Week 16 Analysis: A Close Reading

Isabel Allende, “And of Clay Are We Created” (1223-1231)

            I really enjoyed the extra credit reading so I chose to write about this piece of work in my analysis. One such passage from this essay I really like is “She had a first communion name, Azucena. Lily. In that vast cemetery where the odor of death was already attracting vultures from far away, and where the weeping of orphans and wails of the injured filled the air, the little girl obstinately clinging to life became the symbol of the tragedy” (1225). I really like this passage because of its link to a volcanic eruption and how relatable this story is. This passage has a feeling of sadness and desperation that drags the audience in. The fact that she has a communion name connects the story to religion since when it comes to a "First Communion Name" it  often revolves around being a name of a saint. They are really emphasizing her being a symbol of tragedy by connecting her to that of a saint. Therefore, we readers can see the importance of this character in this story. The feelings of sadness and desperation help connect the audience to a set of feelings most would feel in a tragedy, like the Nevado Del Ruiz in Columbia 1985. We get the since of importance in ways of tragedy’s bringing unification, like the people’s attempts to rescue the little girl in the story. For example, her being a "symbol of the tragedy". However, tragedies bring hopelessness that is a feeling often known to many, like how they realize at the end that they cannot save the poor little girl who is trapped in a mud slide or in the words: "Clinging to life", "Odor of Death", "Weeping", and "wails". From these words, we get the sense of desperation, hopelessness, yet still a sense of unification from the girls attempts of "clinging to life" that make people want to take action and help. Not only do we get feelings of hopelessness, sadness, desperation, and unification from this passage, but the passage also connects us readers to the rest of the story by being an introduction to the rest of the telling of this tragedy. Lastly, I want to point out the connection of this story to the title “And of Clay Are We Created” because it links to the biblical passage that states we are made of earth. Therefore, this girl being taken by this mudslide is like she is being taken back to the earth where she was made, like all the other thousands of victims. Therefore, she is a symbol of the tragedy just like she is the symbol of the title (or biblical passage).

"And of Clay Are We Made". The Norton Anthology World Literature, Third Edition, Vol. D. Martin Puchner. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. Pages 1223-1231. Fairfield Medium with the display set in Aperto.