Trapped (Analysis of Pilar in the Corral)

In the society today, more often than not, it is the men who has control over things. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they are better than the women but this has just been the case for the longest time that it has already become a tradition or part of the culture. When a man likes a woman, for example, he has the option to show this to her or initiate something for their relationship to develop. On the other hand, when it is the woman who likes a man, she has to wait for the man to like her also before she can show her affection to him. This control of men over certain things doesn’t just apply to love or relationships. It also applies in a lot of other situations like in the family etc. In the story “The Corral” by Edith Tiempo, we see a woman named Pilar who struggles in her life because her decisions are bounded by the people around her and this culture of being conservative for the women in her society.

In the story, it doesn’t directly say that Pilar is attracted to Gregorio, a man who is introduced as a relatively handsome and hardworking guy, an alpha male, but it is quite obvious that she is interested in him on the basis of her actions towards the man. After their first meeting, she asks Elmo, their servant child, some questions about the man and also talks about him in some instances. “That man Gregorio, where is he taking all that firewood?” (Tiempo). She also watched closely as Gregorio stretched after eating and left him additional water before she went on in their second meeting in the grove. However, even though Pilar is interested in Gregorio, she is unable to show him much about this affection. In their second meeting. she tries her best to conceal her liking of the man by not throwing herself at him and keeping her silence until Gregorio starts talking because a woman who is too showy is badly looked upon in her society. In their second meeting also, it is noticeable that it is Gregorio, the man, and not Pilar who starts up the conversation