THE LOST DOLL

1. How were Carmen and Evangelina alike and different? Or In what ways Maria Del Carmen and         Evangelina alike?

2. Why did they name the new baby Evangelina?

3. Why did Roberto want to save Carmen's things?

    Why Rosa did said that there was no reason to save Carmen's things?

SUMMARY:

The Lost Doll is the story laid on the background of South America. Carmen was the only child of Roberto and Rosa Soto. She was beautiful, bright and loving child. However she was sick from the day of her birth. When she was four, she fell sick seriously and died. Her body was taken to the cemetery in the small wooden coffin. A few days after the funeral ceremony, Rosa gave away Carmen’s playthings and clothes to a priest of another village so that she couldn't see them time and again. She thought that she wouldn't have another child as she was told by the doctor that she wouldn't have any children at the time of Carmen’s birth. When Roberto knew about it, he became very unhappy because he was hopeful that they would have another child. He asked about her the little dolly which Carmen always carried with her. Rosa said that she didn't give it away. Then they searched everywhere in the house as well asked the villagers too but they couldn't find it.

However they soon forgot about the lost doll because Rosa became pregnant. On the first anniversary of the death of Carmen, Rosa gave birth to another child. Roberto and Rosa became very happy. She was named Evangelina, which meant “good news”. When Evangelina grew she looked very much similar to her sister Carmen. But she was healthy girl. When she was about four, she told her mother that she had been sick a long time ago. She also told her aunt that she had a little, beautiful doll with blue eyes and red dress. She had buried it under a tree in the yard. She requested her mother to dig up the doll. When Rosa dug up the ground, she found the lost doll. She looked surprised, shocked and sick because it was difficult for her to believe. Evangelina also said that when she was sick, the nice man came and helped her to bury that doll under the tree.

This is story about reincarnation. Reincarnation is when the soul or spirit of one body is reborn in another body. Evangelina is the reincarnation of Carmen. This explains why Evangelina "remembers" being sick and why she knows where the lost doll was hidden.  When Evangelina was born and grown up, she looked very much similar to that of Carmen’s actions, characters, behaviors and other many things were very much similar. The priest said that God healed Carmen and sent her back in the form of healthy Evangelina. Though Rosa did not believe that her newly born child as the reincarnation of Carmen but she could not reject the mysterious fact towards the end of the story. When Evangelina reported everything about past and about her doll, Rosa could say nothing anymore.