PRINCESS CASTILLO

Dead Stars: A Formalist Approach

A formalistic approach was used to illustrate the forms of imagery, symbolism, and
theme depicting the mixed emotions of an over thirty-year-old bachelor, Alfredo Salazar, whose
enthusiasm and admiration for his fiancée began to fade because he was attracted to another
woman named Julia Salas in Paz Marque Benitez's 1925 masterpiece, "Dead Stars."

It is a narrative story written from the perspective of a third person (using pronouns they,
she, he, it, etc.). When analyzing the text, a large quantity of imagery can be seen, which serves
to bring parts of the book to life. One of them was Alfredo's description of Julia Salas' image,
“Yet she had a tantalizing charm, all the more compelling because it was an inner quality.” It is
also evident that the ending, with Alfredo and Julia reuniting after eight years, is filled with
symbolism. Alfredo discovers that the love they shared faded, symbolized by a dead star
radiating an illusion of light and spark while it was already dead long ago, as he finds her
different from what he saw in the past and over the years. One of the story's themes is
forbidden love, which indicates that a person can find someone who he perceives is perfect for
him even if he is already engaged to someone else. Until the person recognizes that what they
have done is unethical, the damage has been done. The underlying concept is that people
change regardless of their circumstances, as shown in the ending, when Alfredo visits Julia and
realizes that she, like him, has changed.

The story "Dead Stars" is difficult to follow. The author's use of figurative language is
overdone, and the author's words are not clear. The flowery vocabulary will make it tough for
readers to follow along at first. The story is also quite long for a short story, so it takes a long
time to read, and it may be necessary to read it again to clearly understand the plot. The setting
of the story happened in an urban area. The story's central issue was commitment. Alfredo
Salazar, Esperanza, Julia Salas, Don Julian, Carmen, Judge Del Valle, Donna Adelia, Calixta,
Dionisio, Vicente, and Brigada Samuy were among the characters included. The story's conflict
was an interpersonal one: human vs. human. The story was organized in chronological order.
The main symbol chosen was love, which was the central theme of the story.