Paula discussion, Section B (Part One, pages 109-202)

[Caryl]

Here is our second discussion thread for the novel, Paula (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060927216/ref=nosim/storknet00), by Isabel Allende.

Our second section for discussion is the second half of Part One, pages 109-202. Post your thoughts on these pages here.

If you have read further than page 202, you may want to post your thoughts on our last discussion thread. (You can, of course, still include your thoughts about these pages in the last thread!)

Looking forward to hearing what everyone thinks! http://www.storknet.com/boards/smile.gif

[Jewels2]

I haven't finished this section yet, but I just read the part where the fisherman is brought up again and wondered if anyone else has read that section. What do you think happened to him? I imagine that would have seriously affected Allende.

Julie

[Jewels2]

OK, I finished this part yesterday and am finding myself really into it. Got quite a Chilean history lesson, too. Still wondering what happened to the fisherman. I'm thinking he probably did something similar to another young girl whose family found out about it.

Julie

[Caryl]

Julie, I just read the part about the fisherman. It was almost implied that her grandfather knew about it, wasn't it? When she gets back after finding out:

I...went into the dining room, where my grandfather sat before his newspaper and a steaming cup of cafe con leche. "Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked, smiling.

It was the smiling part that got me. She must have looked distressed; why would he smile? Also, didn't he insist she be taken to the wake? However, Allende also tends to mix fantasy/reality. If she, as a little girl, felt her grandfather knew, or that she somehow caused the fisherman's death, her perceptions might be different from "reality," and maybe she's just describing the experience from this point of view. It is strange that it happened right after the fisherman molested her. What a doubly horrible experience for her! (But I was relieved she couldn't go meet him again.)

It reminded me of the molestation Maya Angelou experienced. I think something happened to the man who did this to her, and she felt so responsible for it that she didn't speak again for several years. She thought her voice had the power to cause his demise.

Allende described her experience with such honesty, and I appreciated that. Poor little girl. http://www.storknet.com/boards/frown.gif I had a feeling he did this to other young girls, too, Julie. http://www.storknet.com/boards/frown.gif

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Caryl
Mom to Charon, 7/19/99
Co-Moderator for the Reading Circle and Heart of the Home Forums
"How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives."
--Annie Dillard

[Jewels2]

Caryl,

Thanks so much for sharing your insights. I, too, had really appreciated Allende's honesty about her feelings and reactions and had been meaning to bring that up also. It is typical of child molesters to purposely make their victims feel like collaboraters, and it sounds like that's how Allende was feeling. I wasn't aware of Maya Angelou's experience--interesting.

I liked what you said about the mixing of fantasy and reality. While I don't think the grandfather had anything to do with the fisherman's death, I think the young Isabel believed he did (since the fisherman kept saying "if your grandfather finds out, he'll kill me", and of course since Isabel felt like a collaborater). And so she perceived everything the grandfather said/did in that light.

Thanks again
Julie

[Caryl]

I just finished this section, and I think I am going to have a hard time putting this book down from here to the end. She is such a powerful writer! Her description of the millitary coup reminded me of her novel, The House of the Spirits. The characters in this book go through it, too. If you are enjoying this book, I think you'd also like H of S.

President Allende's last speech had me in tears. http://www.storknet.com/boards/frown.gif

Okay, I'm off to finish reading...

Caryl