Isabel Allende’s The Gold of Tomas Vargas and Clarissa: A Review
The Gold of Tomas Vargas and Clarissa
Almost anywhere in the world, one would agree that family is one of the most important aspects of life. In Chilean author Isabel Allende’s short stories’ The Gold of Tomas Vargas and Clarissa, these values and roles are shown through her unique style and her feminist touch. The comparative analysis of the two stories reveals Allende challenging the traditional roles of men in Chilean culture. Because of the patriarchal society, men have the role of supporting their family and some feel the need to break off and distance them self from family life. Despite Tomas Vargas’ “rich” lifestyle, “his children went hungry and his wife wore rags”. The comparison between his children and his partner both suffering emphasizes Tomas’ carelessness and suggests he is wasting his money elsewhere, not supporting his family. Not turning out the way Diego Cienfuegos had wanted his life to be, “used the pretext of his retarded children to wallow in shame.” The cacophonous diction “pretext” is revealing Diego is lying about the reason he lives in pity and it suggests the truth is not yet revealed. To further mistreat his children, Tomas “refused to pay the fees for their schooling”. His disregard to education implies the detachment of Tomas to his family and highlights his harsh attitude through the bitter diction of the word “refused”, suggesting he would not even consider helping his kids get schooling. Without the support of her husband, Clarissa “often asked herself who would look after them [children] when she was gone.” Even though Diego is physically near his family, his wife cannot fathom the thought of reaching out to him and asking him to watch his kids for her, making it obvious that Diego has been isolating himself from his children and loved one for a long period of time. Although Chilean men have a mighty role in family life, some can slip under and end up being absent from their family and supporting them mentally and
Almost anywhere in the world, one would agree that family is one of the most important aspects of life. In Chilean author Isabel Allende’s short stories’ The Gold of Tomas Vargas and Clarissa, these values and roles are shown through her unique style and her feminist touch. The comparative analysis of the two stories reveals Allende challenging the traditional roles of men in Chilean culture. Because of the patriarchal society, men have the role of supporting their family and some feel the need to break off and distance them self from family life. Despite Tomas Vargas’ “rich” lifestyle, “his children went hungry and his wife wore rags”. The comparison between his children and his partner both suffering emphasizes Tomas’ carelessness and suggests he is wasting his money elsewhere, not supporting his family. Not turning out the way Diego Cienfuegos had wanted his life to be, “used the pretext of his retarded children to wallow in shame.” The cacophonous diction “pretext” is revealing Diego is lying about the reason he lives in pity and it suggests the truth is not yet revealed. To further mistreat his children, Tomas “refused to pay the fees for their schooling”. His disregard to education implies the detachment of Tomas to his family and highlights his harsh attitude through the bitter diction of the word “refused”, suggesting he would not even consider helping his kids get schooling. Without the support of her husband, Clarissa “often asked herself who would look after them [children] when she was gone.” Even though Diego is physically near his family, his wife cannot fathom the thought of reaching out to him and asking him to watch his kids for her, making it obvious that Diego has been isolating himself from his children and loved one for a long period of time. Although Chilean men have a mighty role in family life, some can slip under and end up being absent from their family and supporting them mentally and