Weight Of All Things By Sandra Benitez: Tiny Perspective, Enormous View

1184 Words5 Pages
Tiny perspective, Enormous view John Humanities Class Yellow Class Question: The novel’s story is told through the eyes of Nicolas Veras, a nine-year-old Salvadoran boy. Do you think this point of view is effective? What do you think is gained by portraying the story this way? Would the story have been more powerful if told through the point if view of an adult? Throughout the novel, The Weight Of All Things by Sandra Benitez, the story of the revolution in El Salvador is being told from the perspective of a 9-year-old Salvadoran boy, Nicolas de la Virgen Veras, who is caught in the middle of the revolution. He loses his mother, but he keeps the faith that his mother gave him in La Virgen. His mother told him, “Do not fear. La Virgen is with us”…show more content…
La Virgen takes a giant part in Nicolas’s life and appears to him multiple times throughout the novel. Nicolas’s turn of event lead him to seeing the war from the perspective of the guerilleros, and the war from the perspective of the army, the Guardia. After seeing both sides he learns that he is caught in the middle. His grandfather, Tata, explains to Nicolas, “We are caught in the middle. That’s what we are” (115). Towards the end of the novel Nicolas begins to grow up. And example of him starting to grow up was when though to himself, “He walked with the might of a lion, with the heart of a lamb” (235). The method of telling the story through a 9 year olds perspective is an effective strategy because it builds sympathy. Everybody knows what it is like to be nine and afraid and can relate to Nicolas. Portraying the story through the eyes of a 9-year-old gains the perspective of a true innocent bystander. Nicolas

More about Weight Of All Things By Sandra Benitez: Tiny Perspective, Enormous View

Open Document