The Stolen Party

     In the story The Stolen Party by Liliana Heker, the topic of power is focused on immensely, and it is taken beyond the obvious layer of simple social rankings. The story is about Rosaura, the daughter of a maid who works for Senora Ines, a rich woman. When Senora Ines has a birthday party for her daughter Luciana, Rosaura is invited, but not for the reasons she first thinks. The three principal characters: Rosaura, Senora Ines, and Rosaura's mom, each have a unique amount of power, and they often resist each other's power as well. Rosaura thinks she has power, but because of her naivety and altogether oblivion, she actually has more power than meets the eye. Senora Ines is at the tippity-top, so to speak, of the social food chain, due to her riches and flamboyancy. Rosaura's mom, lastly, is actually the most powerless of all the characters, because she knows exactly what is going on, but can do nothing whatsoever to stop it.
     In The Stolen Party by Liliana Heker, Rosaura, the protagonist, is an innocent girl with no understanding of how social classes work in the world. At the beginning of the story, Rosaura's mom has more power than Rosaura because she is stopping her from going to the party, but Rosaura resists and triumphs, furthermore empowering herself. For a girl that seems pretty inexperienced, she definitely knows how to manipulate her mom. When she says "I'll die if I don't go," there's very little doubt in the reader's mind that that will be the end of that argument. The power shifts while Rosaura's at the party. Since she is actually working there as a servant - although she does not know it - she would seem pretty powerless at first glance. However, she thinks she has power. In her own little world, she is only being asked to serve all the food because she "wasn't a butterfingers." She sees herself as superior and special, when really she's not, but there's a fine line between imagination and reality. In some ways, Rosaura is powerful, because she thinks she is. The girl with the bow (Luciana's cousin) is really the only person at the party to challenge Rosaura. However, despite her lower social ranking, Rosaura manages to maintain the power. She kicks the girl in the shin and later serves her a small piece of cake. In this retrospect, it's almost as though she is using her powerless sort of power to her advantage. Finally, at the end, Rosaura's power is broken by Senora Ines. When Senora Ines hands her the payment, Rosaura realizes the truth. Even though everything is sort of caving in inside her, Rosaura manages to maintain her power by refusing the money. However, in this case by resisting another's power, Rosaura actually empowers them more. Senora Ines is then given the power to be indifferent, and not apologize.
     In The Stolen Party by Liliana Heker, Senora Ines, an antagonist, is the wealthy employer of Rosaura's mother. She is portrayed as the supreme powerful force throughout. We meet her at Luciana's party, when our first impressions of her are as the smiling lady who compliments Rosaura. She is a clever antagonistic rich person because she knows people. She manipulates Rosaura in a way that's so calculating, it's kind of scary. It's open for debate, but I think Senora Ines knew the whole time that Rosaura had no idea that she was invited as an employee. She leads Rosaura along the whole time, contributing to her fantasy that she is special. "You, yes, but not the others, they're much too boisterous, they might break something," is Senora Ines' first power play tactic for Rosaura. She tells her that she is allowed in the kitchen while the others aren't because the others are too rowdy, when really, it's because Rosaura is the maid. Another one of Senora Ines cunning comments is when she says "Are you sure you can manage a jug as big as that?" In this instance, it's almost as though she is challenging Rosaura, who takes the bait, and performs the task. A final one of these is when Senora Ines asks Rosaura to serve the hot dogs because she knows the house the best. Senora Ines knows Rosaura well, and she knows how to play the game. At the end, however, Senora Ines shows her true colors when she gives Rosaura her payment instead of a present, and says "Thank you for all your help, my pet." The "my pet" segment is patronizing enough, but the fact that Senora Ines played along with Rosaura's illusion the whole time and then delivered the final blow so stoically is pretty shocking. At the end, when Rosaura refuses to take the money, Senora Ines wants to keep the upper hand so she doesn't pull her hand away or say she's sorry. She knows that, in the end, she has the most power.
     In The Stolen Party by Liliana Heker, Rosaura's mom, a partial antagonist and partial ally of the protagonist, is Senora Ines' maid. We learn at the end that her name is Herminia. Rosaura's mom is the most powerless character overall, but she starts with power at the beginning. Her power isn't much higher than Rosaura's, though, and it seems most of the time like an evenly matched mother-daughter argument like those common among preteens and teens. Rosaura's mom says some pretty harsh things to her daughter, such as "The problem with you, young lady, is that you like to fart higher than your ass" and "You know what you are to them? The maid's daughter, that's what." Rosaura's is able to counter all her mother's rebukes, though. Since Rosaura is so headstrong, it's like the mother's arguing is just adding fuel to her fire. Rosaura's mom tries hard to convince her, but everything she says just makes her want to go more. At the end of the fight, when Rosaura's mom gives in, all her power is lost. I think she realizes that Rosaura will have to learn the truth for herself, even though it will be painful for both of them. Then we don't see Rosaura's mom during the party, and she is absent until the end. When she shows up again, she's quite different. She seems proud of Rosaura at first, but then that pride turns to worry when Senora Ines asks to speak with them. Again, Rosaura's mom is powerless, because she knows exactly what Senora Ines is going to do, yet she can do absolutely nothing. And at the very end, when Rosaura learns the truth, Rosaura's mom is still powerless. The only encouragement she can give to her daughter is her hand on her shoulder.
     To conclude, The Stolen Party by Liliana Heker handles power and resistance in a very complex way. Rosaura seems virtually powerless at first glance, but she is actually pretty powerful because she is oblivious. Senora Ines has the most power and is rarely resisted, gaining more power by easily manipulating those around her. Lastly, Rosaura's mom has the least power because unlike Rosaura, she knows what's going on, and if there's anything worse than being oblivious, it's knowing the truth and being unable to act on it. The Stolen Party gives us a detailed look at social classes and how fragile they are, and, to quote the story, how "the slightest change might shatter an infinitely delicate balance."