Uncle Apolonio Character Analysis

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Round characters are people that change and grow throughout a literary work. The author provides many details in order to fully develop and change the character. An example of a round character is Luisa from “The Shunammite”, written by Inés Arredondo. Luisa is a teenage girl who goes to care for her dying Uncle Apolonio. While she is at his house, some lewd events take place. These incidents alter her life and she experiences a complete change from who she was at the beginning of her last youthful summer (391). While these changes could have come through less corruptive experiences, she was overall changed for the better from the person that she started as. Before Luisa went to care for Apolonio, she could be described as several things, specifically arrogant, cocky, and attention loving. Her arrogance is evidenced when she stated “I was certain of having the power to dominate [the] passions of others” (392), particularly the desires of men. Her conceitedness stems from her good looks and confident appearance. She knew that others would slightly fear her because of her appearance, saying “my haughty modesty forced them to barely nod at me, full of respect” (392). She was full of cockiness, and she used her abilities to attract men to her advantage. She said that “Men’s sly glances slid over my body without soiling it…[they …show more content…

She also viewed herself in a new way. Before. She was arrogant and confident in her appearance, and knew that she was attractive (392). However, after spending many years caring for the man who had violated her for his own pleasure, she now saw herself as “the vilest of harlots” (398). This new version of Luisa is self-loathing, which differs greatly from the conceited version of herself that she started as. The readers can also imply that Luisa no longer loves attention. She believed that she was the worst of the worse, and she said that she was “alone, a sinner” (398).

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