The Stolen Party by Liliana Heker

I recently read an incredible story The Stolen Party by Liliana Heker that I looked at from two different lenses. The Stolen Party is a story about a maid’s daughter named Rosaura who gets invited to her mother’s boss’ daughter’s party and thinks everything is going to go well. At first, it does and Rosaura has fun. However, in the end, instead of getting a gift, Rosaura receives money and suddenly realizes she was just invited to help. I looked at the story through the lenses word choice and power. I ended up coming up with some pretty interesting thoughts. For word choice, I thought that Rosaura just wanted to be a normal girl and she’s fragile. When I looked at power, I thought that Senora Ines had the power.

Some of the words I found when I was looking for word choice were horribly ashamed, odd one out, my pet, never completed, stiffen, instinctively, cold, clear, slightest change, shatter, and infinitely delicate balance. I looked carefully and came up with the idea that Rosaura just wants to be a normal girl and be a simple guest of the party. Rosaura symbolizes a frame of glass and when Senora Ines gives her money instead of a bracelet, Senora Ines shatters the glass, Rosaura. In the last sentence, Senora Ines doesn’t move or pull back her arm after Rosaura steps back and doesn’t accept the money, because she thinks she will shatter the infinitely delicate balance. However, she doesn’t already know she has.

I, also, looked at the story through the point of view of power. I thought Senora Ines had the most power. I think this because Senora Ines calls Rosaura her pet and tricked Rosaura during the party into doing orders by giving excuses like “You know the house the best.” In the end, Rosaura resists by stepping back, not accepting the money, and giving Senora Ines a cold, clear look. I think Senora Ines has the most power in the end, however, because she doesn’t drop her arm or move. This shows that she wants the last say or that she shows respect to Rosaura by dropping her arm.

This connects to the real world because people manipulate others into doing things. Others don’t realize it until the end and usually feel disrespected. I think Rosaura felt this way, too. The Stolen Party by Liliana Heker reminds me of Fox by Margaret Wild because the fox manipulated Magpie into leaving dog. All in all, I loved The Stolen Party and observed it in many different ways.