In what way might The Verb to Kill by Luisa Valenzuela be a political allegory - Essay Example

It demonstrates how politicians get riches from the poor people, give empty promises and will always come back ‘with a different story for the poor to give them the votes. The verb to kill therefore demonstrates the capitalism of our politicians who are for selfish gains at the expenses of the lives of the electorates. “The verb to Kill” is a metaphor for the dehumanizing nature of the politicians. In this story, the poor girls who are also the narrators are eaten away or consumed by the daily lifestyle of the old man who is the protagonist.

In this perspective, the writer of this article demonstrated how the individuals are “consumed” by the powerful politicians and leaders. The concept of consumption has been used in this story as a metaphor or allegory in the store to represent the high level of exploitation that these individuals are experiencing. When the writer of this article portrays the girls as being eaten by the daily life of the old man, the writer of this article outlines the kind of activities of the old man that are not beneficial to the young girls.

This is unfortunate despite the fact that the young girls play an important role in the story and are very kind towards the man. The main narrator in “the verb to kill” asserts that their neighbor, the old man is a “degenerate murderer” and hence is fascinated by the kind of life style that they perceive this old man is leading. They also assert that the old man may not just be a rapist but also someone who eats “that last breath” (Valenzuela). In this perspective, the narrator claims here that the actions of the old man and his daily activities consume them.

In this text, the idea of consumption has been used severally in the text from the beginning through to the end. The idea of consumption here therefore represents the nature of the old man and the notion of destruction and absorption of the girls by the old man neighbor. This is allegory for the nature of some politicians who play politics just for their own benefits even if it means overlooking the morals and the norms of the society. It also represents the immoral nature of the politicians and the political game in general which demands for the politicians to leave different lives and compromise their morality at the expense of the society and those whom there are close to.

The narrators have also demonstrated the fear for the idea of the old man rather than his reality. The idea of consumption and the presentation of the man as vampire are two causes of worry for the poor girls. This is a phenomenon that is common across the worlds’ politicians and their subjects. In politics people do not win because of what they are but because what the ideas they present to the people. The ideas that politicians often presents to the electorate as well as their past deed play an important role in their success.

The electorates are often afraid of the idea and not the person. This explains why the narrators fear this man’s idea and not his reality as their neighbor and an old man. The action of by the girls also demonstrates how they do not care about the old animals though they complain about the old man because of the nature of vampire. In this story, it is observable that there are three levels of individuals in the society. The top most individuals represented by the old man, the middle represented by the