First Confession Themes

First Confession Themes

Privilege

Andrea's privilege is the first factor which leads her to trouble. Unwilling to empathize with her peers, Andrea views their struggles solely through the attitude of entitlement. Because her parents spoil her unconditionally, she doesn't worry about offending people or fulfilling expectations, even in school. To her, life is a joke, and she treats it that way. Andrea's privilege serves to distance her from her peers with superior social status, but it also isolates her from everyone but her family. Nobody relates to her way of life nor cares enough to try. They're all trying to survive, while Andrea takes advantage of her father's generosity to goof off and get in trouble when she should be studying at this highly exclusive Catholic boarding school. She demonstrates no recognition of the hard work which her education cost her family or cost any of the family's of the other students.

Conflict Among Social Classes

Andrea and Victor belong to a higher social class than the rest of the townspeople with whom they live. This barrier between them and the world insulates them to the real world consequences of their actions. As a result, they carelessly ruin the prostitute's life by telling everyone about her nocturnal occupation. The townspeople neither respect the woman's actions nor the children's telling of them because they belong to an honor culture. They value loyalty and honesty about all else, leading them to reverse the social power of their class system. Viewing the kids as traitors, the rest of the town disregards their former superiority and makes the children outcasts.

Consequences

Having been raised by indulgent parents, Andrea grew up without a proper sense of consequence. She was continually spared from the negative consequences of her actions, so she behaved somewhat flippantly in her daily life, often causing problems for herself. In later years, as an adult, responsibility comes flooding in when Victor's commits suicide. Andrea can't avoid the feeling that she's responsible for his death, along with that woman's all those years ago. Although that chapter of her life is past, she cannot escape or resolve it. The consequences of those decisions she made as a schoolgirl continue to follow her around and interfere with her present efforts for improvement.

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