ANALYSIS OF ‘THE HOUSE OF

THE SPIRITS’

Traditional Approach (Historical-Biographical)

Andrea May C. Malonzo

Summary: Clara The del Valle (Rosa and

Clara) Uncle Marcos Rosa’s death Esteban Trueba Tres Marias Pedro Segundo Garcia Pancha Garcia Transito Soto Ester Trueba’s death Big House in the corner

Clara and Esteban’s marriage

Ferula Clara’s first Pregnancy Blanca Summer at Tres Marias Clara’s Pregnancy Nivea and Severo’s death Missing head Jaime and Nicolas Ferula’s banishment and

death

Summary: Blanca

Blanca and Pedro Love affair massive earthquake Esteban’s broken bones Clara’s domestic job Pedro Segundo foreman Pedro Tercero’s socialists

ideas Banishment of Pedro

Tercero Count Jean de Satigny Death of Pedro Garcia

Discovery of love affair Punishment of Blanca

and Clara Pedro Segundo, Blanca

and Clara left Esteban’s revenge on

Pedro Tercero Blanca’s Pregnancy Marriage to Satigny Esteban won the election Amanda’s abortion Alba’s birth

Summary: Alba

Little Alba and the Trueba

Esteban Garcia’s molestation

Clara’s death Nicolas sent abroad Mausoleum for Clara and

Rosa Esteban’s obsession on

“Marxist cancer” Alba and Miguel Jaime and the

“Candidate”

Socialists won Pedro proposes marriage

to Blanca Economic sabotage Agrarian reform Esteban as hostage in

Tres Marias Pedro freed Esteban Military coup President and Jaime killed New government (no

democracy)

Summary: Alba

Esteban destroyed the peasant village

The Poet’s funeral Esteban admits his

mistakes Reconcile with

Blanca and Pedro Alba was captured Esteban Garcia’s

torture and rape

Clara’s appearance Miguel helped

Esteban Transito Soto Alba was freed Writing of the novel Esteban’s death Alba’s pregnancy

Interpretation

Theme of the Novel Social Injustices and Conflict of Classes

“It would be lovely if we were all created equal, but the fact is we're not.” - Esteban Trueba

The patron and the tenants of Tres Marias The upper class conservatives (democratic) Gender inequality (oppression of women)

Analysis

The House of the Spirits is a magical realism novel written by Isabel Allende after she fled from Chile because of the political turmoil in the country. The president during those times was Salvador Allende, Isabel’s uncle, who was killed in his office during the military coup.

The same political history occurred in the novel which made a significant connection between the two. The House of the Spirits reflects the Chilean society before and during the political turmoil during the 1970’s between the democrats and the communists.

Elements of the Novel

Plot Exposition

Del Valle and Trueba Complication

Esteban Trueba Climax

Military coup Resolution

Esteban admits his mistakes

Ending Alba

Setting Chile Tres Marias House in the City

Point of View “I”- Alba “I”- Esteban Omniscient

Severo del Valle

Nivea del

Valle

Pedro Tercero Garcia

Clara del

Valle TruebaEsteban Trueba

Blanca

Trueba

Jaime Trueba

Pancha

Garcia

Rosa del

Valle

Alba Trueba de Satigny

Esteban Garcia

Ester Trueb

aFerula Trueb

a

Nicolas

Trueba

Pedro Segun

do Garcia

Pedro Garcia

Esteban

Garcia

Amanda

Miguel

Jean de

Satigny

CHARACTERS Uncle

MarcosNana

Transito Soto

Ana Diaz

3 Mora Sisters

The “Candidate/ President”The “Poet”

Historical Context of the Novel

“The Great Chilean Earthquake”

- The 1933 Chilean earthquake was actually a series of strong earthquakes that affected Chile between 21 May and 6 June 1933. There where an estimated10,260 people who died.

"There's going to be an earthquake!" Clara announced, daily growing paler and more, agitated... This time it's going to be different. There will be ten thousand dead."

The “Poet”

Pablo Neruda

Neruda became known as a poet while still a teenager. He wrote in a variety of styles including surrealist poems, historical epics, overtly political manifestos, a prose autobiography, and erotically-charged love poems such as the ones in his 1924 collection Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair. In 1971 Neruda won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez once called him "the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language.“ Neruda always wrote in green ink as it was his personal color of hope.Neruda was hospitalized with cancer at the time of the Chilean coup d'état led by Augusto Pinochet. Three days after being hospitalized, Neruda died of heart failure. Already a legend in life, Neruda's death reverberated around the world. Pinochet had denied permission to transform Neruda's funeral into a public event. However, thousands of grieving Chileans disobeyed the curfew and crowded the streets.

“The Candidate”

Salvador Allende- Gossens

He was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America.

In 1970, he won the presidency in a close three-way race, formally elected by Congress as no candidate had gained a majority.Allende adopted the policy of nationalization of industries and collectivization.

On 11 September 1973 the military, citing a call by the Chilean Congress to end his presidency, staged a coup against Allende. As the armed forces surrounded La Moneda Palace, Allende gave his last speech vowing not to resign,  and committed suicide thereafter. After Allende's ouster, Chile was led by a military junta, and then as a dictatorshipby General Augusto Pinochet.

Military Coup d'état

Government of Junta 1973

The 1973 Chilean coup d'état was a watershed event of the Cold War and the history of Chile. Following an extended period of social and political unrest between the conservative-dominated Congress of Chile and the socialist President Salvador Allende.

A military junta led by Allende's Army Commander-in-Chief Augusto Pinochet eventually took control of the government, composed of the heads of the Air Force, Navy, Carabineros (police force) and the Army.

The Author: Isabel Allende

Isabel Allende was born August 2, 1942, in Lima, Peru, the daughter of Chilean diplomat Tomás Allende and his wife, Francisca Llona Barros. Her father was a first cousin of Salvador Allende, her godfather, who later became president of Chile. Allende became a noted journalist in Chile, authoring regular magazine columns, editing a children's magazine, and even hosting a weekly television program. In the meantime, her uncle Salvador Allende was elected President of Chile on his fourth attempt at the office. When his government fell to a military coup on September 13, 1973, the author's life took a dramatic change. For fifteen months, the author helped many people escape the military's persecution at the risk of her own life, witnessing events that she would later incorporate into her first novel.

Evaluation

The House of then Spirits is a very good and well written novel with thrilling political backdrop.

It is highly recommended for those who are interested in political history and political themes.

Those who are also interested in love stories may also find this novel worth reading.

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