Clarissa's Blog

Conversations with the students will drive me up a tree one day.

Clarissa: So what can we say about the relationships between these characters? How do the members of each couple treat each other?

Student: Sigfrido treats Isabel a lot better than Juan treats Conchi.

Clarissa: Please elaborate.

Student: Sigfrido gives Isabel a car and a phone. Juan doesn’t have money to give a car and a phone to Conchi.

Clarissa: But Sigfrido is a drunk who cheats on Isabel with half of Barcelona and has illegitimate children all over the place.

Student: Yes, but life is better with a car and a phone.

Clarissa: OK, let’s discuss the relationship between the characters, not between the characters and their phones.

Student: Relationships are always better when you can buy things.

Let’s also keep in mind that the person in this dialogue who comes from a 3rd world country, has known poverty and has never had a car is not the student.