Characters
The House of the Spirits opens by introducing Severo and Nivea del Valle along with two of their daughters: Rosa, the eldest, and Clara, the youngest. Clara, condemned by the local priest as being possessed by the devil, foresees a death in the del Valle family. This grim prediction comes true when Rosa accidentally consumes poison intended for Severo. Following Rosa's death, her fiancé, Esteban Trueba, who has been working in the mines to build his fortune, informs his sister Ferula that he will instead focus on restoring their family's estate, Tres Marias.
The novel continues with the story of Clara del Valle and Esteban Trueba, who eventually marry. Esteban, the head of the Trueba family, is a fervent and diligent man, determined to achieve success. However, he is also quick-tempered, often cruel, and unsympathetic towards those less fortunate. He brooks no opposition to his rigid conservative views and believes he is justified in ruling his plantation with an iron fist because he has improved the peasants' living standards. "It would be lovely if we were all created equal, but the fact is we're not," he asserts, claiming his workers would be lost without him. He holds a similar attitude towards women, wishing to dominate Clara "absolutely, down to her last thought," exploiting women on the plantation, and asserting that a woman's place is "motherhood and the home." His biggest flaw is his inability to manage his temper, which leads him to harm those he loves most. He often regrets that he "gets carried away with his punishment," such as when he whips Blanca after finding her with Pedro Tercero or when he beats Clara for defending their daughter.
Esteban, hailing from a prominent yet impoverished family, harbors ambitions for both power and wealth. He successfully achieves these goals, becoming a wealthy patron and a senator. However, his personal life is less successful. His relationships with his children "only worsened with time," and after Clara's death, he acknowledges that he had "only two friends" to try to cheer him up. Ferula's curse appears to come true as he diminishes over time. It would be difficult to feel sympathy for Esteban, except for two reasons: the first-person narration that reveals his deep capacity for both love and suffering; and the tolerance and understanding he gains in his later years. The repercussions of the coup teach him that his judgment is not infallible, and he becomes less rigid in insisting on his way. His granddaughter Alba also softens his temperament, as he "transfers all his finest sentiments to Alba," treating her with tolerance and indulgence. He does not object to her relationship with Miguel, an orphaned revolutionary, and eventually reconciles with Pedro Tercero and his daughter Blanca. Thus, a man who lived with intense passion and violence dies a peaceful death, "without pain or anguish, more lucid than ever and happy, conscious, and serene."
The Truebas have three children: a daughter named Blanca and twin sons named Jaime and Nicolas. Blanca begins an affair with her childhood friend, Pedro Tercero Garcia, and becomes pregnant with a daughter named Alba. Pedro Tercero ("the Third") is the third generation of Garcias to work on the Trueba estate. Unlike his father and grandfather, Pedro Tercero dares to defy Esteban Trueba and fights against the social injustices. Despite his father's beatings and Trueba's warnings, Pedro Tercero continues to discuss "revolutionary" ideas of justice he learns from leftist teachers, priests, and union members. While he believes in the struggle against injustice, he also "knew his place in the world"—one that will never permit him to have a...
(This entire section contains 1398 words.)
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legitimate relationship with Esteban Trueba's daughter.
When Blanca becomes pregnant, her father forces her to marry Count Jean de Satigny to legitimize the birth of her daughter. Although Blanca truly loves Pedro Tercero, she refuses to run away with him, unwilling to sacrifice her social standing or endure the ridicule of his working-class friends. For the romantic Blanca, her "poetic fantasies" are preferable to discovering that "the grandiose love that had withstood so many tests would not be able to withstand the most dreadful test of all: living together." She eventually leaves the Count and continues to live on her father's estate with her daughter, Alba.
At this stage, Pedro Tercero, despite being "disillusioned with political organizations" and lacking "ambition for either money or power," is drawn into a governmental role. The stress of his position prompts him to issue Blanca an ultimatum: marry him or never see him again. When she refuses, they stay apart for two years until she seeks his help to rescue her father from revolutionary tenants who have taken him hostage. After the coup, Esteban Trueba repays the favor by helping Pedro Tercero flee the country with Blanca. They settle in Canada, where they finally experience "complete fulfillment in the peace of satisfied love." The coup's repression ultimately forces Blanca to make a pivotal decision: she conceals Pedro Tercero from the authorities and enlists her father's help to escape the country. This act allows the two men to overcome their long-standing animosity, and Blanca finds success as an artist in Canada, living "completely fulfilled in the peace of satisfied love."
Blanca's brothers, Jaime and Nicolas, grow up opposing their father's conservative views. Eventually, Alba, Jaime, and Nicolas align with the communist cause, aiding their candidate in becoming president. After Pedro Tercero joins the government, Blanca rejects his final marriage proposal. Meanwhile, Esteban Trueba works to sabotage the economy, while the younger Truebas strive to support the new government. When the peasants of Tres Marias capture Esteban, Blanca and Alba turn to Pedro Tercero for help, and he agrees to rescue him. During this mission, Pedro Tercero's love for Blanca is reignited, and Alba learns that Pedro Tercero is her father. Following the rescue, Pedro Tercero and Esteban find their personal hatred has dissipated, though national animosity is intensifying. Jaime is killed during a coup, which Esteban initially celebrates; however, he is devastated upon learning of his son's death and the collapse of democracy. Esteban is filled with self-loathing after ordering the destruction of the peasant village at Tres Marias. At the Poet's funeral, symbolizing the end of freedom, Esteban acknowledges his mistakes, enabling Blanca and Pedro Tercero to escape the country. Blanca forgives her father, expressing her love for him.
Ironically, Esteban's only source of affection and tenderness is directed towards Pedro Tercero and Blanca's daughter, Alba. Having already damaged his relationships with the rest of his family, he agrees that Alba deserves a proper education, as she is "too plain to attract a well-to-do husband." Alba enrolls in university and, despite her grandfather's warnings to avoid romance, immediately falls for Miguel, a bold young law student. She follows him to student protests but keeps her activities, including a secret love nest in the basement, hidden from her grandfather.
Alba shares her grandmother's generous spirit and smuggles Blanca's hoarded food supplies to the poor. She also provides many of her grandfather's hidden weapons to Miguel's guerilla movement. After the coup, she assists political persecution victims in finding asylum and collaborates with local priests to feed the poor. "She realized that they had returned to the old days when her Grandmother Clara went to the Misericordia District to replace justice with charity." Her efforts make Esteban realize that something is wrong in the country, especially after the secret police abduct her in the middle of the night.
Tortured, Alba finds strength in a vision of Clara, which convinces her to focus on survival. With the help of Ana Diaz and other imprisoned women, Alba recovers and begins to write. Upon returning home, she reconstructs the family story at her grandfather's request so "you'll be able to take your roots with you if you ever have to leave." She discovers that writing helps her "reclaim the past and overcome terrors of my own," and starts with the first lines of her grandmother's diary: Barrabas came to us by sea....
Meanwhile, on the outside, Esteban enlists Transito Soto's help to secure Alba's release. After they restore the house and document their story, Esteban dies in Alba's arms. Alba, possibly pregnant from rape, realizes that her grandfather's evil actions led to Esteban Garcia's evil and vows to break this vicious cycle. At the novel's end, Alba waits for Miguel's return and the birth of her daughter.
