Vida by Patricia Engel, by Patricia Engel, is a story that deals, among other things, with the ideas of action, responsibility for oneself and responsibility for others . Although the story is told through Sabina's eyes, the motivation for the story comes from a desire to learn as much as possible about Vida. And as Sabina discovers Vida, she discovers that she is actually two people: the one she was in Colombia and the one she is in Miami. I argue that the ocean represents the division between these two parts of her life: sometimes it is an impassable boundary, and at other times it is fluid, allowing Vida to access parts of her past. Like tides on a shore, the ocean periodically pulls on Vida in opposite directions throughout the story. This physically separates her from her life in Colombia but also connects her to the freedom of childhood. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The most obvious reading of the ocean in Vida is as a symbol of separation. Vida's arrival and return to Colombia are marked by oceanic images. In the first paragraph of the story, Sabina, the narrator, recounts what she knows about Vida: “In Colombia, they only called her by her first name, [Davida,] but here, Vida stayed, this which she said suited her because that plane ride over the Caribbean broke her life in two” (119). The imagery of Vida's life split in two not only refers to the physical separation between life in Colombia and her life in Miami. I read her change from Davida to Vida as proof that during this separation, it is not only her environment that changes, but also her inner world. The transition from Davida to Vida is a beautiful play on words. The imagery of breaking life in two directly parallels the act of breaking one's name, which means life, in two. This rupture is attributed to the plane trip and the Caribbean itself, as if the water created both a physical and emotional boundary between his two lives. This symbolism returns at the end of the story during Vida's return to Colombia. When describing the process of helping Vida, Sabina expresses her fear that if anything were to stop Vida from returning to Colombia, it would be the ocean. “I insisted to Papi that he book a direct flight for him, without a stopover in Miami. I was afraid the sight of the ocean would throw her off course. It happens to the best of us,” she says (144). Sabina fears that just seeing the ocean could make the divide between here and there insurmountable for Vida. This time, the ocean is great not because of the physical boundary it creates, but because of the emotional or mystical power it seems to exert over Vida. The power he exercises over her is complex, but seems rooted in joy. During a scene about Vida's many nuanced smiles, Sabina describes the rare and truly joyful smiles by saying, "Sometimes a sunrise would tear across her face and she would smile like it was going to save her life." Like at the beach or when she talked about her family” (131). Even though the ocean separates Vida from her family, it seems like it's the only thing, besides talking about her family, that brings her true happiness. The ocean and Vida's life in Colombia are somehow connected. Perhaps it is because it is by the ocean that Vida tastes the freedom she has not had since she left her home and her childhood. Rarely in the story does Vida have the opportunity to make choices for herself. She is first represented as an attachment to Sacha, then, while Sabina explores her past, Vida describes the choices made for her by her mother, then by Fito, then finallyby her captors who held her under their control at the brothel. But when Vida has power in the story, she often chooses to go to the beach. The first time Vida and Sabina spend time alone together, Sabina expects to go out for dinner or drinks, but "Vida only wanted to go to the beach." , even started begging me to take her there like I was her mother or something… [she] took off her sandals and ran towards the water, got down on her knees and splashed in the water. 'foam. I sat on the sand and watched her get lost, shouting things to the clouds” (123). The first notable thing in this passage is the urgency in Vida's tone when she asks to go to the beach. described as neat and reserved, “almost looking like a private schoolgirl who got lost in the wrong neighborhood” (123). But she becomes impatient and childish when she asks questions about the beach, "begging [Sabina] to take her there like). she was his mother. This return to childlike nature is different from Vida who, elsewhere in the story, makes Sabina feel like the younger of the two despite being several years younger. Once at the beach, Vida runs with abandon through the water and sand as if she were a child. She gets “lost” and ignores Sabina – everything she does there is for herself. This return to childhood habits suggests that there is a connection between the ocean and Vida's former life. Although there is no ocean in Bógota, it makes sense that the ocean could connect Vida to its past. The ocean is immense: it is open for kilometers and kilometers. Vida says that even after living in Miami for two years, “she still couldn't grasp the immensity of the ocean. »(124). Perhaps the contrast of this expansion with the physical limits of her room in the brothel and the emotional limits of her life with Ash connects Vida to a sense of freedom when she is near the ocean. has freedom: she can use her body as she wants, she can be loud and she can feel joy. Given that these are experiences related to a childhood before prostitution and before Ash, it is not surprising that the ocean is somehow connected to his past. This link with the past returns in his relationship to the clouds on the beach. As she "gets lost", Vida begins to "yell things to the clouds". Although these shouts may simply be a celebratory statement, there is something about them that evokes images of rituals or bargaining with a higher power. It's almost as if she can scream to the heavens, cursing fate for the fate she's been given. This imagery returns during Sabina and Vida's next trip to the beach. Sabina describes them both "lying on towels in [their] bikinis... [Vida] ​​looked up at the sky as if she could see her whole story projected into the clouds like a movie screen" (132). Although this is Sabina's description and not Vida's, it again brings up the idea that Vida can access her past through the ocean and the sky above. That's why she wants to come back again and again. All this becomes complicated in the moments when Ash and the ocean collide. First there is the night when Vida, Sabina, Sacha and The Boyfriend take a bottle of wine to the beach. “Normally, Vida loved the beach, but with Sacha and her boyfriend, she seemed indifferent. [Sasha] blew him a kiss and she looked at him with a veil that looked very much like contempt” (137). It's as if Ash's presence cancels out the power of the ocean. Perhaps when he is there, Vida is reminded that, in fact, she has no free will and that the freedoms afforded by the ocean are only a distraction from the truly limited nature of life with . Sasha. The juxtaposition of the ocean..