The world is made up of a population of superficial people. What matters and is appreciated in society is not how one behaves, but above all one's financial position or social class. The difference in treatment between these different classes is what inspired Liliana Heker to write The Stolen Party, a short story published in 1982. The story follows the young daughter of a maid, Rosaura, and as she learns through experience the reality regarding her position social. After much discussion, Rosaura's mother allows her to attend her rich friend Luciana's birthday party, despite knowing the consequences of her leaving. At the party, Rosaura believes she is being treated special, with Señora Ines giving her jobs that she wouldn't trust other children to do. She later realizes, however, that she was not invited to the party as a guest, but as a worker. No matter to others how well she behaves, since she is the maid's daughter, she will never receive the same level of respect or treatment from those of the upper class. Through the use of symbolism and conflict, Heker's short story The Stolen Party reveals the influence of social class on the treatment one receives and demonstrates how a person's outward appearance influences the types of relationships they will encounter. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay First, Heker uses symbolism to demonstrate the effect of one's social class on the treatment they receive. For example, throughout the story, the significance of the monkey to Rosaura is made clear to the reader by the constant mention of the animal. The symbolism of the monkey and the magician represents the idea of servant and master respectively. This idea is used as a metaphor to describe the relationship between Rosaura and Luciana's mother, Señora Ines. To explain, while the magician performs his tricks, the monkey is called his "partner". The monkey is forced to obey the magician's every command, acting as his servant. For comparison, at the end of the party before Rosaura leaves, Señora Ines does not give Rosaura a gift. Instead, he hands her two bills, stating that "[she] really earned this, [...] [thanking] [her] for all [her] help, [referring to her as] [his] pet "(Heker 5). At the party, Señora Ines orders Rosaura to perform some tasks, such as cutting the cake for the guests. Although it seems like a privilege at first, it later turns out that this was due to the fact that Rosaura had not attended the party as a guest but as a worker. Furthermore, the significance of Señora Ines rewarding Rosaura with money depicts communication problems due to social class. It is alleged that Ms. Ines did not actively behave rudely to Rosaura when she “rifled through her bag. [and] in his hand appeared two banknotes” (Heker 5), but because of the differences between the classes, he assumes that those of the lower class want nothing more than money. For those belonging to the highest social class, money is the solution to every problem. It is the guilt and inequality of social class that leads Rosaura to be treated the way she is in the story. Furthermore, the conflicts that Rosaura faces and the resulting relationships she encounters are the cause of the differences between social classes. For example, during the party, a blonde girl with a bow, present as a guest at the party, approaches Rosaura, asking her who she is. The naive Rosaura responds by claiming to be a friend of Luciana. However, the blonde girl with the bow is not convinced because “[she is] his cousin and [she] [knows] all his friends. And [she] [does] not know [Rosaura]” (Heker 2)..
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