我們生活在一個充滿不確定的時代，尤其現今世界上的每一個角落壟 罩在流行病與其帶來的痛苦、奮鬥及死亡之中，生存是每個人竭力尋求的 目標。伊莎貝.阿言德在小說《寶拉》中，細述在其愛女病榻前的情懷， 字字句句刻畫面對生命早逝時，內心的無解、無言、質疑、遺憾與苦痛等 情緒不斷糾葛、衝撞的心路歷程。然而，作品以非凡的勇氣調和了失去和 希望，甚至超越了死亡。本研究的目的不在於呈現給讀者陪伴與疾病奮鬥 接著走入生命終點的過程，而是讓讀者能對此議題能有開放思考的空間。 阿言德在心靈深邃的寧靜中尋找一種方式來理解與面對失去骨肉之痛的那 一刻，並且試圖與之和解。在對痛苦與死亡感到無助與不解的時刻，與之 共存並且極力在這份苦痛中尋求解答，無庸置疑地，在過程中產生了奮鬥 的目標、等待答案的耐心以及對未來的盼望。伊莎貝.阿言德在女兒寶拉 的死亡中找到了為戰勝自我而奮鬥的理由及與死亡的事實共存的動力。她 指出，與這個以慢速度逐漸崩壞的疾病對抗以外，她生命中最寶貴的，是 在寶拉靈魂得到釋放的最後一秒有機會學習與死亡共存。而該小說最後幾 頁也證實了這個陳述。
The times we are living in are absolutely uncertain. The pandemic with its cloak of pain, struggle and death covers all corners of the world. Survival is the goal we all seek to achieve. Isabel Allende’s novel Paula is a hymn to the sensitivity of its author, facing the deathbed of her beloved daughter. The pages of this book traverse the twists and turns of the minds and hearts of its protagonists. Allende’s family wan- ders due to incomprehension in the face of suffering and of the outcome of a life cut short at such an early age. However, the narrative tries with unusual vigor to rec- oncile loss and hope beyond death. Our purpose in writing these lines does not exhaust the answers that can be wielded by the reader who attends the disease pro- cess and, consequently, the end of life. Allende seeks in the deep restlessness of her spirit, a way to understand the supreme moment facing reconciliation and the pain of her own blood. There is an opportunity to live with this reality. It’s possi- ble, especially in the difficulty for finding answers in the face of anguish and even uncertainty whether it makes sense to continue this fight. Without a doubt, in the misunderstanding of grief and death, there is a goal to fight and an answer to offer with patience and hope for the future. Isabel Allende finds through the sacrifice of her daughter Paula a reason for personal struggle and the reconciliation with death. Paula points out that—beyond the struggle with the disease that is slowly destroy- ing the most precious thing Allende has in her life—the possibility of learning to live with death is revealed in the definitive instant of Paula's spiritual liberation. The last pages of the book bear witness to this. As the writer and the mother says: “Far over there a flock of wild ducks passes and they take your name south. Paula, Paula ...”