And of Clay Are We Created Critique - Essay Example

“And of Clay Are We Created”. The Story of Great Sorrow and Tragedy. The last story in the collection “The Stories of Eva Luna” by Isabel Allende is based on a real event. The author’s purpose for which this story was written is to show the indifference of nature and sometimes even human`s nature to suffering. It is dedicated to Omayra Sanchez, who was a young victim of the earthquake in Colombia of the 1985. She was “buried in mud up to her armpits in the rubble of her house and the bodies of her family”(De Zapata 76).This day was a real tragedy of Colombia, it had brought lives over 20,000 people, in spite of the nearby cities, buried in mud, lava and ice. The Nevado del Ruiz is volcano situated in the north-central part of the country. Historically, “various eruptions caused the formation of large mudflows in the valleys beneath the volcano” (“Volcano erupts in Colombia” web). The population of human beings is growing, so when the Nevado del Ruiz was not erupting for a long time, they started to equip land in their own purposes. Some months passed and volcano “woke up”. A lot of scientific and geologic groups from different places of the world were invited to study the situation. They strongly recommended evacuating the area, considering the eruption was possible, but there words, unfortunately, were ignored. And as a result the following November gave an unpleasant surprise with “eruption of steam and ash” (“Volcano erupts in Colombia” web). The town was suffered from ice and rocks, which went cascading it. The researchers say the major eruption has happened on November 13, but later on November, 14 in the morning some more powerful eruptions happened. Journals wrote then that “lava flowed out of the crater, melting the glacial ice surrounding it and causing massive mudslides” (“Volcano erupts in Colombia” web). On the way of the disaster the town of Chinchina was the first object. Statistics says that more than 1000 people were dead in the village and the city of Armero had felt the most awful destruction. People were instructed not to live their homes by many radio reports and as a result “close to 20,000 people were buried and killed by the slide”. Although the volcanic eruption on occurred in Colombia in 1985 is the base for "And of clay are we created", Allende does not clearly determine the date of the story and location, where it is set. Like the other works in the “Stories of Eva Luna”, the reader is given the idea it is happening somewhere in Latin America and the timeline is near the 1980-s. This decade was not time of peace and prosperity for Latin America. It was a region of very low balance in the political aspect during this period. Military dictators were controlling a lot of countries, for example, Panama, Argentina, and Grenada. In Colombia armed sources accused the government in corruption and hundreds of people were killed. “And of clay are we created” was very important to the author. Here is an abstract of one of the interviews made by Marilyn Berlin Snel, where Allende is explaining that the fact of eruption of volcano was the basis for her short story, including her own journalist`s experience, “this story really occurred. In 1985, we saw her on every television screen in the world, the face of Omaira Sanchez, one of the thousands of victims of Colombia’s Nevado Ruiz volcanic eruption. The black eyes of that girl have haunted me.... She is telling me something. She is talking to me about patience, about endurance, about courage.”(Allende) “And of clay are we created” by Isabel Allende is the story of a reporter whose task is to make report about the disastrous mudslide. His name is Rolf Carlé and his specialization and celebrity are in the themes of combats and catastrophes. He is sent to cover the rescue of a young girl who trapped in a mudslide. The story is pointing he can`t save his reporter’s objectivity, he joins the girl and is staying with her until she dies. He is talking to girl, remembering his own suffering in youth, which he had hidden for many years. The following actions, the reader is watching by the narrator`s eyes on television. The principal conflict of the story is how Rolf is coping and fighting with his past. He was “never suspecting that he would find a fragment of his past, lost thirty years before.” (“And of Clay Are We Created” 248) He was “locked” with the history of his childhood, hidden deeply in his memory and no one had access to it. The situation unlocks it, returning old memories, when Rolf and Azucena were talking. When “most secret layers of memory poured out” (“And of Clay Are We Created” 256) he felt he is getting free of what was blocking him. He tries to reanimate his memories in the way how he could but did not act. Like Azucena, he was in the trap and all he did – all his bravery - was concentrated on how to get out of this trap. Rolf realized that this girl was at that moment the closest person to him in the world, meaning, emotionally. Three days passed, the protagonists were already exhausted. The president came to talk to girl; he called her “an example to the nation” and promised to help, to send a pump. A pump is found only on the third night and at the same night the girl died, both Azucena and Rolf had already given up receiving hope, they understood the inevitability of death. This pump was not introduced by the author “for fun”. It acts as a symbol of true lack of understanding and care of human beings in suffering. Let`s pay attention at the following part: “In the meanwhile, more television and movie teams arrived with spools of cable, tapes, film, videos, precision lenses, recorders, sound consoles, lights, reflecting screens, auxiliary motors, cartons of supplies, electricians, sound technicians, and cameramen: Azucenas face was beamed to millions of screens around the world. And all the while Rolf Carle kept pleading for a pump” (“And of Clay Are We Created” 255). Humanity has invented so many technical devices, but they can`t save a life of one little girl. The atmosphere of the story “And of Clay Are We Created” is very sad. It is written with pathos, if we remember the origin of this word – “suffering, feeling” – we will agree that exactly this we see in this story, which is evoking feeling of sorrow for the people`s lack of care for each other in a crisis. Works Cited Isabel Allende “And of Clay Are We Created”, 1989. “Volcano erupts in Colombia and buries nearby towns”, www.history.com Nov 14, 1985. Web. Correas de Zapata, Celia&MargaretSayers. Isabel Allende: Life and Spirits. Arte Público, 2002. Print. Read More