House Of The Spirits

In analyzing portrayals of women, it is appropriate to begin with the character of Margarita. For, within the text, she embodies the traditionally masculine traits of bravery, resilience, and violence as a means of liberating herself from an existence of abuse and victimhood. Even more, the woman plays upon stereotypes of femininity in order to mask her true nature. The reader witnesses this clever deception in a scene where the character endures a “wholesome thrashing” from her huge, violent, and grizzly bear-like husband, Guerra (81). Although Margarita “[submits] to the infliction with great apparent humility,” her husband is found “stone-dead” the next morning (81). Here, diction such as “submits” and “humility” relate to the traits of weakness, subservience and inferiority that are so commonly expected of women, especially in their relationships with men. Yet, when one

Esperanza is the protagonist of the story. She is very wealthy and gets everything she wants. She struggles through her father’s death and moving to California. Throughout the story she becomes very mature, determined, and a hard worker. She really shocked me because she was a very spoiled princess who became a very strong migrant worker. Ramona Ortega also known as Mama is Esperanza’s mother. They are always together and she helped Esperanza stay strong. Throughout the story she is very strong but becomes very ill and depressed. Miguel was Esperanza’s best friends when they were little kids. He is the child of two servants that work for the family. He wants to become a mechanic and is very determined to reach that goal. They still look after eachother, even though they aren’t very close due to their social status. In the end he is able to bring back Abuelita back from Mexico. Hortensia was a servant that took care of their family. She always looked after Esperanza and was almost like a second mother. She was a Zapotec Indian. She was Alfonso’s wife and the mother of Miguel. Alfonso was a field worker and a very close friend to Papa. He loved the land and took care of the rose garden. He is the main person who helped everyone get to California. Isabel is the daughter of Juan and Josefina. She is only 9 years old but can clean, do laundry, and change diapers. She was the one who taught Esperanza how to do housework. She becomes very close friends with Esperanza. Isabel is the only one who goes to school to learn to read, write, and speak

When the reader is first introduced to the story, one is told of the newly crowned queen Dulce Rosa Orellano that is described as being happy and graceful by Allende. The characterization of the young girl is important because this shows that she is known for her outer appearances and behaviors rather than her

Esperanza has a variety of female role models in her life. Many are trapped in abusive relationships, waiting for others to change their live. Esperanza had many struggles in her life, not growing up where and how she wanted to so role models were very important to her. These role models showed her the way she didn't

With all of the bad things going on around Esperanza, she was very optimistic and made the best of everything she could. For example, in chapter one, Esperanza explain how she and her family had always grown up poor and that they always had dreams of one day owning a big beautiful house like the ones that they saw on television. One with a back yard and a basement. When Esperanza's family was forced to move her parents had purchased the first house that they could afford so they wouldn't have to continue paying rent. The house was nothing like what they had spoke of or dreamt about. But Esperanza states, "I then knew I had to have a house. One I could point to. But this isn't it. The house on Mango Street isn't it. For the time being, Mama said. Temporary, says Papa. But I know how those things go.." Within this paragraph it shows that Esperanza isn't exactly happy about where she is living but she is going to make the best of it and do what she has to do to get out of there and have a house of her own. One that she can point to.

Esperanza is able to look at her great grandmother and realize what she does not want to become, but also she realizes what she does want: to become a strong, independent woman.

A poignant figure in Esperanza’s life is her own grandmother. In fact, Esperanza was given her birth name after her grandmother. A touching gesture that came from good faith. A name may have some value, but for Esperanza there was a high intrinsic quality to such a simple component. Despite, never encountering her own grandmother in person, Esperanza was grateful to have fond memories by carrying her legacy through her name. Life’s motto concerns dealing with adversity and carrying the legacy of one’s family eternally. Being confident and smart was the only way to live by. No man was needed to help raise and nurture herself. Her grandmother instilled in Esperanza a sense of fortitude and independence. It is sad that a regret of Esperanza is linked to her grandmother, further illustrating the physical and mental hardships one can endure in

The Call of Cthulhu is a horror story that is able to break through and cause terror. The horror comes from forcing the reader to witness awful and unexplainable things happen to the characters in the story, especially without the ability to prevent the misfortunes from happening. It becomes terror because Lovecraft places the entire story in our reality rather then a fictional setting. Becuase of this, we are forced to relate the story’s events to our physical world. It inflicts a sense of danger by insinuating that the forces in the story exist around us. Lovecraft is able to effectively place the imaginary story in our physical world by arming the story in science and logic, using familiar references and locations, and makes you an unofficial

The “Fall of The House of The Usher” is a novel that gives the thrill of a family who has a troubled lifestyle. The story is told completely through one character, the narrator. The narrator is not given a name or any background information. The narrator is merely a door that opens to the reader to see the story clearly through his eyes. Throughout the story, the narrator slowly becomes a character of his own and he gets his own personality and thoughts. Him becoming his own character in the story shows his good reliability as a narrator. He starts to develop a horrific thoughts through the story and later as he leaves the house he is a changed person.

In Allende’s novel The House of the Spirits, Esteban Trueba is the only character to survive the entirety of the novel. The reader witnesses how Esteban’s harsh childhood plays as key role in his development in the present. The reader also grows with Esteban, they witness his wide variety of relationships with different characters, and how each reveal new characteristics of him. Lastly, throughout the novel Esteban plays a key role as the antagonist in many conflicts, which develop the worst of his characteristics. From an ambitious young man, to the main antagonist in many conflicts; watching Esteban grow throughout the novel successfully involves the reader in the inner core of Esteban emphasizing how violence occupies a central role throughout

The House of the Spirits contains numerous themes each as significant as the last. Personally, my favorite theme was the fact that no matter the situation family will always stick by you and will come to your aid. Allende illustrates this when Jaime decided to help Nicolás with Amanda’s pregnancy no matter how much it pained him and reminded him that she wasn’t his, no matter how much he loved her.  Equally important is the struggle between classes. For instance, in the very begining when Esteban goes to the mine in order to be rich enought to marry Rosa because her family was of a higher class than Esteban’s. Moreover, the author higlights the significance of women’s power and equality. Throughout the novel we see the main characters, who

This is a little creepy and full of suspense story about a family dealing with a paranormal activity at their home. This is good starter book if you would like to explore or just satisfy a little your curiosity about a spirit world.

The film Paranormal Activity is a very popular first part to a series that devolped in 2007. The Paranormal Activity franchise has had a major effect on the population. The film is mentioned in comedy skits and everyday television on a regular basis. The reason this film is iconic is because the western population can relate to it on a personal level.

Esteban meets Count Jean de Satigny and entertains the idea of his marriage with Blanca. But the conniving Count informs Esteban about Blanca’s relationship with Pedro Tercero. Esteban beats Blanca with a horse whip and when Clara defends the young lovers, Esteban punches her in the face, knocking out her teeth; he turns into a monster of brutality. He releases his temper, rage and frustration which he stored when he lost Rosa and after suffering through Clara’s rejections of him.

I know she's a good girl. Isn't she? Quiet. Hard-working. She bakes her bread and sews her skirts...(Lorca 5)" The Bridegroom's mother represents Spain's society as a whole, in regard to the woman's role to be "Quiet, hard-working, to bake and to sew." She doesn't inquire if she's pretty, or intelligent, etc, she only wants to know what she's going to do for her son. Lorca gives the reader the opportunity to sympathize with the Bride, and her lack of true identity, due to a distorted society.