In "The Stolen Party", by Liliana Heker, Sefiora Ines
leaves her hand outstretched at the end of the story. Ines is trying to hand Rosaura,
thinking that Ines is about to hand her a bracelet and a yo-yo, faces off against Ines
with a cold stare after seeing the money.
What is alluded
to by Heker is that Ines has just crossed the line between the poor and the wealthy.
Rosaura, to this point, has not had a defined understanding of social class. She does
not know what it means to be the child of a cleaning woman. She only knows what it means
to be a child.
Up until Ines offers Rosaura the money, she
feels as though she belonged at the party. The she was an equal of the others in
attendance. It is only when offered money that Rosaura identifies that she is socially
out of her element.
Ines leaves her hand outstretched
because she recognizes what she has done. She knows that she has shattered the reality
of Rosaura. Therefore, she is fearful that if she moves, it will "shatter an infinitely
delicate balance." The balance referred to represents the innocence which Rosaura is
about to lose.
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