And of Clay Are We Created by Isabel Allende
"And of Clay Are We Created" is a poignant short story by Isabel Allende, featured in her collection "The Stories of Eva Luna." It is inspired by the real-life tragedy of Omayra Sanchez, a young girl trapped by the devastation of a volcanic eruption in Colombia in 1985. The narrative centers on Rolf Carlé, a documentary filmmaker, who arrives at the disaster site to cover the rescue efforts and finds himself emotionally entwined with Azucena, the girl buried up to her neck in mud. As Rolf attempts to keep Azucena's spirits alive through storytelling, he confronts his own traumatic past, revealing deeper themes of self-discovery and human connection amid suffering. The story is narrated by Eva Luna, Rolf’s lover, who watches the events unfold from a distance, feeling a profound empathy for both Rolf and Azucena. Ultimately, as the story reaches its tragic conclusion, Rolf experiences a transformation, leaving behind his role as an observer to confront his emotional scars. Through vivid imagery and powerful themes, Allende explores the resilience of the human spirit in the face of despair.
And of Clay Are We Created by Isabel Allende
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published: “De barro estamos hechos,” 1990 (collected in The Stories of Eva Luna, 1991)
Type of work: Short story
The Work
“And of Clay Are We Created,” the last short story in Isabel Allende’s collection The Stories of Eva Luna, is based upon a real event. Omayra Sanchez was a young victim of the 1985 earthquake in Colombia. The story is told by the heroine of Allende’s third novel Eva Luna, whose lover, Rolf Carlé, is the main character. With a carefully crafted plot and delicate images, Allende illustrates the theme of self-discovery through love, the same theme that runs through all the stories in this volume.
The story’s first line, “They discovered the girl’s head protruding from the mudpit, eyes wide open, calling soundlessly,” not only begins the action and sets the story but also establishes the image of the eyes and the theme of insight. The last sentence of the paragraph foreshadows the ending: “Rolf Carlé . . . never suspect[ed] that he would find a fragment of his past, lost thirty years before.”
Rolf finds that past; the girl, Azucena, enables him to close the gap between his experiences and his feelings so he can confront it. Azucena is one of twenty thousand victims of a volcanic eruption that has wiped out an entire Latin American village. Arriving by helicopter, Rolf, a maker of television documentaries, finds himself first on the scene filming the volunteers trying to reach the girl, who is buried up to her neck in quicksandlike mud. Within minutes, the girl’s plight is broadcast throughout the world.
Rolf remains by her side. Throughout the night he tells stories of his adventures as a newsman to keep up her courage. Miles away, the narrator, Eva Luna, watches television and feels the pain of both Azucena and Rolf. She tries to get a pump sent to the site, but her efforts are futile. She even tries to help Rolf through her “force of mind.”
Later she watches the morning broadcast. Things have degenerated, but Rolf, now near exhaustion, still tries to keep the girl’s spirits up. More cameras and equipment arrive, and the worldwide focus on the young girl intensifies, making the scene so real to Eva that she envisions herself by their side using her love to help them endure the suffering.
On the second night, Rolf begins to talk of his life, speaking with an intensity like that of the volcano that has caused this tragedy. Beginning with the horrors of the concentration camps in Germany, he goes back even further to recall the abuse of his childhood by an evil father and his guilt over the fate of his retarded sister. As he finishes, he is in tears, ironically consoled by the dying Azucena.
In the morning, the president arrives and positions himself for the cameras beside the buried child. Rolf keeps his vigil throughout that day. Eva recalls the moment when, despite the president’s promises of help, the two give up hope. The strength of her love enables her to empathize with them as they accept the things that cannot be changed. On the night of the third day, with the cameras focused upon her, the girl dies.
Returning to Eva, Rolf is a changed person. He has set aside his cameras. Now able to see things clearly, he needs time to heal the wounds in himself just as the mud will cover the holes in the earth. The story ends with a thematic connection to the beginning sentence.
Bibliography
Allende, Isabel. Conversations with Isabel Allende. Edited by John Rodden. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004.
Carvalho, Susan. “The Craft of Emotion in Isabel Allende’s Paula.” Studies in Twentieth Century Literature 27 (Summer, 2003): 223-238.
Correas de Zapata, Celia. Isabel Allende: Life and Spirits. Translated by Margaret Sayers Peden. Houston, Tex.: Arte Público Press, 2002.
Cox, Karen Castellucci. Isabel Allende: A Critical Companion. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2003.
Frame, Scott Macdonald. “The Literal and the Literary: A Note on the Historical References in Isabel Allende’s La casa de los espíritus.” Studies in Twentieth Century Literature 27 (Summer, 2003): 279-89.
Gough, Elizabeth. “Vision and Division: Voyeurism in the Works of Isabel Allende.” Journal of Modern Literature 27 (Summer, 2004): 93-120.
Lindsay, Claire. Locating Latin American Women Writers: Cristina Peri Rossi, Rosario Ferré, Albalucía Angel, and Isabel Allende. New York: Peter Lang, 2003.