"The House of Spirits"

Paper Summary:

In order to analyze and explain why the first and third person narrators in Isabella Allende's novel, "The House of Spirits", treat the character of Esteban so sympathetically, this paper considers what the novel itself represents, its autobiographical roots and the historical as well as allegorical elements in the story.

From the Paper:

"The other characters represent the spirit of the people and various contending factions in Chile: revolutionaries, the Church, the natives. They are part of the tumultuous and violent history of the Chilean people. In The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende portrays the politics, myth, and magic of her homeland. The novel reveals the diversity of opinion among conservatives during the socialist regime in Chile. Many of the conservatives of the generation of Esteban Trueba, the protagonist's grandfather, were afraid of change and unable to support socialism on ideological grounds, but felt that when Salvador Allende fell, Chile would return to its democratic roots. When they saw what Pinochet's dictatorship brought, they were horrified. Outside Chile, there is a tendency to classify the opponents of socialism automatically as supporters of the dictatorship."

More papers on "The House of Spirits":

• Book Review # 122950 : "The House of Spirits" - A Review"
• Essay # 73777 : "Women in Allende's "House of Spirits"
• Analytical Essay # 57481 : "The House of the Spirits"

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