And Of Clay Are We Created Summary

Isabel Allende’s “And Of Clay Are We Created” tells the story of a man that comes across a teenage girl who allows him to confront his past and achieve self-discovery. In the valley, the townspeople underestimate the trembling of the volcano nearby and avoid its warnings. Unfortunately, the volcano erupts and the towns are rapidly demolished leaving many people injured and buried alive. Rolf Carle, a reporter, is called to report the devastating consequences the volcano left behind and discovers a young girl named Azucena. Several people are standing alongside trying to help, but Rolf himself steps in to save her. He experiments with different possibilities, but quickly realizes that the only way to free her is through the use of a pump. Until

It is not only formulated with internal conflict within Rolf, but also external conflict from the incident of Azucena. The primary conflict of the story is caused by the eruption of the volcano leaving Azucena trapped in the midst of the rubble from the volcano and what she had known of her town. This external conflict revolves around the concept of man vs. nature. On the other hand, Rolf himself is experiencing self conflict as he battles through with his emotions of remembering his childhood. The mud pit in which Azucena is trapped inside of has brought Rolf into a vulnerable situation where he remembers the days when his younger sister, Katharina, was still with him. Azucena’s pain reminded Rolf about the same pain his little sister dealt with as well as brought back memories about his ignorant parents. The struggles that Rolf is not able to deal with himself are forced onto him in front of the cameras where everyone is watching. Eventually, the realization of his pain allowed him and the narrator to recognize that he was more than just a reporter. “... finally he was vulnerable. The girl had touched a part of him that he himself had no access to, a part he had never shared with me” (Allende