Volar Summary

Nothing out of the commonplace transpires within Judith Cofer’s short story “Volar”, at first glimpse, I knew that “Volar” dealt with flying, as the Spanish to English translation of the expression volar is “to fly” (pp. 294). “Volar” begins with the narrator’s comic-like imaginings, where she has power, similar to her favorite superhero Supergirl, while in reality, the unspecified narrator is an adolescent child at the peak of beginning puberty and becoming a teenager. As “Volar” progresses, the speaker initiates her day soon after her parents’ discussion about their longing to take a trip to Puerto Rico to visit family. “Volar” closes with the narrator’s mother glancing out of the kitchen window and have the impulse to utter, “Oh, if only I could fly” (pp. 296).

The protagonist of “Volar” is the narrator and the conflict included is an internal conflict. Each and every single person has the difficult phase of life, and the emotions that the narrator partakes are identical to those of the audience. The protagonist owns “white “princess” furniture” that her mother purchased before (pp. 295). Personally, I can connect as I still have bed linens from when I was younger that still fit on a twin bed and I contemplate that the designs are immature sometimes. In “Volar”, the princess furniture can signify the mother’s desire to have the orthodox daughter, who adores princesses and being the damsel in distress. Contradictory, the narrator aspires being the heroine and have her own identity, which is nonexistent. Consequently, due to the first person point of view featured in “Volar”, Cofer does not allow the reader to know the thoughts of the other characters in “Volar”. I however, know that the mother wants what is best for her daughter, even if it is the stereotypical girl. It is the nature of a parent to want to see his or her child succeed, while living happily, no matter what the