Clay Are Created

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The short story “And of Clay Are We Created,” written by Isabel Allende, has a strong emotional effect on the reader. Because of the imagery and desperate voice Allende portrays, the reader can realize how emotional some situations turn out to be, but in different ways than expected. The story is of a girl, Azucena, who is trapped in a mire after a volcano eruption. A reporter, Rolf Carlé, stays with her, even though they both know help is far away. While staying with Azucena, Rolf comes to terms with his past by realizing how his sister resembles Azucena being stuck without help. Allende uses strong imagery to portray the hopelessness of this girl’s life. The beginning of the story mentions an “...odor of death...” (Allende 232). This smell, along with “...the stench of corpses.” (Allende 234), is something that the reader can bring into the story and imagine theirself. For most readers, this smell is unimaginable and brings the …show more content…

This line shows ambiguity because the reader can imagine a few different scenarios. For example, the reader may be able to see her brothers and sisters physically holding her as they sit underneath her in the mire. On the other hand, the reader may interpret this as the emotional bond between Azucena’s brothers and sisters that is holding her in the mire. The memories and emotional connection that comes with having these siblings may be holding her down, where she doesn’t want to live without her siblings. Either way, both bring a strong emotional value because their siblings were with her emotionally and physically. The emotional effect on the reader in “And of Clay Are We Created” is due to Allende’s writing. Allende uses words and phrases to have the reader imagine a hopeless and horrific scenario. The short life of Azucena is noted and foreshadowed throughout the story because of the strong

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