Comparing Rosaura In Hecker's Stolen Party And Phase In Space

There is a common saying that looks can be deceiving, yet people still get themselves caught up with people who will hurt them in the long run. In both short stories, Rosaura in Liliana Hecker’s “Stolen Party” and Phase in Paul O’Neill’s “Phase in Space” are tricked by what they perceived the situation to be rather than really thinking about what was happening to them. Rosaura is the child of a servant that works for Senora Ines and eventually gets invited to a party, not thinking anything negative of it, while Phase is a man who gets lost in the jungle and a female tribe ends up finding him, and Phase goes with them thinking only optimistic thoughts. Rosaura and Phase both came from two different backgrounds and generations, but they experienced
While maintaining optimism, Rosaura believed that Luciana was her friend even though her family was less opulent than Luciana’s, meaning they were in two different social classes. Rosaura thought that because they “told each other secrets” in the kitchen and drank tea together, they were best friends (Hecker 1). However, Senora Ines had different intentions for Rosaura being at the party. She wanted her to work the party and help her with all the party chores, such as carrying “the jug of orange juice” around to all the other children there (Hecker 2). Even though Rosaura’s mother slightly knew that this would happen and gave intimations to Rosaura, the girl still thought that she was a real, genuine guest. Her beliefs were what made her joyful, and her mother was completely aware of that. Finally at the end, Rosaura came to par with the truth when Senora Ines “rummaged in her purse” for two bills (Hecker 5). When it comes to Phase, his positive beliefs made him the same person Rosaura ended up becoming, a servant, working for
When Rosaura was first invited to the party, she thought it would be “ ‘the most lovely party in the whole world’ ” because Luciana believed that it would be (Hecker 1). She was so excited to be invited and be a part of the scene. Regardless of the fact that “Rosaura won the sack race” and that when “they played tag” she was the fastest, she was not entirely treated as well as the rest of the invited children (Hecker 3). She truly believed that she was really someone who Luciana wanted in her life and that she finally had friends that appreciated her, but instead Senora Ines, at the end of the party, made Rosaura question what went on that whole entire day. Rosaura let her happiness become bereft by someone who she truly respected, and that was what hurt her the most. In Phase’s case, he was nonchalant about all that was going on around him in the beginning. However, after realizing what had happened to him, he was starting to regret ever following those women. He was absolutely not looking forward to “looking after [the children]” the rest of his life (O’Neill 1). His cockiness in the beginning of the story triggered him to thinking that he would be the one “to help with the whole ‘having children’ thing” and led him to be completely deceived in the end (O’Neill 1). Phase did not think that these women were horrible