It has no beginning, no end, just a long list of causes and effects, repeating patterns and cycles as it stretches through time. Isabel Allende, in the novel The House of the Spirits demonstrates how history repeats itself and that everything is connected through the repetition of events, the inter-generational storyline and the ending of cycles. Throughout the novel, events, motifs, and characteristics are mirrored, bringing attention to the cyclic nature of the novel, as well as connecting characters and ideas together.
Rosa and Alba’s green hair, for example, is a seemingly minor trait that is shared between two very different characters. Alba is”the only one who had inherited something from Rosa… ”p296 While seemingly only using it to bring Esteban Trueba and Alba closer together, the only reason why she kept it green was to “please him”pg296, it is actually a part of the large circle of the book. Rosa’s death at the beginning of the book and Esteban blaming himself for it, believing that “if she had been with [him] she would never have drunk the poison… ”p. 6 is a major catalyst for Esteban’s need for power, especially over women. Alba’s kidnapping is another serious loss of control for Esteban, of which he also blames himself, admitting that it has all gone “overboard”p. 419. Esteban’s situation is also mirrored, he is “powerless”p. 420 and unable to do anything in both, one where he was working in the mine when it happened, and the next helpless against the military dictatorship. But when Alba is saved from Esteban Garcia, it atones for, at least in Esteban’s mind, his previous inability to save Rosa.
The Essay on Mama Elena Family Esteban Mother
... obstinate and temperamental character to being very needed and open. Esteban, who had previously shied away from opportunities to open ... and his granddaughter, Alba. After pushing away the previous two generations of women in the family, Clara and Blanca, Esteban suddenly realizes ... Elena's rule and grows apart. Gertrudis leaves and Tita and Rosa ura compete for Pedro's love. The family members are not ...
These two, connected only by Esteban Trueba’s love and their hair colour, demonstrates how history repeats itself, with the repetition of the events and characteristics, but not always with the same methods or outcomes. Another example of this repetition is the rapes of Pancha by Esteban Trueba, and Alba by Esteban Garcia. It shows how actions are brought in a circle as “the grandson of the woman who was raped repeats the gesture with the granddaughter of the rapist… ”p. 431 and if not broken the cycle would continue “in an unending tale of sorrow… ”p. 432. The hate instilled in Garcia by his grandmother who “managed… o poison his childhood… ”p. 189 by telling him who he could have been if he was legitimate, which was in turn caused by Esteban Trueba’s actions, returns against his family, and almost repeats itself again as Alba contemplates her hate for Garcia and her child born “of so many rapes”p. 432but thankfully stops. This is a demonstration of the cycle of revenge, each party reacting to the actions of the other, who then reacts to them, forming an unending loop, and brings the events in a full circle, back to Esteban Trueba who is the catalyst of the events, further supporting that life is cyclic.
Furthermore, repetitions of motifs are used to tie characters together and connect them in ways that aren’t possible otherwise. Names are often used to these ends, the most notable ones the names of the female family members: Nivea, Clara, Blanca and Alba, all having similar meanings connected to light, white and clearness, Alba’s being the “last in a luminous chain of words”p. 262. This brings a sense of unity to the characters, emphasizing their relation and their similarities. The meaning of the words also draws attention to their innocence and purity as characters.
We also have the characters Esteban Trueba and Esteban Garcia, who is named after the former. Esteban Garcia is named after Esteban Trueba as he is actually his grandson, though “no one knew his origin”p. 189. Many parallels are draw between the two, from the power issues to the rapes to being viewed as an oppressor, their similar names only strengthening the connection between the two, and showing their link, not only through their actions but their heritage as well as a constant reminder.
The Essay on Barn Burning Abner Snopes Character Analysis
William Faulkners short story Barn Burning describes a typical relationship between wealthy people and poor people during the Civil War. The main character, Abner Snopes, sharecrops to make a living for his family. He despises wealthy people. Out of resentment for wealthy people, he goes and burns their barns to get revenge. Abners character over the course of the story is unchanging in that he is ...
Names can say much about the character and Allende uses this well, using them as a device in the novel to explore the relations between the characters with out to much explaining. These cycles and connections are made possible by Allende’s long, inter-generational storyline as the past, the present and the future all mix into one, letting us see a small part of a long story that happened and continues to happen. We do not start at the beginning of the story, but somewhere in the middle, where life grows and ends, and we see a merging of the past, present and future though the narration of Alba as she talk about “50 years later… p. 1which continues on with the heavy foreshadowing through the book, not only by the psychic characters, who show this connection in the world of the story, but also by the narrators, Esteban and Alba who show the connection through their writing, that there is no past, present or future, everything “happens simultaneously”p. 432. This view allows us to see “the relationships between events”, we can see what led people to do what they do, the importance of events between seemingly random characters, why they are who they are, and all of the consequences of their actions.
The book itself bears witness to “life for over 50 years” through Clara’s notebooks and Esteban’s memory, which “remained intact down to the last second of his ninety years”, and dictates the lives of the family and the people surrounding them, created so that Alba could “take [her] roots with [her]”. This allows us to see the web of relations between characters and emphasizes the connections of the family with everyone, from painters to colonels, illustrating how everyone is connected to each other though this one family.
A major part of the House of the Spirits is being able to step back and look at the whole design, seeing the patterns and connections that create an intricate web that can only be explained as life’ with its ups and downs, highs and lows; but this can never be seen as it is happening, and only as we look back and analyse everything that has happened, can we truly understand and see that there is no beginning, no end; that everything is connected to each other, patterns change and history repeats itself, and that, above all, life is cyclical.
The Research paper on Character Proteces Life
Character Protects Life Skip to Navigation Skip to Content OPPapers.comResearch Papers and Essays for All Login Writing Service Upload Blog Follow Us Join Search Character Protects Lifes We have many premium term papers and essays on Character Protects Lifes. We also have a wide variety of research papers and book reports available to you for free. You can browse our collection of term papers or ...
