In Isabel Allende's "And of Clay Are We Created" the author tells of a girl named Azucena and a man named Rolf and their encounter while she lodged in mud after a mudslide triggered by a volcanic eruption. During this story, the reader learns of an inner struggle that Rolf has about his experiences during WWII in a concentration camp. Allende is said to have written this story because she was touched by a real-life event that included the corpse of a thirteen year old victim of a volcanic eruption. While this story includes details about loss and moving on, the most prominent theme throughout is the loss of innocence for the main characters.
The story for the most part is told by Eva Luna, Rolf's longtime companion. She is observing his experience from the home that they share and also from the studio that broadcasts his reports. She narrates a change that she sees take place in him as he observes Azucena stuck in the mud and then her eventual passing. She watches as he internally struggles with his need to help this poor girl. As Rolf and Azucena develop a relationship there in the mud, the narration changes to the internal thoughts that Rolf has. The girl's struggle causes him to remember his experiences at the concentration camp, his mother and how he had seen her "naked, shod in stiletto-heeled red boots, sobbing with humiliation." (Allende 1229). He realizes his whole life has been a way of keeping himself busy so as to occupy his mind enough not to think of his past.
Azucena's character is not developed very much in this story, but her reactions certainly do not seem as though she is a mere 13 years old. Yes, she cries, but what person wouldn't when faced with being up to your neck in mud? On the evening of the second day, Azucena says to Rolf, "Don't cry. I don't hurt anymore. I'm fine." (Allende 1230). She is suddenly the comforter and he the comforted.
Lastly, Eva Luna concludes the story with her thoughts about how Rolf is now that he has remembered his past and lives it everyday. Their relationship is changed now, he is not the same person as he was before those days he spent in the mud. She looks forward to the day he will come back to her and she waits patiently.
This story relates a story of the loss of innocence for each of the characters. Rolf remembers his days in the concentration camp and sees himself in Azucena. He sees his life being changed by tragedy just as hers is in that very moment. He likens her predicament to his own plot in life, being stuck. Azucena cannot be pulled from her casket of mud because the arms of those she loves are wrapped around her lower limbs. She gives up trying to be free because she knows that it is for naught. Eva Luna longs for the man she knew before the eruption, longs for the happiness of their relationship before his awakening to his past. This story would not have been created without the loss of innocence of these characters, a young boy forced to grow up and dig graves for concentration camp victims, a young girl forced to give up her life to the mud, and a life companion that has lost the innocence of her love affair.
The story for the most part is told by Eva Luna, Rolf's longtime companion. She is observing his experience from the home that they share and also from the studio that broadcasts his reports. She narrates a change that she sees take place in him as he observes Azucena stuck in the mud and then her eventual passing. She watches as he internally struggles with his need to help this poor girl. As Rolf and Azucena develop a relationship there in the mud, the narration changes to the internal thoughts that Rolf has. The girl's struggle causes him to remember his experiences at the concentration camp, his mother and how he had seen her "naked, shod in stiletto-heeled red boots, sobbing with humiliation." (Allende 1229). He realizes his whole life has been a way of keeping himself busy so as to occupy his mind enough not to think of his past.
Azucena's character is not developed very much in this story, but her reactions certainly do not seem as though she is a mere 13 years old. Yes, she cries, but what person wouldn't when faced with being up to your neck in mud? On the evening of the second day, Azucena says to Rolf, "Don't cry. I don't hurt anymore. I'm fine." (Allende 1230). She is suddenly the comforter and he the comforted.
Lastly, Eva Luna concludes the story with her thoughts about how Rolf is now that he has remembered his past and lives it everyday. Their relationship is changed now, he is not the same person as he was before those days he spent in the mud. She looks forward to the day he will come back to her and she waits patiently.
This story relates a story of the loss of innocence for each of the characters. Rolf remembers his days in the concentration camp and sees himself in Azucena. He sees his life being changed by tragedy just as hers is in that very moment. He likens her predicament to his own plot in life, being stuck. Azucena cannot be pulled from her casket of mud because the arms of those she loves are wrapped around her lower limbs. She gives up trying to be free because she knows that it is for naught. Eva Luna longs for the man she knew before the eruption, longs for the happiness of their relationship before his awakening to his past. This story would not have been created without the loss of innocence of these characters, a young boy forced to grow up and dig graves for concentration camp victims, a young girl forced to give up her life to the mud, and a life companion that has lost the innocence of her love affair.
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