Analysis of Isabel Allende’s ‘Wicked Girl’

“Wicked Girl”

Isabel Allende’s composing manner is much more descriptive and sexual than the narratives from the two old writers that we read. Her writing manner is really originative. I personally like her Hagiographas because I am a movie production major and I can easy visualise her narratives as if they were really being acted out on the large screen. Allende’s “Wicked Girl” explored assorted subjects, but the most of import subject of the narrative is the power of passion. Elena’s firing infatuation with Bernal turns into Bernal’s creepy compulsion for non merely Elena, but for all immature misss. The power of that incident between Elena and Bernal rapidly became an compulsion for Bernal. The narrative reversed the functions from Elena being the obsessed on to Bernal going the haunted character. Throughout the narrative Elena and her mother’s love goes through a transmutation where ; at the terminal it unluckily becomes mentally upseting for Bernal.

We Will Write a Custom Essay Specifically
For You For Only $13.90/page!


order now

This Story revolves around an 11 twelvemonth old miss named Elena who finds herself traveling through some utmost hormonal and obsessional issues with her mother’s lover, Bernal. Elena helps her female parent run a embarkation house nevertheless ; Elena does non manage any concern personal businesss. Her occupation is to descry on the invitee and to do certain their behaviour follows along with her mother’s criterions for an resident. Elena is seldom acknowledged in her function. “On the rare juncture a lodger notices her, it is merely to inquire her to spray for cockroaches…” ( 21 ) She is non even noticed by her female parent unless she is describing her intelligence about an resident.

Equally shortly as Bernal came to remain at the embarkation house, her mother’s actions and modus operandis seemed to alter instantly which shows the transmutation from her female parent holding rigorous guidelines for residents with get oning “only respectful individuals with a seeable agencies of support, good manners, and adequate money to pay a month’s room, and board in advance” ( 22 ) . Bernal merely eats certain nutrients because he’s a vegetarian. He besides needed to take two showers a twenty-four hours, wanted excess phone clip, and can’t forget that his slumber agenda requires him to kip for long hours during the twenty-four hours.

Upon Bernal’s reaching, Elena’s female parent decided to take him in even though he was “between battles and therefore, could non pay the month in advance” ( 23 ) . The female parent was “seduced” by Bernal’s manners which forced her to take down her criterions which allowed Bernal to remain. Elena saw her female parent altering day-by-day. Her female parent would so get down to dress up and have on make-up where “she noticed the dark pencil sketching her mother’s palpebras, the touch of ruddy on her lips, and the new underclothes” ( 24 ) . Her female parent seemed to be more lost in his expressions and his manners and began to love him which led to her leting him to remain at that place for free.

Elena instantly starts to detest Bernal due to the alterations he requires and the attending he gets from her female parent because she ne’er got that much attending from her. “Elena hated the adult male who was claiming all the infinite in the house and all of her mother’s attention.” ( 24 ) Everything her female parent loves about Bernal like the “Brilliantine-slick hair” ( 24 ) and “the polished nails” ( 24 ) , Elena was deterred by. She merely considered Bernal as a little clip adventurer and saloon entertainer” ( 24, 25 ) . Equally much as her hatred grows for Bernal because she can’t figure out what it is about him that his female parent is intrigued by, Elena develops an infatuation with Bernal and becomes obsessed with him. Even his atrocious voice became appealing to Elena. She could non even travel to kip without Bernal being in the house. “She watched him when he was non looking, and small by small noticed things she had non at first appreciated.” ( 26 ) She even gets to the degree where she would mouse into his room and rummage through his dirty apparels, and would even “suck on his toothbrush” ( 28 ) . One dark she was became disturbed when she thought that Bernal had left to travel play merely to happen out subsequently found that he was really with her female parent at dark. She ended up walking in on Bernal and her female parent holding sex and it didn’t even occur to her to go forth. Elena stayed in the room, snuck into the corner, and “took notes” of what her female parent was making to delight Bernal so she could use those same techniques.

After seeing Bernal and her female parent engage in sexual activities she decided to one twenty-four hours mouse into Bernal’s room while he was sleep and lay beside him with such abruptness that she didn’t even do a “wrinkle in the sheets” ( 31 ) . She so placed her manus on his thorax and rolled her manus down to his underwear liner and so she kissed Bernal on the lips “as she so frequently kissed the mirror” ( 32 ) . After Bernal awoke and threw her off of him and yelled “Wicked girl” ( 32 ) , she spent the following seven old ages of her life with nuns and three of those old ages go toing college.

Old ages had passed and Bernal still had those memories of his brush with Elena. In simple footings this would hold made him a paedophile even though he didn’t act on his ideas. His compulsion got so bad that he would travel to the shop and purchase children’s “underpants and pleasured himself, stroking them and stroking himself. Then he would be so ashamed of such lubricious minutes and he would fire the panties or bury them in a deep hole…” ( 33 )

Elena was 26 the following clip she went to see her female parent and her hubby Bernal. “Bernal had awaited that visit like a jittery teenager.” ( 33 ) Not cognizing what he was traveling to state but he awaited that visit because of the combustion fire he had for Elena all those old ages. After Elena and mother interchange their intelligence, Bernal suggested some vino so Elena followed him into the kitchen. Bernal grabbed her arm apologizing for everything that had happened that dark stating that he “he ne’er meant to throw her to the floor” ( 34 ) and name her a “wicked girl” . Little did he cognize that Elena did non retrieve anything that happened. Her childhood was all a fuzz.

This narrative could hold besides been called “If you touched my heart” , another narrative besides written by Allende because it becomes a inquiry of “did Bernal touch Elena’s bosom? ” Since she had a sexual phantasy and brainsick compulsion with him it would look that he did touch her bosom even if it was inadvertent. However ; in the terminal, Elena doesn’t even retrieve the feelings she had for Bernal.

Equally shortly as Elena’s female parent sees Bernal, her whole position alterations. She went from a rigorous embarkation house proprietor to allowing a adult male she fell in love with at first sight stay, even though he didn’t run into her standards for an resident. Elena went from an unnoticed, diffident, and creepy miss to an haunted stalker of Bernal that went so far that she was sent to be with nuns for the following seven old ages. So far that she felt that “Bernal had taken ownership of her thoughts.” ( 26 ) Last, Bernal went from falling in love with Elena’s female parent to holding sexual, psychotic, and unusual ideas about Elena and other immature misss for many old ages.

Plants Cited

Allende, Isabel. “Wicked Girl.” The Narratives of Eva Luna. Trans. Margaret Sayers Peden. New York: Simon & A ; Schuster, 1991. 19-34. Print.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *