Ana Maria's reflection of life

 


I quite enjoyed this reading, it was a point of view that I’ve never read a book from before. This short novel touched on an issue of gender and agency. How a woman is always the focus of others in terms of her beauty and appearance, even when she is dead. I found this quite impactful because I never really thought about it like that. Near the beginning, Ana Maria makes a comment about how her hair was perfectly set around her head and how it fell down to her chest. I made the assumption that she never wore her hair like that but whoever positioned her, had a certain idea about how a woman should look and not how she usually did. 


This book is very much so also focused around perspective. Not only the unique perspective of it being narrated from a dead woman but also how the woman’s perspective changes once she is dead and how she develops a clearer point of view of her life from when she was alive. 

Throughout her life, she experiences a lot of anxious and depressive feelings caused by people around her and how she viewed how people treated her and how she treated others. Staring with Ricardo, her lost love. She never seemed to truly get over him and she later on settled down with her husband Antonio out of social pressure. This gave her the image of marriage as being something of silence and resentment and not love and safety which would make anyone depressed. When Ricardo shows up at her death bed, it releases a painful awakening and realization from both ends, according to Ana Maria. Because Ricardo always saw her as more than simply a social figure or someone that fills the role of a wife or mother, but as she truly was. He saw her for her and that is what really empowered those feelings in Ana Maria. This was only realized when she was dead. There were feelings of regret and guilt coming from Ricardo which made me sad to read. She then expresses how “must we die in order to know?” which was a really powerful line that stuck with me. 


This line made me reflect on my life and think about the things I could change my perspective on because I don’t want to wait until the end of my life before I finally gain perspective on things and how I take some things or people for granted. She also regretted a lot of things in her life like how she was as a mother. This also made me think about the person I want to be and live my life so that when I’m old, I have as little regrets as possible. But also acknowledging mistakes and making peace with them are also just as important. These are the kind of thoughts this novel evoked in me which I thought made it quite powerful. 


Overall a very powerful read and I enjoyed reading it.


Comments

  1. palak1125 January 2026 at 00:43

    Hii Olivia! I really agree with how reading this book actually leads to a lot of reflection. It made me also want to live my life to the fullest to not have as many regrets.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Meta - Sol 25 January 2026 at 19:18

    Hi Olivia, interesting reflections
    “This book is very much so also focused around perspective. Not only the unique perspective of it being narrated from a dead woman but also how the woman’s perspective changes once she is dead and how she develops a clearer point of view of her life from when she was alive.” That’s quite accurate, it’s one of the key points for sure.
    Well done!
    If you haven't done so already, don’t forget to make two comments on your classmates’ blogs.
    See you tomorrow!
    Julián.

    ReplyDelete

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