"The Stolen Party" Liliana Heker

If we lived in a perfect world, everyone would be equal, everyone would have the same prestige and we would all live in peace. Unfortunately, we do not live in such a world. In Liliana Heker's story, "The Stolen Party", we are reminded of the thin line that separates the lower class, the less fortunate, from the upper class, the "better people". In an instant, we see all the discrimination and inhumane treatment some people feel they have the right to inflict on those whom they consider "not one of them." The story is about Rosaura, the nine-year-old daughter of a woman who does housecleaning for a wealthy family. Rosaura often accompanies her mother to work and does her homework with Luciana, the daughter of the house. As a result, or so she thinks, Rosaura is Luciana's friend and has been invited to her birthday party. The first evidence we see which supports the claim that this story is about class structure, comes when Rosaura's mother, Herminia, says to her, "I don't like you going, it's a rich people's party." This lets the reader know that Herminia is aware of the ways of the world. When she tells her starry-eyed daughter who is full of hope and innocence that, "The problem with you, young lady, is that you like to fart higher than your ass," she's trying to convince Rosaura that she is shooting too far above her social station. She tries to explain to her daughter that the people will look at her as "the maid's daughter" and not as another person, but Rosaura is only nine and "one of the best in her class",and she feels that Luciana is her friend and that she has been invited to Luciana's party any other guest, as an equal. At this point in the story, Rosaura is unaware of discrimination in our society. This is confirmed when Rosaura says, "Rich people go to heaven too." The main idea conveyed here, is that adults recognize social boundaries which children do not see.

-1- Rosaura "wanted to go to that party more than anything else in the world." She feels