A Lesson About Life in the Stolen PartyIn Liliana Heker's story, "The Stolen Party", the young child Rosaura is hurt because she is a victim of a class structure that keeps the rich at the top and people like her and her mother at the bottom of society. By the end of the story, Rosaura will have learned a very important lesson about class structure that, because it is so traumatic for her, she will carry with her for the rest of her life. This class structure thing comes up when Rosaura's mother tells her, "I don't like you to go, it's a rich man's party" (Heker 1133). This lets the reader know that the mother is aware of the ways of the world. She knows that she and Rosaura are a help in the eyes of Senora Ines, so naturally the mother knows that there is a good chance that Rosaura will be treated as such. Unfortunately, the mother was right. At the same time, the reader is shown that Rosaura has not heard about the discrimination in our society. This is proven when Rosaura says, “The rich also go to heaven” (Heker 1133). It is a shame that this innocent child, or for that matter any child, has to learn the painful truth about upper class/lower class relationships at such a young age. In reality, no one should ever learn this lesson, it is a fault of our culture to put people in classes. Then the fact that Rosaura thinks she will be just another guest at Luciana's party proves once again that she is not in the know. class structure. Rosaura's mother tells her that Luciana is not her friend and that in her eyes Rosaura is only the servant's daughter. At first it may seem harsh, but as Kevin Elliott says in his essay "The Stolen Future", the mother knew... middle of paper ......ura because at that moment she realizes that she had been helping at the party. Unfortunately, Rosaura was not prepared for what she was being taught that day. By the time we reach the end of the story, it is evident that the child, Rosaura, has learned a painful lesson about classroom structure that she will carry with her throughout her life. Works Cited Elliott, Kevin. “The Stolen Future.” Ode to Friendship and Other Essays. VWC. Virginia Beach: Connie Bellamy, 1996. 84-86. Hatcher, Nathan. “The Deception of Senora Ines.” Ode to Friendship and Other Essays. VWC. Virginia Beach; Connie Bellamy, 1996. 87. Heker, Liliana. “The stolen party.” The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvain Barnett. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. 1133-1137. Spontak, Brandon. “Parents know what’s best.” Ode to Friendship and Other Essays. VWC. Virginia Beach: Connie Bellamy, 1996. 89-91.