Isabel Allende in House of the Spirits portrayed many seemingly minor characters that ended up having a greater role than expected. One of the unexpected characters was Alba. Despite the fact that Alba was not born until chapter nine, she played a significant role in the plot of the story and character dynamics of the Trueba family and other strong men and women. This then lead to the fact that Allende built up powerful and outspoken personalities to ultimately create one strong character, Alba, who finished the novel with a shocking and hopeful ending. Alba was brought into the world as a beautiful baby, with good astrological fortune. In her first hours, she already had traits that resembled her to two strong-minded characters, Rosa …show more content…
So as eccentric as Alba’s living conditions already were, things get even more unusual when she began to undergo Nicholas’s weekly teachings of pain induration. “Her uncle helped her think of all these things without crying, and taught her to relax and not resist the pain so that it would pass through her without stopping” (Page 274). Little Alba, who worked hard for her uncle’s appreciation participated and cooperated through all his activities. “If she managed to get through … all the tests Nicholas imposed, she won a prize” (Page 274). While held captive by Esteban Garcia and the Security Police this ability helped her withstand the suffering. Alba “inherited” Nicholas’s quality of endurance and self-dignity that helped her survive “The Terror”. Jaime provided Alba with a vast knowledge of medicine and the human anatomy through his revealing books. This knowledge of the human body surprised Esteban Garcia when “[he] took her hand and placed it on his stiffened sex [and she replied] [y]our penis” (Page 286). Jaime also taught Alba to do as she pleased, and not what pleased others. This then helped her remain loyal to what she thought was right during all that she overcame. A strong-minded character that made a significant appearance in the novel was Amanda. Amanda was introduced as Nicholas’s girlfriend, who believed in the freedom of pleasure (Page 216 and 222). “They encouraged his [Nicholas] love for her” (Page 220). Jaime fell in love with her at first
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.
Do you think besides literature have another ways to display history? Can historians show you the picture about the historic event instead of imagining them by yourselves? “Abina and the Important Men” is a graphic history book, so the authors not only gives readers literal record but also give images to illustrate the history. The story happened in west Africa in 1876. In story includes phenomenon of the society, and certain African cultures. Abina Mansah, Quamina Eddoo and William Meltonare most important characters in the story because they represent different hierarchies in the society and display different condition in these hierarchies.
She doesn’t seem that interested in getting to know people, as much as she is interested in keeping money to survive and supporting her habit. Due to the lack of love Rosa received from her mother she had no motivation to stop what she was doing and change for the better.
Also, each character has his or her own form of a Meeting with the Goddess. For Blanca, her meeting occurs when her daughter, Alba, is born. Alba portrays the Innocent character archetype from the moment she is born. She brings happiness to everyone she connects with. This helps ease the tensions in the Trueba family and transforms Esteban into someone who is a little softer on the inside, which causes him to ultimately accept Pedro and Blanca’s relationship. For Winston Smith, his meeting occurs before many of the previous stages. When he meets with Julia in Victory Square and they hold hands amongst the busy crowd of Oceanians. This meeting not only gives him assurance of who Julia really is, but also increases his strange feelings of affection
Esperanza has a variety of female role models in her life. Many are trapped in abusive relationships, waiting for others to change their live. A female role model or friends seems to be important to Esperanza. Some of the women that are her role models are, Esperanza's great-grandmother, Marin, and Rafaela. Even though she may not have known these women very well they still impacted her life immensely , some showed the way that Esperanza did not want to live in her life to information about boys she found interesting.
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
In Allende’s The House of the Spirits, Esteban Trueba is the principal male character. During the course of the novel, Trueba increases his power in the world as he progresses in status from a conservative landowner to a powerful senator. He is tyrannical, treating his family members and the tenants on his family hacienda, Tres Marías, like subjects rather than intimate community. The basis for most of Trueba's actions is the desire for power, control, and wealth, and he pursues these things at any cost, disregarding his emotional decline and the effects of his actions upon the people in his life.
The House of the Spirits written by Isabel Allende is an extraordinary novel that weaves together, history, politics, and current events to create a unique piece of literature. Throughout the novel on several occasions it is clear that there is inequality between the aristocrats and the peasants and this leads to struggle between the classes. The issue of class struggle takes the form of growing conflict by causing a division between the Conservatives and Socialists. At the head of the Conservatives is Esteban Trueba, a violent and materialistic figure. He believes people need to work their way up to the top and there is no reason that peasants share the upper classes wealth. On the other hand, Pedro Tercero Garcia represents the
She also saves her pride and arrogance as the Choragos remarks, “Like father, like daughter: both headstrong, deaf to reason! She has never learned to yield.” She had many chances to prevent her demise but her pride stood in the way. Through the progression of scenes leading to her tragic ‘fall’, she is every bit of the woman she was at the beginning.
In the book Isabel Allende experiments with various literary devices. The many different narrative voices used in this book allow the reader to understand the book from dissimilar perspectives. As the story unfolds, one can see the symbolism that occurs in many of the events. The story revolves around the different generations of the Del Valle family. Symbolism is used as a literary device in this book to apply ideas and images to explain something in particular. Symbolism provides meaning to the writing beyond what is actually being described. The plot and action that take place in this story can be thought of as one level, while the symbolism of certain things in the writing of this story act on another level to enhance the story.
In many novels, relationships shape a character. Throughout Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits dissimilar individuals constantly come together to form relationships that change or develop their disposition. While Allende uses relationships to build upon a character, she also depicts a character's living environment in order to confirm their true soul and lifestyle. Due to the observation of both relationships and environments, a character's true qualities are expressed to a reader. The relationship between two individuals, Ferula and Clara, proves itself a positive product of the union of differing people. Through analysis of Ferula's home and close observation of her bond with Clara,
Born to have good luck, Alba suffered one of the most horrific brutalities a woman could ever encounter: rape. She was captured because the military thought that eventually after enough brutality she would give up Miguel's location, but as strong willed as her mother she never gave him up. She would have probably been held captive for the rest of her life by Esteban Garcia just to keep Miguel safe. When she reunites with Ana Díaz, a former revolutionary, they help each get through the sexual abuse and beatings by singing hymns and comforting each other. A little while later, they reunite again when they were both held in a concentration camp for women and children; there the women pull together to support each other. They all knew that if they
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
To foreshadow events in books or to tell the meaning of a story, authors often use symbolism. Symbolism uses people, places, or things that have their own meaning, to express something different. The author of Esperanza Rising, Pam Muñoz Ryan, uses a certain fruit or vegetable to symbolize events of emotions that occur in the chapter. Three chapters in Esperanza Rising that represent an important part of the book are Los Higos, Las Cebollas, and Los Aquacates. In Esperanza Rising, figs, onions, and avocados symbolize a new beginning, the acceptance of starting anew, and the rewards followed after hardship.
In her essay "Memory and Retelling: The Role of Women in La Casa de Los Espíritus", Susan Frick clarifies Alba’s unique narrative style. She asserts that in Alba’s woman-centered form of narration, she is "tapping into collective memory to evoke and interpret the stories and voices of the past and to learn how best to proceed with her own individual life experience" (Frick 29). Clara, Alba's grandmother, was already in the habit of documenting significant events and afterward, when she was voiceless on purpose, she also detailed insignificances, never suspecting that fifty years later, Alba, her granddaughter, would use her notebooks to regain the past and overcome fears. She struggles, with her grandmother’s diaries, her mother’s letters, and many other family documents, to assemble the family’s story in a way that joins events instead of just recording them. According to Alba and her female relatives, direct history is not the only way to record events, and Alba’s conscious narration of the Trueba family is a more incorporating approach to life and