I.

Title: Servant Girl

II. Author: Estrella D. Aflon
III. Characters:
 Rosa - the servant girl who was verbally and physically
mistreated by her mistress
 Pedro - the cochero who helped and show kindness to Rosa, Rosa
named him “Angel” and thought he is different from other men
 Sancho - an admirer of Rosa who was rough and rude towards
her and violently hurt her
 Mistress - the one who abused Rosa but sometimes turned to be a
kind one
IV. Setting:
Most scenes happened in the mistress’ house and on the street.
This story could probably occur near 1930’s.
V. Literary Analysis

This literary piece is a prose, fiction classified as short story. The events portray
the situation of a servant girl under an abusive mistress and could probably exist
but the characters are just created by the author and the events are no based on
someone’s real life.

Rosa, the main character in the story, is a servant girl who was verbally and
physically mistreated by her mistress. She hopes that someday she would be free
from the cruelty she was experiencing. Though she was treated that way she never
tried to act up against her mistress because of the superiority her mistress have
over a servant like her. She just continues what she has to do and receive all the
scold and blow of her mistress. She portrays some of todays’ maids and helpers
who endure all their employers’ mistreatments toward them for money, foods, and
shelter. Slavery was common during that time. Like Rosa, most of the slaves were
uneducated and marginal. They view their life with nothing they can call their own
not even themselves. In connection to the story, that maybe drove Rosa to long for
care and special treatment. That is why, when a cochero showed her kindness she
felt happy and somewhat fortunate to have a person who cares for her, and jumped
into a faulty conclusion.
 Pedro, the cochero, is a kind man who helped Rosa when she slipped and cause
her ankle to swell. His kind acts made Rosa imagine so much and also made Rosa
realized that what she thinks is solely made by her to escape the thoughts of cruelty
she was experiencing. What she imagined was not real because for Pedro those
kind acts means nothing at all. Pedro portrays a real gentleman in the past and of
today. He made a significant role in the story but there is no development in his
character. He is a flat character.

Sancho, a minor character, was an admirer of Rosa who was rough and rude
towards her and violently hurt her. He is a flat character. In the past or today, a
man like Sancho exists. Despite how much they admire someone, they still act
rudely and violently as if it doesn’t matter.

The mistress, a minor character, is the one who abused Rosa but sometimes
turned to be a kind one. She either scolds or hurt Rosa even in her simple mistakes.
She gets easily upset. Despite of that, sometimes she was generous enough to give
the maid money for a new dress and tolerate Rosa’s attempt in singing. The
mistress in the story portrays todays’ mean boss in an office who gets ill-tempered
when disappointed, a mean teacher who scolds students for a simple mistake, a
mean employer of a domestic helpers, and more.

The main happenings started when Rosa while carrying a basin placed on her
head accidentally slipped and fell causing her foot to swell. A man in his tartanilla
stopped and helped her. Since the incident, Rosa felt happy. She always thought
for the cotchero and imagined that he wanted to see her and hear her voice.
Sometimes she goes outside thinking that they could meet coincidentally. She also
went to see by the window every tartanilla that would pass by. She sings loudly
imagining that he wanted to hear her voice. The highest point of the story occurred
one night at the street, because of anger she had thrown the stone she was holding
and hit something. It was “Angel”, the cochero. The cochero didn’t recognized her
until she asked him if he recognized her and remembered that the girl with swollen
foot was her. He drove her to her mistress’ house and told her that his name is
Pedro. For the resolution, after that incident, Rosa realized that everything she
imagined was not real and his generosity doesn’t mean anything. Her illusions
were just her way to escape the reality and to be happy. She faced the reality of
what she was, a mere servant girl.
 The story tells us about slavery and societal class. It reflects the hardships that
slaves face from their abusive masters. Because of the cruelty they experienced,
they become desperate for freedom and happiness. That brought Rosa to
imaginations of being loved and cared by someone. That way makes her feel
somewhat fortunate despite her harsh life. She had long longed for freedom and
care. Then just because of that single incident, she had imagined that finally there
is someone who loved and cared for her and could bring her the total happiness.
Desperation created those illusions.

In this story, infatuation was also portrayed. From the story we could describe
that infatuation does not just make someone like other person. Infatuation could
bring us happiness, inspiration, and even illusions. Some may view it as normal to
teens and adults, but for some it is a drive to change and to realize things.

“Angel” was a word Rosa used to refer the cotchero. In this story, “Angel”
symbolizes Rosa’s long for freedom and happiness. Her illusions made her happy
despite of being mistreated. She felt less miserable thinking that he has a man that
care for her- a man so gentle and generous.

The story was in a third person’s point-of-view. The author made us of “he”,
“she”, “them”, “they”, “it”, etc. to modify the characters or objects in the story.
While reading it, we can envision as if we are observing the events in the story.
The author had described the events, characters, and objects more effectively. She
used deep English terms and a bit exaggerated words to better portray the sad
theme of the story.