Introduction

“Dead Stars” is a short story written by Paz Marque Benitez and it was published in 1925. It is a story about cheating.
It emphasizes on how men fall to temptation and sacrifice years of commitment to their significant partners in order to
find pleasure with another person that they have just met A formalistic/ structuralistic approach was used to show the
imagery, symbolism, and theme depicting the conflicted emotions of Alfredo Salazar, whose love and passion for his
fiancée started to fade because he was drawn to another woman named Julia Salas.

Summary
The story revolves around one man, Alfredo Salazar, and his love affairs. He is a man who expects to experience
happiness after finding genuine love. Esperanza is the first woman he falls in love with. They start a passionate
relationship because their families are acquainted with one another. The conflict begins with Alfredo's hesitation to
commit to Esperanza, despite the fact that they have been together for many years and Alfredo is unsure of his true
desires. He recently developed feelings for Julia Salas, another woman that he just met. Under pressure from social
and public humiliation, he decides to proceed with the marriage to Esperanza. He just believes that Julia and him were
meant to be together, which weakens their marriage. They lead quiet lives but never realize their potential for a happy
marriage.

Analysis
“Dead stars” was a narrative story and it was written in a third-person point of view.
It is a story about love, both found and lost. The word "dead stars" refers to Alfredo Salazar's loss of youth and love.
It is clear that the short story captures the grammar, social attitudes, and way of thinking of the time it was written.
Readers can use it as a literary time machine to see how courtship, marriage, and loyalty were viewed in the early
1900s. It draws a reasonable comparison between the past and present, as well as between the modern modern society
and a tradition that is slowly vanishing. The 'Dead Stars' represent an unknown presence. It refers about feelings
and relationships that may exist but are not recognized, so lost their true meaning and value. The story depicts Alfredo
and Julia's relation as a taboo and forbidden incident. In the end he still marry esperanza but Julia will always be in
his heart. The literary devices that was used in the story are Simile, Metaphor, Symbolism, Foreshadowing and
Imagery. It foreshadows the culture and dominant views of the area at that time. The story "Dead Stars" has a non-
direct writing style, it uses flowery language to describe something, and the level of the words are deep and hard to
understand.
After examining the text closely, it becomes clear that the author used a good amount of imagery, which makes the
text come to life in several ways. Also, it is clear that there was symbolism implied in the story the flowers that was
shown in the story symbolizes Pleasure and Joy. These are ideal for a new relationship or for informing your lover
how wonderful she or he is. These are the flowers to send if you want someone to know that your love is genuine.
While the “Dead Stars” is like a dead dream since he seems to want to end their engagement so that he can be with
Julia, but it doesn't work out because Don Julian wants Esperanza and Alfredo's marriage to continue. He is also
afraid about the reaction of people around him.
She is merely a dream, as Julia has stated, and will never be a part of his reality. It conveys the same sense of love
and regret for not being able to express one's feelings as a dead star that shines clearly and can be seen with the naked
eye but is light years away.

Conclusion
The story is a set of the difficult situations that every man faces throughout his life. The story not only explores the
concept of love, but also demonstrates how to control oneself by identifying one's genuine feelings. They might have
learned from the story that it's hard to fall in love with two people since you have to give up everything. A desire that
would come true, but in reality, we must follow our hearts rather than rely on one symbol to find the right person for
us. Dead stars are a symbol for things that are present but unspoken. Although Alfredo and Julia's love appeared real
at first, it soon became apparent that they did not share that feeling, and that their relationship would not last.
Alfredo had felt obligated to marry Esperanza from the moment he proposed to her. Alfredo should not avoid his
responsibilities. He love Julia but they can’t be together since he is already engaged or bounded to marry Esperanza.
Even though he wasn’t able to marry whom he love, but he makes sure that person will always be in his heart.
The narrative story "Dead stars" was written from the perspective of the third person. The grammar, social attitudes,
and style of thinking of the period the short story was written are all clearly captured in it. Readers can use it as a
literary time machine to learn about courting, marriage, and loyalty in the early 1900s.   The relationship between
Alfredo and Julia is presented in the story as being taboo and forbidden. In the end, he marries Esperanza, but Julia
will always be in his heart.
The literary devices used in the story are simile, metaphor, symbolism, and imagery. The writing style of the story is
indirect, it use flowery words to describe something, and the word level is difficult to understand. After carefully
reading the text, it is evident that the author made good use of imagery, which brings the story to life in a variety of
ways. It also foreshadows the culture and dominant views of the time.
Furthermore, it is clear that there was symbolism implied in the story, as the flowers represent pleasure and joy. These
are the flowers to send if you want someone to know that your love is genuine.
While the “Dead Stars” is like a dead dream since he seems to want to end their engagement so that he can be with
Julia, but it doesn't work out because Don Julian wants Esperanza and Alfredo's marriage to continue. He is also
afraid about the reaction of people around him.
She is merely a dream, as Julia has stated, and will never be a part of his reality. It conveys the same sense of love and
regret for not being able to express one's feelings as a dead star that shines clearly and can be seen with the naked eye
but is light years away.

How does the structure of the story contribute to its meaning?

The story structure guides the reader from the beginning to the end of the story by introducing characters and settings, setting up
the conflict, developing the main plot points, and then resolving that conflict. Also, it helps in creating the surprise and tension
that are important to the story.

Are there patterns, repetittions, or motifs that are significant?

It helps you concentrate on what the author is trying to communicate and anticipate how they will convey their idea.
Repetition is an important literary device because it helps a writer or speaker to emphasize important details. It informs the
reader that the words being used are important enough to be repeated and shows when they should pay close attention to the
language. A motif can emphasize a character's personality in order to better understand them, or it can establish a mood for the
story.

How does the language and style of the story contribute to its meaning?
It will help because every decision the author makes, including those word choice, sentence structure, language, and style,
contributes to establishing the text's moods, visuals, and meaning. It determines how the reader will interpret the author's
message.

What effect do literary devices such as imagery, metaphor or symbolism have?

It improves the visual appeal of a literary work. Using visuals, someone can make a story more interesting and bring it to life. It
It can help readers to  better understand, feel, or see the deeper meaning of a story. Giving the reader the skills they need to
involve themselves in the story and experience it in a unique way. It will help to fully understand the story.

What is the significant of the ending of the story?

The significance of the ending of the story is it enlighten the readers what truly happen or what is Alfredo’s real feelings.

How it is related to the themes and motifs of the story as a whole?

The theme is Forbidden Love so it is related because and it has symbolism, patterns that is related to the story as a whole