Encantados Sparknotes

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Reading Response Encantados are a familiar folklore for residents living in the Amazons. The shape shifting entities are said to attract young women and steal them away to their underwater city, Encante. To understand the meaning behind this tale, Candace Slater, set off to the Silencio do Matar, a former runaway-slave community in the Amazon. There she discovers the underlying meaning behind the Encantados as well as how the story has evolved to fit modern culture. Encantados are described as supernatural entities that take the forms of aquatic creatures, mostly dolphins. As humans, they appear attractive with fair skin. They show up at urban parties to seduce the humans they desire and take their captive to Encante. Most people never return (Slater 158-159). The themes of betrayal, imprisonment, and escape from captivity are evident in this folktale (Slater 156). To understand these themes, one should examine the history behind this community. The stories were told by runaway slaves. The Encantados who are described as having fair skin likely represent slave owners, or others of European descent who were sent to find the missing slaves. The betrayal could be the community member being seduced only to be taken away and returned to …show more content…

How could an old legend still be relevant today? The answer is Christianity. Slater interviews a woman named Dona Dominga who tell the story of how her grandmother who was abducted by Encantados, but was released because she had a Christ figure around her neck, and the Encantados do not harm baptized Christians (172). In this modern version, the betrayal is no longer from a slave owner, but everyday threats. In the case of Dona’s grandmother, she was abducted by a dark-skinned child (Slater 163-164). The fear no longer lies in being returned to a plantation, but what dangers lurk around someone every day. The only way to achieve salvation is through

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