Rebecca Cisneros-Diaz
English 1B
West Valley College
April 21, 2015.
From Gender are we Created In the short story by Isabel Allende, “And of Clay Are We Created,” Allende tells and illustrates a story of a small Colombian village that is destroyed by dangerous mudslides. In this short story, there is a young, 13 year old girl named Azucena who gets trapped in the mud from the mudslide, but is still alive. A man, who is portrayed as a courageous, brave and daring man, named Rolph, finds Azucena trapped in the mud and he dedicates himself to saving this young girl from the sinking mud. Rolph is a TV reporter, and in his broadcast he is shown in his journey to save this young girl who is portrayed as innocent and weak. …show more content…
While he stays and talks with her, we come to learn much about the side of Rolph that society would not expect from him. Trying to pull Azucena out of the mud, he hurts her more as he pulls. He was going to need a water pump to get her out without hurting her. He promises Azucena that they will get her out of the sinking mud and that she would live. The speaker emphasizes, “Despite the quality of the transmission, I could hear his voice break, and I love him more than ever” (Azucena 251). Despite Rolph being a courageous and brave man that he is portrayed as, the way his voice breaks shows that the way society portrays the “Man Box” to be can be false. He worries and feels sadness for Azucena, something that the “Man Box” would not portray for this brave, courageous man. Rolph began to explain to Azucena about his sister and how he lost her at a young age. He felt ashamed of himself and cowardly for not protecting his sister from her abusive father. He confesses all his secrets and emotions from his past and begins to cry. Another thing that societies “Man Box” would deem as weak, feminine and unmanly. After losing Azucena, Rolph became ill, sad and depressed. It seemed as if he couldn’t bear to live with himself for losing his sister and now Azucena. Rolph’s portrayed life changed throughout the story from being a brave, courageous and daring man whom society would never define as “weak,” to someone who we learned to have a deep, emotional life that would break this “man box” that society portrays on