"The Stolen Party" by Liliana Heker is a short story that is very powerful and moving. In the beginning, Rosaura pleads with her mother to let her go to the 'rich people's party' because her friend Luciana invited her. She went and Senora Ines asked her to help her with a few things. And when it was time to go, she got paid. That broke her heart. I thought that was very cruel because in her mind she was supposed to get a gift like everyone else but instead she felt cheated.
I found the significance of the monkey and the magician very interesting. The monkey was mentioned alot of times. In lines 35 to 40, "He's in the kitchen...carefully she entered the kitchen and there she saw it; deep in thought, inside its cage." I believe that Rosaura is like the monkey in the story, she feels trapped in a cage of her own, between society's norms. And the Magician is more like Senora Ines, In lines 84, it says "and the monkey was his assistant. He called the monkey partner...don't run away, partner, time to work now." She was tricking Rosaura by asking her to help out and working in the party. Especially in the end when Senora Ines handed over the money she says "thank you for all your help my pet". (L 136).
So Rosaura in a way was Senora Ines "pet". You could see how hurt Rosaura was when she realized her mom was right. Society will always see her and her mother as maids or lower class. And that really sad. It reminds me of whats happening right now with the ban of Muslims. Not all Muslims are terrorists but soo many people are listening into the stereotype. Just because a couple people make some bad choices, it is wrong to blame a whole religion on terrorist attacks. Just like Rosaura feels caged in, the Muslims also feel trapped on what to do and unsafe. What are your thought on this?
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