Magnificence Narrative Report free essay sample

I chose the short story written by Estrella Alfon entitled â€Å"magnificence†, because of it contains a lot of symbolisms in which some of the things, characters, as well as the scenarios have meanings beyond the obvious. One of the used symbols is the light. The light plays a major role in the story and even to the characterization of Vicente. The readers first encounter with Vicente, he was â€Å"standing for a while just beyond the pool of light, his feet in the circle of illumination, the rest him in shadow. We get a picture here that Vicente is peeping or spying and seems to have some hidden agenda. Also, the lights significance was also important in the later part of the story when the mother slapped him out of the house. The mother, as she drove the man away seemed to be bringing him back to the darkness, to the shadows where he really came from. We will write a custom essay sample on Magnificence Narrative Report or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Another one are the pencils. It was said that during those times colorful pencils were a hit. And so giving the kids these pencils are forms of bribe so that Vicente could get along with the kids well and they would not doubt him. The jumbo pencil with white lead given to the little girl somehow symbolizes a man’s organ. In the story, Vicente was taking advantage or abusing the little girl and maybe he was imagining that it was his own as the little girl uses the jumbo pencil. The author has described the major characters of the story contrastively. At the first part of the story, the mother was depicted with eyes that held pride, and maternal gloating she exhibited. She was negatively described in the first parts whereas on the later part, when he had drove Vicente away from their house, she was described as a protective and loving mother to her children. When the mother reached her, the woman held her hand out to the child. On the other hand, there was a big contrast between the mother and Vicente in the way that they were described. Vicente was described more feminine and gentler than the mother in the first part of the story. †¦his voice soft, his manners†¦slow. He retained being lower or inferior than the mother throughout the story especially when she started to slap him repetitively. He made no resistance, offered no defense. The judgment of the two completely diverse characters in the story obviously shows the twofold antagonism not only with their gender but also with their major individuality. The woman seemed to be more masculine and more antagonistic than Vicente and even through the sheer differences in their descriptions. We acquire a good judgment that the mother is more powerful than him divergent to common prejudices that man must be more authoritative than women. The author has somehow exhibited omniscient point of view because she sees the happenings, knows everything, and tells what the story is suppose to be. More-over, it is in a context-based interpretation since the text itself or the reader can inform context-based interpretation. The reader could remark that it has a feminist criticism since it includes issues about child and woman abuse and how Vicente has underestimated the power of a woman and a mother. The story also shows a feminist criticism when the mother protected her child from Vicente through slapping his face until he was sent out from their house and sturdily asked him to never come back. For the theme of the short story, she went against the misapprehension that men are more powerful than women and the mother in the story was not afraid instead, she gathered all her might, slapped Vicente repetitively and drove him away from their house. She did not only prove her greatness as a mother but also as a woman.