The Shadow of the Wind Is Carlos Ruiz Zafon

If You Play, You Pay

Sex is like hacking. You get in; you get out, and hope that you didn't leave something that can be traced back to you. This is the attitude of my generation. Sex is what drives most everything today. Everyone's doing it. Literally. Sex has been around, well, since the beginning of time. It's nothing new, neither is premarital sex. Some favor it, and some oppose it. Although people have been having sex before marriage for hundreds of years, teen pregnancy is on the rise today (Finer). Unlike in The Shadow of The Wind, where two girl's fathers were so upset their daughters became pregnant they took drastic measures, it appears that unwed pregnant mothers are more supported today, not only by their own parents, but by society.

The author of The Shadow of The Wind is Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Throughout the novel he displays many different themes, such as the important of reading and taking care of books, and love. With love always comes sex, which causes some interesting developments in the plot. The novel is about a young boy who discovers a book that he falls in love with and protects with his life. After reading the book he feels that it is his mission to find the author, Julian, and find out everything about his life. Along this journey, Daniel discovers different people having sex that either affects him, or Julian. The author portrays all these intercourse occurrences to be casual and often, which mirrors our society today.

The first occurrence of sex that Daniel discovers is of his big crush Clara, and her piano teacher, Adrian. Daniel is not only heartbroken at the girl he used to daydream about, "I imagined my fingers stroking her neck, exploring a body I had conjured up from my fantasies" (Zafon 59). But also surprised because Clara is blind and he always thought of her as an innocent angel, and also Adrian is much older than she. "Expect greatness from children; many sex education classes are instructed as if there is no way teenagers should be expected to control themselves and so spend most of the time talking about birth control rather than abstinence. When it comes to teaching sex education, all parents should be home-school parents" (Husk). This quote is basically stating how during our society today, teens are being taught about sex education and contraceptions, automatically expecting/knowing that most kids aren't going to stay a virgin until they are married. Therefore, instructors feel that now it's pointless to even preach abstinence and try to teach kids the safe way. Kids develop sexual hormones and thoughts at a very young age and it grows stronger as we get older, "I visualized her naked skin under my hands, and it seemed to me that I could almost savor her sweet breath" (Zafon 297). This sexual drive of Bea (his best friend's sister) leads to the second sexual interaction Daniel encounters, when they have sex one night.

Bea ends up pregnant, and her father locks her up in the house, ashamed of her. He tries to force Bea to tell him who the father is, but she refuses to tell because she cares for Daniel too much. Her younger brother Thomas stops talking to Daniel also. Daniel calls their house for Bea one day and when her father threatens Daniel, he still cowers and doesn't reveal his name, "You son of a bitch, I swear I'm going to beat your brains out" (Zafon 328). "A lot of girls who come here from really bad situations and are desperate for shelter and love and someone to care for them, and this place is just a haven for girls that need it"(Carper). Nowadays, there are places for girls to receive support, whereas back when this novel took place, it was a disgrace if you were carrying a child before you were married, and you were locked up or pawned off on someone else. Shelters now offer help and counseling on how to cope and to deal afterwards, "But she changed her mind about having an abortion and decided to place her baby for adoption" (Carper). Later