The House of the Spirits 145Revenge parallels love. Trueba’s first illegitimate
son, Esteban García, is directly responsible for the
imprisonment, torture, and rape of Trueba’s grand-
daughter, Alba. At the end of the novel, Alba, uncer-
tain as to whether the father of her unborn child is
her true love, Miguel, or her archenemy, Esteban
García, decides that she must break the violent cycle
through forgiveness. Alba’s realization suggests that
Latin America must break the trap of repetitive vio-
lence. Her name, which translates as “dawn,” implies
that forgiveness is the necessary ingredient for a new
era of Latin American history.
Themes in the novel include love, oppression,
heroism, death, violence, and hope. Alba’s for-
giveness and implicit hope contrast sharply with the
pessimism of other late 20th-century Latin Ameri-
can novels and place Allende’s work in a new literary
movement known as the post boom.
Anne Massey
deatH in The House of the Spirits
Death in The House of the Spirits is a battle between
despair and hope. It can be a fearful unknown at
the end of mortal existence or an extension of life
that parallels the mortal realm. It appears as fear
and reassurance, associated both with the destruc-
tion of society by political and social ills and with
the comfort of eternal connection to beloved friends
and family.
In the beginning, death equals suffering. At
Easter Mass, the statues are deathly pale and cov-
ered with funeral shrouds. Rosa, whose green hair
symbolizes life, dies early in the novel after drinking
poisoned brandy. Trueba, Rosa’s beau, feels angry
that death has stolen her away and begins to shrink
as a physical representation of his disappointment
and ire. Tres Marías smells like a tomb when Trueba
first moves in. Trueba’s mother, Ester, is described
as a living corpse, and in her last days, the odor of
her decomposing flesh permeates the house. Later,
secular and religious elements overlap. The plague
and unemployment appear to be divine punishment
for which pleas to God for mercy are to no avail.
Severely ill peasants who die in the hospital are bur-
ied next to the church. Barrabás, Clara’s oversized
stray dog that arrived on Holy Thursday, dies the
night of her engagement party.
In contrast to the concept of death as brutal end
is the perception that death is a welcome parallel
to mortal existence. The Mora sisters have a photo
proving that the souls of the deceased can take on
a physical form. The appearance of Férula’s spirit,
accepted matter-of-factly, forces Trueba and Clara
to travel to her impoverished neighborhood in order
to confirm her death. The Trueba family thinks
nothing of eating at the table once used for wakes
by Clara’s parents. After announcing her own death,
Clara describes the process as similar to being born,
feared only because people tend to be afraid of the
unknown. Trueba sees Clara’s death as a natural
transition and feels reconciled to her passing, real-
izing that she has completed her mission. He even
makes plans to be with her in the hereafter, building
a mausoleum to ensure this.
Yet it is obvious that Clara, as her name meaning
“clear” implies, was the window that allowed mortals
a glimpse into the spirit world. After her death, the
plants die and the cats run away. Only Clara’s room
remains untouched by decay. And when Trueba
opens Rosa’s casket as he transfers her to the mau-
soleum, her corpse, preserved in death as it had been
in life, disintegrates into a fine powder.
By contrast, life and death are viewed as parallel
states but with a frightening, foreboding tone. As
Pedro García lies dying, his grandson punches out
the eyes of chickens and fantasizes about Trueba’s
death. He would have punched out Pedro García’s
eyes had Blanca not prevented it. Later, Blanca is
disturbed by the artifacts her husband collects—
mummies with necklaces of teeth. Blanca also wor-
ries that her daughter, Alba, does not play with dolls,
but Alba sees the toys as miniature corpses. Nicolás
tries to teach Alba not to fear death, having her
imagine her mother lying in a coffin. His efforts fail;
tortured by the military, Alba cannot quell her fears
using her uncle’s methods.
During the coup, Blanca and Alba rescue Pedro
Tercero García, concealing him in a car resembling
a hearse. Luisa Mora predicts that this moment in
history will be marked by pain and innumerable
dead. From the great beyond, Clara tries to protect
Alba, but she, like all spirits, is useless in the face
of cataclysmic events. The last chapter of the novel
describes the destruction and death wrought by the