An Analysis of Liliana Heker’s “The Stolen Party” Innocence is a precious gift that we all have at some point. In Liliana Heker’s ‘The Stolen Party’, Rosaura experiences a loss of innocence after attending her friend Luciana’s birthday party. Before the party, Rosaura is unaware of her social standing and she believes has been invited as a friend. Her innocent attitude is amplified while at the party when she demonstrates a sense of superiority towards the other guests. By the end of the party, however, her innocence is shattered when she realizes the differences that exist as a result of her social class.
As a result of her experience at the party Rosaura changes from a naive girl and learns that she cannot cross the line from lower class to upper class. Therefore, Heker demonstrates that one’s experience inevitably lead to a loss of innocence. Before the party, Rosaura is innocent and naive because she does not understand the limitations of her social class. After being invited to Luciana’s birthday, Rosaura is under the impression that she is going as a guest and friend; however, her mother, suggest otherwise. Rosaura tries to convince her mother that she is being unreasonable and insists “rich people to heaven too” (Heker 1).
Here, Rosaura demonstrates her ignorance by indicating that she believes both classes are equal. Furthermore, Rosaura continues to argue with her mother and persists that Luciana’s friendship is genuine Rosaura rudely exclaims, “I’ve been invited because Luciana is my friend. So there! (1)” Despite, her mother’s life experience, Rosaura exemplifies her naivety by stating that she knows more about friendship than her mother. Once again, Rosaura clearly dismisses the division between her class and Luciana’s. Finally, after Rosaura’s mother attempts to explain that Rosaura is simply “the maid’s daughter” Rosaura angrily yells, “Shut up!
You know nothing about being friends” (1). Rosaura further reveals her innocence by arrogantly thinking that she knows better than her mother and refuses to acknowledge the harsh truth. To summarize, Rosaura’s attitude before the party indicates her naivety and innocence toward the social separation of the upper and lower classes. Throughout Luciana’s party, Rosaura’s innocence increases another level as she feels superior to the other guests. To begin with, when Rosaura enters the house one of the first things she does is ask Luciana about the monkey.
Luciana tells her that the monkey is hidden in the kitchen and, “Rosaura was the only one allowed in the kitchen. Senora Ines had said: ‘you, yes but not the others they’re much too boisterous, they might break something. ’ ” (1) At this point, Rosaura feels more privileged than the other guests due to the fact that she is the only guest allowed to see the monkey in the kitchen. Rosaura is blinded by her naivety and does recognise that the only reason why she is allowed in the kitchen is because she will be taking things in and out of the kitchen.
Despite not acknowledging her true purpose at the party, Rosaura supposes she is still a friend to Luciana. She believes this is the case especially when, “they split into two teams to play charades, all the boys wanted her for their side. Rosaura felt she had never been so happy in her life. ” (Heker 2) This moment defines her innocence because she begins to feels she is of higher rank than the other girls considering that the boys only want her on their team because she is good at sports.
Furthermore, Rosaura begins to feel a bit over- confident when she undertakes a task that the other guests cannot. Especially when the fat boy is not able to hold the monkey but Rosaura, “she wasn’t afraid. Neither holding the monkey, nor when the magician made him vanish…” (Heker 3) Again, she feels better than the other guest specifically fat boy because she is able to hold the monkey while the fat boy was frightened by it. Therefore, Rosaura’s lack of knowledge leads her to believing she is more privileged than the other guests.
As Luciana’s festivities come to an end, Rosaura’s innocence takes a turn as she becomes aware of the massive division between the rich and poor. By the end of the party, Rosaura feels that she was an amazing guest and did well when helping out. When every child prepares to leave, Senora Ines gives them either a bracelet for a girl or a yo-yo for a boy. Because Rosaura was a perfect guest, she believes she should get both and waits patiently as the “fat-boy” is given a yo-yo. It turns out, Rosaura gets neither.
Senora Ines gets two bills and says as she hands them over, “Thank you for your help, my pet. ” (Heker 4) When Senora Ines says this, she makes Rosaura feel like she was used. Not only does she feel used, but also singled out. Being called “my pet” signifies that Rosaura is to Senora Ines what the monkey is to the magician or worse. This is when Rosaurs discovers she was not invited as a guest. She begins to comprehend what her mother had told her earlier as, “[She] felt her arms stiffen, stick close to her body, and then she noticed her mother’s hand on her shoulder.
“(Heker 4) At this point, the truth is revealed and Rosaura feels horrible. All that time, she’d thought Luciana was her good friend, but to Senora Ines, it seemed different. Despite the emotion clearly displayed on Rosaura’s face, “Senora Ines, motionless, stood there with her hand stretched out. As if she didn’t dare draw back. As if the slightest change might shatter an indefinitely delicate balance. “(Heker 4) As Senora Ines tries to give the money to Rosaura, Rosaura refuses to lift her arm up to take it.
Rosaura does not find that there should be a line between the two classes whereas if Senora Ines takes her arm back, she might let the lower class believe they are the same, which she does not want to do. Rosaura grasps the meaning of everything she’s done and the warning her mother had given her earlier. The truth is that Rosaura will not be as innocent as before because of the experiences she chose to go through. In conclusion, Heker depicts that as a result of Rosaura’s experience at the party, she learns that there is a line between the social classes that she will never be allowed to cross.
Before attending the party, Rosaura is very innocent, and does not realize the difference between her world and Luciana’s world. The innocence continues during the party, where Rosaura feels a sense of superiority over the other guests when she is given special privileges from Senora Ines. Finally her innocence is destroyed at the end of the party when she uncovers the truth about the limitations of her social position. However, at the end of the day, one’s experiences always lead to the loss of their innocence.
