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Pact Of Silence

Decent Essays

While the setting of the novel, Barcelona, was essentially the center of the deadly Spanish Civil War, when the author Zafón was writing the story, Barcelona (along with the rest of Spain) was engaged in what was known as the “pact of silence” (Bethune 65). This “pact of silence” was fragile in every nature, with citizens and government members alike choosing to keep quiet and “not to stir the national demons.” Following several years of civil war, Spain was placed under the dictatorial rule of Francisco Franco, who remained dictator until his death in 1975 (Bethune 65). It was after Franco’s death that the “pact of silence” was put into practice as a kind of national safeguard, in some ways allowing the citizens of Spain to be able to relax again without having to constantly be reminded of the war’s deadly consequences. …show more content…

The Spanish Civil War was mainly caused by a democratic government being established in Spain in 1931 (“Spanish Civil War”). The war was split between the rightists and leftists, with the leftists being the party in charge of the democratic government that was enacted. Eventually, the left completely lost control and “engaged in what was called ‘arming the people,’ which meant giving weapons and de facto power to the revolutionary organizations” (“Spanish Civil War”). When the democratic government failed, Francisco Franco, rightist commander-in-chief of the military insurgents, installed himself as dictator and chief of state. After this event, the war raged on for three long years, from 1936-1939, with the worst fighting occurring in Barcelona in 1937 (“Spanish Civil

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