And Of Clay We Are Created Analysis

The literary themes family, religion, and love allow various stories to engage with the audience when woven together. In a plenitude of diverse ways the three short stories, “The Lottery”, “And of Clay We Are Made”, and “Young Goodman Brown”, all intricately connect to the film Bella. Family, love, and religion are all important themes that allow the message of each literary work to tether to one another in perfect harmony. Utilizing these themes the film Bella is able to correlate with the three short stories through many aspects for the purpose of enticing entertainment.

Family is a reoccurring theme in the film and in each of the three stories. It affects the characters and the course of events throughout each different story- allowing for

similarities and differences to emerge between each literary work. This in turn enables connections to arise between Bella and the three short novels that further deepens the message within each tale. In the movie Bella family plays an important role. Jose, the co-protagonist in the film, is a character that possess the picture-perfect family. His loving parents and brothers help and support him throughout his multiple tribulations in life; whereas, Nina’s mother practically forgets she has a daughter altogether after the tragic death of her husband. This perfectly correlates with the dynamics of the families in both “And of Clay We Are Created” and “The Lottery”. In the same way Nina’s mother basically abandons her young daughter to raise and live by herself, Tessie’s husband and family forsake her by allowing her to be savagely and brutally stoned by the people in the village. Both of these examples illustrates the flaws within the structure of these families which in turn results in unwanted outcomes. Nina, due to the fact that her mother was never truly there to support her, is afraid that she will do the same thing if she chooses to keep the baby growing within her. On the other hand, Tessie’s family’s decision to not step in and stop the continuation of the lottery causes Tessie to die and the chance of putting a stop to the lottery to die along side her. Rolf Clarke, on the contrary, shares similarities between these families and Jose’s family. Like Jose’s adoptive brother that was there for Jose as he was forced to endure a life of imprisonment, both emotionally and physically, so was Rolf Clarke there for his sister both physically and emotionally under their dining room table. But in the same way Nina’s mother abandons her and Tessie’s family forsakes her, Rolf Clarke is said to have left his sister; resulting in Rolf Clarke to live a life smothered by his own sorrow and anguish.
Religion, regardless of intensity and purpose, plays a part in the film and in “Young Goodman Brown” and “And of Clay We Are Created”.

In Bella and in “And of Clay We Are Created” Catholicism is the main belief while Christianity in general is the main belief in “Young Goodman Brown”. Catholicism is exhibited in diverse ways in the film and in “And of Clay We Are Created”. In Bella and in “And of Clay We Are Created” the Virgin Mary displayed as a being of religious comfort. In the film a portrait of the Virgin Mary can be found on the wall in the room Jose embraces his mother in an attempt to release all of his pain in the form of his tears. In the story “And of Clay We Are Created” Azucena is blessed by a priest who puts on a necklace of the Virgin Mary around her neck- this illustrates the Virgin Mary as a power of comfort for the trapped little girl. Prayer can also be seen in all three of these literary pieces of art. Goodman Brown prays for strength to stand against the wicked one with fierce emotion. In Bella the mother of the child who was killed by Jose, cries out and prays with fervent desire to God to bring back her murdered daughter. This clearly depicts the human dependency on God through the connection of personal prayer between the film and “Young Goodman Brown”. Also similar to the mother’s prayer for her daughter’s return is the prayer Rolf Clarke prays after the death of Azucena. Both prayers are triggered by a tragic death of a loved one, but unlike the

mother’s frantic cries to the Lord in Bella Rolf Clarke prays in silent acceptance.
Love and the absence of love is an imperative element that unites all three short stories and the movie Bella in various forms.

Jose’s love for Nina and her child coupled with his desire to help leads Jose down a path where he is able to find redemption and restoration. Rolf Clarke, like Jose, endeavors to aid Azucena but in the end he is saved by her. Rolf Clarke, along with Jose, was forced to deal with his past demons which resulted in both of them finding closure and personal renewal- this displays the importance of facing the multiple difficulties in life rather than fleeing from them. The love for human life also seeps its way into the movie and “The Lottery”. Just as Jose did not want Nina to go through with an abortion, ultimately ending the life within in, so did the other villages in “The Lottery” who had liberated themselves from the horrendous tradition of the yearly lottery. Just as Faith lacked love for her husband and her Christina religion so did Tessie’s friend and family lacked love for Tessie. Faith chooses to leave her husband and her religion by accepting the cult in the forest. Tessie, like Goodman Brown, is subjected to being betrayed by her family and best friend by their actions. “Insert Quote” is just an illustration of how Tessie’s best friend deserted her with no

remorse.
Love, religion, and family are all literary aspects that heavily contribute to each story’s development and significance. With the use of these literary devices the film Bella is able to correlate and correspond with each of the three short stories and enhance each one in its entirety.