Aristizabal
Brandon Aristizabal
Rebecca Cisneros-Diaz
English 1B
West Valley College
April 21, 2015.
From Gender are we Created
In the short story by Isabel Allende, “And of Clay Are We Created,” Allende tells
and illustrates a story of a small Colombian village that is destroyed by dangerous
mudslides. In this short story, there is a young, 13 year old girl named Azucena who gets
trapped in the mud from the mudslide, but is still alive. A man, who is portrayed as a
courageous, brave and daring man, named Rolph, finds Azucena trapped in the mud and
he dedicates himself to saving this young girl from the sinking mud. Rolph is a TV
reporter, and in his broadcast he is shown in his journey to save this young girl who is
portrayed as innocent and weak. Rolph stays with Azucena for three days until it was too
late to save her. He would speak to her and comfort her, hoping to be able to save her
from death. As they spoke together, we come to learn much about Rolph and his past
experiences in his life. He lived a dark and hectic life in his younger years, and like
Azucena, being trapped in the mud, he felt trapped in his life. Despite the gender
differences between Rolph and Azucena and the way they are portrayed by their gender,
we come to learn that they are both quite similar, as they have suffered tragic losses in
their lives.
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Aristizabal
At young ages, both Rolph and Azucena suffered tragic losses. Rolph and his
sister, Katharina, were abused by their father and would, “Punish for imagined
misbehavior by whipping them and locking them in rooms, and their mother did nothing
to stop him” (Allende 256). They had to take care of themselves from a young age,
because no one would take care of them. He lived a tragic and difficult young life, and
everything came crashing down on him when he lost his beloved little sister. Azucena
suffered a similar life in her young age. Her parents were naïve and would not listen to
the to warnings of the mudslides. They were a poor farmer family and were unable to
protect Azucena and her siblings from the mudslide and ultimately, their death. Both
Rolph and Azucena suffered a difficult situation from their family, having difficult
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