Stolen Party Essay, Research Paper
Stolen Party
The short story The Stolen Party , written by Liliana Heker, was a story about class differences between people viewed through the eyes of a young girl. The basic plot of the story is about a the maid s daughter, Rosaura, who goes to a party were she is used as a servant rather than just being a friend of the rich daughter. The author writes this story through the perspective of the maid s daughter and shows the differences between classes at the birthday party without the daughter realizing it. The class difference between the little girl Rosaura, is shown through symbolism between her and the magician s monkey at the birthday party. Much like the monkey, Rosaura is separated from the rest of the people at the party because she is not as wealthy and she is only the maid s daughter. Rosaura refuses to believe this at the beginning of the story and throughout the party. Rosaura finally realizes that she can not break through the classes when the truth is handed out to her by Luciana s mother at the end of the story.
This story points out the barriers that separate the different classes in our society. In the story, the author shows this point through symbolism between Rosaura and the monkey. Although Rosaura doesn t realize it, she and the monkey are being used for the same basic purpose at Luciana s birthday party. At the party, the monkey is there only to entertain the upper class children whether it wants to or not. Rosaura, like the monkey, is there for the same basic reason which is to serve the upper class children by serving them when they need something. When being compared to a monkey at the party, Rosaura is very similar to it when dealing with social classes. The monkey is separated by a cage which it can not break through, and all it can do is follow the orders given to it by the magician. Rosaura is also separated from the other children at the party by the barriers of social classes. Even though Rosaura thinks she is just a friend there she is only considered a servant by everyone else.
When being compared to a caged monkey, Rosaura is just like it by which she cannot break free out of her social class to a higher one, just like the monkey can t break out of its cage and be anything higher than it is. Rosaura s lower class is also shown at the
While pointing out the barriers between social classes the story shows how much different a child sees these barriers as opposed to an adult. Throughout the story there are many hints that shows how Rosaura was invited to the birthday party only to be used as a servant. Even though there are many suggestions that imply that Rosaura is being used as a servant, she considers herself an equal and refuses to believe the truth throughout the party. You are not a friend of Luciana because I m her cousin and I know all her friends. And I don t know you. This line out of the story shows how Luciana s cousin flat out told Rosaura that she was not there as a friend yet she still decided to not believe this. Other examples of hints that imply Rosaura is used as a servant would be her mother basically telling her what was going on at the beginning of the story. That one s not your friend. You know what you are to them! The maid s daughter, that s what. When reading this at the beginning of the story, it sounds like her mother is being mean but she was only telling the truth to her daughter which Rosaura discovered at the end of the story.
Rosaura though she was invited to a Luciana s birthday party because she was her friend but in contrast she was there as a servant. Rosaura was invited to the birthday for the same basic reason as the monkey was there which was to used at the expense of the upper class. Rosaura was so happy when she thought she was there as a friend, because of this she was very eager to help Senior Ines out but didn t realize she was being used a servant until she was handed money at the end of the party.
Works Cited
Liliana heker The Stolen Party 1982
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