A Critical Analysis of the Short Story/Poem Dead Stars by Paz Marquez Benitez using Formalist Approach

    “Did you ever have to choose between something you wanted to do and something you

had to do?” The poem/short story “Dead Stars” by Paz Marquez Benitez is about the main

character Alfredo, who struggles to remain faithful towards the woman he’s engaged to. This

woman is named Esperanza. An optimistic and positive person who, no matter the excuse her

fiance would bring up in regards to him not being able to come home, would not think much of it,

and would usually shrug it off. Julia was Alfredo’s affair. I’d say Julia was a faithful, but clueless

person. Yes, she was seeing Alfredo while he was practically engaged with someone else, but

that’s because she was yet to see the entire picture. The story is set in the houses of the Judge

and Don Julian, and is written from an omniscient point of view. Characters in the story that

have minor roles include Judge Del Valle, Don Julian, and Carmen.

    The story starts off with Carmen and Don Julian making an attempt to figure out what’s

going on with Alfredo. Alfredo was engaged to Esperanza for 3 years now. However, it was at

this time where he was thinking about his affair with Julia. He pondered about what to do, and

contemplated on what truly made him happy. At this point in the story, we get a glimpse of

Alfredo as a character. Someone who is torn between two lovers. Someone who is unhappy, but

not exactly hopeless.

    In the next part we get to know more about Esperanza and Julia. Alfredo starts to spew

lies towards the woman he is engaged to. He doesn’t come home right away, and makes use of

excuses to get his way out of situations like this with Esperanza. His fiance however, didn’t

really think much of it because after all, the two were engaged. There’s no way he could be

seeing someone else as they are this far into their relationship. Alfredo falls in love with Julia

through her passion for her hopes and dreams, and how she was an optimist. The stars start to

align for Alfredo during this time.

    The climax is when things start to get messy. Julia finds out about the wedding of Alfredo

and Esperanza. She congratulates Alfredo when they see each other. While feeling utter shock

and despair, Alfredo comes home only to find out that Esperanza now knows about his recent

affair. The emotions of the characters are conveyed heavily in this part of the story. Esperanza

starts to shed tears as her and her fiance argue and fight. Feelings of sadness portrayed in

many ways through Julia congratulating Alfredo on his engagement.

    The falling action transitioning to the resolution of the story begins with Alfredo going to

Julia’s hometown and seeing Julia. He was thrilled to see her, though he started to notice

change. Change that is not necessarily pleasant, nor unpleasant. Something in the woman has

changed but he couldn’t seem to wrap his finger around it. “What had she lost? Or was the loss

his?” he wondered.

    “Dead stars” by Paz Marquez Benitez is about dishonesty and disloyalty towards the

people we love. It focuses on the idea of love that doesn’t last forever, and only starts to fade

away. Abandoning years of commitment for lust will never be justified. You will never achieve

good results out of getting swayed into bad temptation. Take time to understand your

feelings/emotions and learn how to express them to the right people.

    The idea of stars is usually associated with memories. I believe the story/poem was

given the title “Dead Stars” to symbolize love that wasn’t really love. It symbolizes memories that

are now left in the dust. Towards the end of the story we see Alfredo thinking about the

moments he had with his two lovers, Esperanza and Julia. We see him going through a

whirlwind of emotions as he thinks about his dream of a “star-studded sky” vanishing, how

something he really hoped to pursue, failed right in front of his eyes. He thinks about how

everything was gone and disappeared so quickly, just like how the stars in the sky start to die,

fade, and eventually, completely disappear.