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The short story "Dead Stars" by Paz Maquez-Benitez, published in 1925, follows Alfredo Salazar and his relationships with two women, Esperanza and Julia. Alfredo is engaged to Esperanza but meets Julia and falls in love with her. He confesses his love for Julia but she rejects him because she knows about his engagement. The story examines the difference between infatuation and love, as Alfredo realizes later that he was merely infatuated with Julia. It also shows how forbidden love can haunt someone until they recognize their own faults.

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3K views3 pages

Critique Paper

The short story "Dead Stars" by Paz Maquez-Benitez, published in 1925, follows Alfredo Salazar and his relationships with two women, Esperanza and Julia. Alfredo is engaged to Esperanza but meets Julia and falls in love with her. He confesses his love for Julia but she rejects him because she knows about his engagement. The story examines the difference between infatuation and love, as Alfredo realizes later that he was merely infatuated with Julia. It also shows how forbidden love can haunt someone until they recognize their own faults.

Uploaded by

belle taccad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
  • Dead Stars: This section narrates the story 'Dead Stars' focusing on themes of love, memory, and the choices of the protagonist Alfredo Salazar.

Dead Stars

Paz Maquez-Benitez's short story "dead stars" was originally published in 1925. The

story’s main characters are Alfredo Salazar, Esperanza, and Julia Salas while the secondary

characters are Alfredo’s Family and Julia’s Family and the other characters are Calixta and

Brigida Samuy. The story depicts feelings and connections that might exist but never

develop, losing their true value.

The plot of Dead Stars focused on Alfredo Salazar, a man and a lawyer, and his

relationships. Alfredo is an optimist and believes in true love. The first woman he falls in

love with is Esperanza: an impassioned woman having a strong will and principles. Their

love tale starts since both of their families are close to one another. After three years of

romantic relationships, Alfredo and Esperanza decide to get engaged. His love for Esperanza

started to fade after he met Julia Salas one day while on a business tripJulia is the sister-in-

law of the Judge, a man Alfredo's father knows well. She is an optimistic, enthusiastic

woman with her own desires and ambitions. In an effort to prevent his fiancee from being

found out, Alfredo tried to start up a conversation with her while keeping his engagement a

secret from Esperanza. When Alfredo discovered that Julia was going back to her hometown,

his eyes were hopeless. He followed Julia to confess his love for her out of fear of losing her.

However, Julia was previously aware of his engagement with Esperanza and left him

after wishing him luck in getting married. He overhears Esperanza discussing loyalty and

faithfulness with her companion while she is on her way home. He is aware that he must

speak with her. Esperanza immediately came forward, knowing about his relationship with

Julia, and urged him to call off the wedding. After eight years, Alfredo is transferred to a

work assignment close to Julia's hometown. He has nostalgia and can't help but feel lustful
for Julia. He quickly comes up with a reason to meet her. Despite the fact that Julia is still

single, Alfredo notices that things have changed and he is simply clinging to the memories.

The purpose of this literature is to represent the unrecognized feelings of a man. Since

the story revolves around the three main characters: Alfredo, Esperanza, and Julia, The story

focused on a love triangle, and Alfredo had to choose between Esperanza and Julia. Another

purpose of this story is to identify the difference between infatuation and love. Because at the

end of the story, Alfredo realizes that he is just infatuated with Julia and nothing else. In

addition, the purpose of this story is to show that forbidden love is only apparent, and its

bones haunt the person until such time as he realizes his faults. These purposes were achieved

by the author by showing in the story how forbidden love works and the feelings of Alfredo

in that specific situation, which are unrecognized feelings and infatuation.

The fact that Esperanza, Alfredo's first love, knew about his adultery and how he

eventually confessed his sins to her is one of the story's strong points. And Alfredo's choice to

pick Julia over Esperanza and continue his romance is one of the story's flaws. Because of

how prevalent situations like this are, especially in my generation, this narrative is

appropriate for teenagers like myself who are aware of cheating. And as a teenager, I have a

lot of viewpoints to express on the matter. Therefore, I would recommend this story because

it’s realistic and you will learn from this story.

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