he breaks down in his own character and starts analyzing his life and has an epiphany about his character, the type of person he has becoming and what he has repressed. He connects himself to Azucena and realizes that he once used to be that helpless and hopeless child. Essentially he realizes his character, finds a new self and goes into a new phase in his life where tries to figure out who he is and what he wants to do.
What happens to Rolf in his encounter with Azucena?
The Rolf’s encounter with Azucena reminds him of his childhood. When he is comforting the little girl, he finds out that they have many similarities. This makes him express his feelings even though he has to look professional when there is a camera. His sympathy not only toward Azucena but himself as well. He is no longer a reporter, but a human who has feelings when facing sadness. He is more humanized when he encounters Azucena.
–What did you make of the President’s visit to the site of the disaster? What kind of commentary is Allende making here?
When the natural disaster hits the country, the resources to help the injured and dying victims were little to none. Azucena in particular needed a pump to drain the water out from the rubble she was stuck in. However, they had no means of receiving a pump or getting it to Azucena on time. Once finding a pump becomes a possibility, they can’t find the resources to get a pump through the disaster site and the only way would be to use a helicopter. The President is amongst many important people who were able to get to Azucena by using a helicopter. Allende is sending a message to her readers by showing us the government’s true priorities and how they lack compassion for their people. I agree with Allende’s subliminal message and I believe we still deal with similar issues in America today.
-What happens to Rolf in his encounter with Azucena?
Rolf’s encounter with Azucena makes him reminding his past. he describes the feeling of helplessness he has when his father abuses his disabled sister, but he can not do anything. It just like the feeling he has now with Azucena, he wants to help her, but he can not do anything to save her. His encounter with Azucena is more like a psychical transformation, he frees himself from the despair of his past and find the new self and what he really wants to do. At last, he shuts down the camera to show the respect to Azucena, he do not wants people to consume her death.
-What happens to Rolf in his encounter with Azucena?
Rolf goes through a transformation during his encounter with Azucena. Rolf is a reporter whose job is to report events, without having emotions about them. While with Azucena, he reveals a softer side to his character as he relates to her situation. He remembers some repressed memories from his childhood, when he was trapped by an abusing father and how he would protect his sister. Maybe Azucena reminded him of his sister and he felt the need to protect her too. He puts on a more humane mask as he asks for the cameras to be turned off to show respect to the little girl.
What happens to Rolf in his encounter with Azucena?
Rolf’s encounter with Azucena reminds himself of his past. He remembers his childhood and how trapped he felt with his abusive father and disabled sister. He describes how helpless he felt during those times and not being able to help Azucena brings back those feelings of helplessness. We can say that Rolf is more humanized after his encountering with Azucena because he no longer cares about the camera and acting professional. Instead, he displays how much of a human he is when he faces his memories and sadness.
–What do you think the significance of Allende’s title is? What does it mean to be made of clay?
This is an obvious biblical allusion to both Adam being created from the dirt of the earth and to the saying “ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” something often said at funerals. The prior reminds us with our connection to the earth that Azucena is now steeped in. It is as though Allende is asking is asking us to wonder where Azucena ends and the earth begins. The latter reminds us of the inevitablility of of our own mortality- a fact that both Rolfe and Azucena wrestle with and eventually comes to terms with. Both characters seem to find that acceptance and tranquillity in death that is expressed in that phrase, which I see as the true emotional conclusion of the short story.
What do you think the significance of Allende’s title is? What does it mean to be made of clay?
The clay could symbolize the story on how Rolf was made from his past and that he was set free. Also, it could be another bible reference when God created humans from dirt. Also, it could be how the media made us so be clay like. It makes us think a certain way and clay is dirt so dirt is the lies or exaggeration that the media tries to portray. Sometimes that it is more important to cover the story than to help out Azucena.
-What happens to Rolf in his encounter with Azucena?
When Rolf encountered azucena he is reminded of his past. azucena is helpless and trapped and he wants to help her just like he wanted to help his mentally ill sister in his childhood but couldn’t. Rolf had been trying to hid behind a camera and not associate himself to any of the tragedy’s he reports on but when he sees her hidden feelings and emotions came out that he had tried to burry like his past.
-What happens to Rolf in his encounter with Azucena?
Since Rolf encounters with Azucena, he has emotionally connection with Azucena and has flashback about his childhood memory. Azucena makes Rolf confronts his own fear that he wants to get rid of it. When he was a boy, who was buried in life without escape. Rolf tries to protect his disabled sister under father’s violence. Rolf and Azucena are helpless to escape from clayey mud. He has to face his miserable past and understands Zucena’s suffering. Both Rolf and Azucena are being dragged down by family members. However, they can’t protect or save them. Rolf can’t save his sister and Azucena. They don’t have choice of not being involved within this situation.
What happens to Rolf in his encounter with Azucena?
Since Rolf encounters with Azucena, Azucena’s suffering make him evoke his darkness childhood. He buries the bodies at concentration camp. He gets abused by his father, locked in the cabinet. But right now, Rolf sees Azucena waiting for death. He has no way to help her out. Both of them are trap into a mud. They feel hopeless. Azucena teaches Rolf how to pray. Rolf gives the “love” to Azucena which she wants to have before she died. In the day three, Azucena died and Rolf looks forward to the future and gets rid of the past.
-What happens to Rolf in his encounter with Azucena?
Since Rolf in his encounter with Azucena, he comes up his past sadness memories. In the past, both Rolf and Azucena are trapped and helpless. Rolf could not save his sister from his father. Also, he cannot save Azucena.
–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?
This story reminded me of the Chilean mining accident of 2010. In the story, Allende writes about a natural disaster being aired on live T.V. through the major news channels, a lot of people viewed it and could follow it closely on T.V. Similarly, the Chilean mining accident was aired on live T.V. and millions of people followed it closely. I was young but I remember turning on the news channel just to see what was going on and if the miners were going to be able to get out. I can relate to the narrator in the sense that she was far away from the scene but yet so close because she was witnessing the events as they occurred, but through a screen.
What happens to Rolf in his encounter with Azucena?
In his encounter with Azucena, Rolf breaks down and makes way for all the repressed memories that he had refused to confront for so long. Upon seeing this child close to death, he connects with her because he sees himself in her. He realizes that they are fairly similar, both being dragged down (although Azucena is more in the literal sense) by their families; both feeling completely helpless.
What happens to Rolf in his encounter with Azucena?
When he’s trying to comfort Azucena, himself is being revealed. Azucea reminds him of his abusive childhood. He finds himself has been trapped by the memory like Azucena trapped in the mud. His self conscious is revoked and he gets himself exposed to the childhood trauma.