25 pages • 50 minutes read
The Glass of Milk
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Literary Devices
Juxtaposition
Juxtaposition is a comparison of two different things to characterize them through this contrast. One example of juxtaposition in the narrative is the contrast between the young man’s views of the sea and the city; the sea is a place where people work together and everyone on a ship is provided for, while the city is “a place of slavery” (Paragraph 21). In this political allegory, Rojas uses the city to represent capitalist exploitation and the sea to represent a more collaborative and nurturing social structure.
Rojas also juxtaposes the protagonist, who is desperate and starving, and the old man at the dairy, who is relaxed and leisurely. The narrator describes the old man as “reading without moving, as if glued to the chair. Over the little table there was a half-drunk glass of milk” (Paragraph 40). The old man’s stillness evokes a calmness that the protagonist views antagonistically, as he is starving and would never treat food so casually. His anger is fueled by “the flame in his stomach,” and “he [throws] the old man glances that [seem] like stones” (Paragraph 41). For the young man, it seems a grave injustice that someone can have so much while he has so little, even though the old man simply has a glass of milk and a place to sit. Later, the man is described as “a crooked old man, with traces of the carpenter or the varnisher” (Paragraph 43), revealing he is less genteel than the young man believes. Here, the juxtaposition fades; the two are revealed to be more similar than the young man thought. This indicates that they share a struggle, and the young man has nothing to gain from hating this man; he is not the reason for his poverty.
Foil
Foils are two characters with contrasting personalities. This technique is used to deepen characterization and illuminate themes in stories. In “The Glass of Milk,” the young man and the vagabond are foils for each other. What separates these individuals is their ages and temperaments. The young man maintains an innocent faith in the system: If he works, he will be able to feed himself. The vagabond, by contrast, is older and willing to accept the sailor’s leftovers. Their contrast is embodied in their statements to the sailor. The young man lies, “No, I am not hungry!” (Paragraph 9), while the vagabond tells the truth: “Yes sir, I am very much hungry!” (Paragraph 15).
Rojas subverts typical morality tales and rags-to-riches stories through these two characters. The young man is not rewarded for his pride; by contrast, the vagabond enjoys a meal. Contrasting these characters in the story’s opening sets up Rojas’s political allegory, immediately establishing that the existing social code does not take care of its citizens.
Unnamed Characters
Character names often add meaning to the story. For example, a character’s name can help establish authentic settings, introduce a symbol, or allude to other literary works. In “The Glass of Milk,” Rojas leaves his characters nameless, describing them only as the young man, the sailor, the vagabond, the old man, and the lady. This naming convention creates a sense of universality and reinforces the story’s work as a political allegory—this is not simply the story of one starving young man but the story of the working class more broadly. It also reinforces the story’s discussion of the way capitalist exploitation dehumanizes the working class, reducing their individuality into a mass of expendable workers.
Repetition
The young man’s internal monologue often uses repetition for emphasis. This repetition changes throughout the story, paralleling the young man’s mounting desperation. At first, a clause is repeated within a sentence: “It had been exactly three days since he had eaten, three long days”; “He couldn’t do it, he could never do it” (Paragraph 18). In the first instance, the repetition of “three days” evokes a feeling of despair, encouraging a meditation on how hungry one would be after three days. In the second sentence, it seems as though the young man is convincing himself that his course of action is correct, even though the vagabond’s actions have proven that accepting charity would alleviate his hunger.
On the second day, the repetition becomes more immediate, reflecting the man’s desperation: “He felt hunger, hunger, hunger! A hunger that subdued him like a whipping” (Paragraph 24). Another day has gone by without food, and the urgency of his situation has increased. Later, after eating the cookies, he “sobbed, sobbed,” showing the depth of his guilt and despair. However, the dairy worker comforts him: “Cry, son, cry” (Paragraph 62), and this repetition mimics a soothing gesture like patting one’s back, validating the man’s actions.
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