Main characters
1. Clara: at the beginning of the work, Clara is a girl, youngest
daughter of the great family of the Valley, of a total of eleven children.
Early in the play, she is a somewhat eccentric child, especially for the
conservative society where she lives. He has psychic skills: he can move
objects, predict future events, and intuit people's way of being, his
intentions. Later in the novel, she is now an adult, marryested Esteban Trueba,
with whom she has three children and with whom she will live for the rest of
her life. He is an almost completely spiritual person, stripped of all vanity
or material interest, also selfless of the domestic matters which he delegates
to the servitude and his sister-in-law, Fallows. He inherits from his mother his
interest in the underprivileged, absolutely aware that it is not charity that
they need, but social justice. Since she was a child, she spends every so long
in periods of voluntary muteness, usually in the face of events that cause her
a lot of stress. During these periods of mudness she used to talk trough a
Little blackboard that always carried in a pocket.
2. Esteban Trueba: he is the youngest son of Doña Ester Trueba and
brother of Férula. She is concerned about her social status, her family, who
once belonged to the upper class, has come to less, after her father, prey to
alcoholism, dilapidated the doto of Doña Esther and the fortune she inherited
from her paternal family. Esteban is a hard-working, ambitious, tremendously
self-centered man, to the point of hating his children for considering that
they are stealing the attention of Clara, his wife, whom he is hopelessly in
love with.
3. Férula: Esteban's older sister, she is an older, single, religious
devotee woman. Very protective, possessive with Esteban. He also takes care of
Doña Esther and Esteban with devotion. But she fills him with guilt for putting
off herself to take care of them and her house.
4. When Esteban marries Clara, Férula pours his devotion to her, whom he
cares for as if he were a girl, to the point of competing with Esteban for his
attention.
5. Blanca: Eldest daughter of Clara and Esteban Trueba.
6. Pedro Tercero García: son of Pedro Segundo García, contemporary of
Blanca, peasant with socialist ideas, in love with Blanca since children.
7. Alba: daughter of Blanca, fruit of her relationship with Pedro
Tercero García, later, girlfriend of Miguel, the brother of Amanda, girlfriend
of Nicolás/Jaime. Alba has political militancy contrary to the regime of the
ruling dictatorship.
Secondary
characters
1. Severo del Valle: father of Clara, husband of Nivea, privileged class
lawyer, liberal-leaning. He intends to venture into politics until Rosa's
death. He carries on a harmonious and respectful relationship with his wife and
children, not authoritarian.
2. Nívea del Valle: Clara's mother, married to Severo del Valle, a
typical privileged-class wife and mother, but an activist in favor of suffrage
and women's liberation. She is the one who rules the house, respectful and
affectionate with her children and her husband.
3. Rosa del Valle:
Clara's older sister. Esteban Trueba's first fiancée, the author describes
her as of strange marine beauty, with green hair. She died as a young man from
mistakenly drinking a poisoned drink destined for her father.
4. Uncle Mark: Clara's brother, adventurer, globetrotter, free-spirited,
young death.
5. Ms. Esther Trueba: mother of Esteban and Férula Trueba, upper class,
married to a poor immigrant, the father of Esteban and Férula.
6. Nicholas: one of the twins, son of Clara.
7. Jaime: another of the twins, son of Clara.
8. Pancha García: daughter of Don Pedro García, brother of Pedro
Segundo, peasant inhabitant of Las Tres Marías, mother of Esteban García, the
result of the abuse suffered by Esteban Trueba.
9. Pedro García: former inhabitant of Las Tres Marías, foreman in the
time of Esteban Trueba's father.
10. Pedro Segundo: loyal foreman of Esteban Trueba, administrator of the
stay Las Tres Marías, son of Pedro García and father of Pedro Tercero García.
11. Amanda: girlfriend of Nicholas.
12. Miguel: Amanda's brother, after Alba's boyfriend.
13. Esteban García: grandson of Pancha García, the result of the rape to
which he was subjected by Esteban Trueba, after police officer of the
dictatorship, torturer and rapist of Alba.
14. Tránsito Soto: is a prostitute, friend of Esteban Trueba, known to
Esteban García too, would play an important role in saving Alba from the regime
of the dictator who preys on her for her socialist ideas.
Structure of the
work
Introduction: Introduces the
Del Valle family and Esteban Trueba, committed to Rosa, who dies. Esteban marries
Clara and they have three children: Blanca and the twins Jaime and Nicolás.
Knot: Blanca, in love with Pedro
Tercero García (social activist), becomes pregnant and her father forces her to
marry the Count of Santigny (a fortune hunter). She abandons him and returns
home to give birth to Alba. Clara dies and her house enters the time of the
mess. The socialist party wins the election. Esteban García, illegitimate
grandson of Esteban Trueba has a position of authority in the police.
Outcome: A military coup
overthrows the Socialist government. Esteban García takes advantage of Alba's
militancy against the government to exact revenge on his grandfather Esteban
Trueba: he kidnaps, and tortures Alba. Tránsito Soto intervenes and Alba is
released. He writes with his grandfather a book about his family's life.
Esteban Trueba dies.
Argument
The first chapters feature the Valley family and Esteban Trueba. Severo
del Valle, the father of the family, is interested in a political career.
Esteban Trueba seeks to make a fortune in mining. Rosa, Esteban's fiancée, dies
by mistake of drinking a poisoned drink destined for her father, from a
political rival. Esteban Trueba returns from the mine upon learning of Rosa's
death and reconstructs the rural property called Las Tres Marías, inherited
from his family. It acquires the neighboring restaurants, thus expanding its
ownership. It is considered with law on the pawns of the stay. He sexually
abuses young women who live on site. He has a son with one of them, Pancha García,
daughter of Pedro Segundo García. His son's name is Esteban García. She returns
to the city when her mother, Ms Esther, is about to die. Meanwhile, Clara goes
nine years without speaking, since she was 10, when Rosa dies. The trauma of
this experience provokes the first episode of voluntary muteness he would have
in his life. At the age of nineteen, he left his muteness to announce his
marriage to Esteban Trueba, before he proposed. She had already seen her fate,
ready to marry without love. The couple gets married and settles in "the
big corner house" where he would spend his life. Clara gives birth to
Blanca. Férula takes care of the upbringing of the girl, as well as the
administration of the house. She develops an obsession with Clara and competes
with Esteban for her attention. The family moves with all the servitude to Las
Tres Marías, the establishment of the countryside. The Blanca girl plays with
Pedro Tercero García, the young son of Pedro Segundo. Clara gets pregnant again
and returns to the city. Clara meets the Mora sisters, fond of her,
spiritualism and the supernatural. Pedro Tercero García, already a teenager,
becomes an advocate for socialist ideas. Blanca and Pedro Tercero, still
children, fall in love. Esteban throws Férula out of his house because he
considers his devotion to Clara a depravity. His sister curses him, saying he
will die alone and dwarfed. Pedro Tercero García, composes revolutionary songs dye
with his guitar, and is not afraid to face his patron, Esteban, while keeping secret
his love for Blanca. The family knows about Férula's death because their spirit
appears near them one night during dinner. Clara and Esteban find her body in
the dilapidated apartment where she used to live. When the family returns to
the countryside, Blanca escapes every night for her romantic encounters with
Pedro Tercero. Esteban Trueba expelles Pedro Tercero because of his socialist
speeches. This makes the young man a hero among the workers. Esteban and Clara
begin to have marital problems. Esteban begins to think that the curse of
Férula is coming to life: he feels he is shrinking. Meanwhile, Count Jean de
Santigny arrives at Las Tres Marías, who fascinates everyone with his
cosmopolitan attitude and seeks to marry a wealthy South American heiress. Blanca
rejects him. From that moment on, the Count begins spying on Blanca and follows
her during one of his night outs to the river. When he finds her sleeping with
Peter The Third, he informs Esteban Trueba, who whips Blanca with a whip. They
argue heatedly with Clara who ends up losing several teeth because of an
Esteban hit. Clara doesn't talk to him again for the rest of her life. Clara
and her children return to the city, and Jaime, who has become a doctor,
informs the family that Blanca is pregnant. Furious, Esteban Trueba forces her
to marry the count (even if he is not the child's father). The newlyweds move
north so Blanca can have the baby and avoid the scandal. Blanca discovers her
husband's perverted sexual behavior, abandons him and returns to the family
home, where she gives birth to her daughter, Alba. Esteban García, the illegitimate grandson,
asks the boss for a recommendation for the police academy. Esteban Trueba is
not aware that he is his grandson, nor of the resentment he has been accumulating
all this time towards him for not recognizing him. Clara dies and the great
house enters the time of the mess. Jaime and Nicolas do not manage to have a
friendly relationship with their rigid father, who at the moment is already a
senator. Esteban Trueba ends up sending Nicholas to North America for his
outlandish behavior. Alba falls in love with Miguel, Amanda's brother, who is
now a young revolutionary whom she meets in college. She does not reveal that
her grandfather is a senator from the Conservative party. The Socialists win
the election and most of the family celebrates victory, with the exception of
Senator Trueba. This one, along with other right-wing politicians and foreign
experts plot to destabilize the new government. They destabilize the economy to
turn public opinion against the Socialists, but ultimately call for military
support. Pedro Tercero begins to work for the new government that seizes Las
Tres Marías, for the land reform, and gives it to the tenants, who turn it into
a cooperative. Jaime gets a call from the president's secretary. She asks him
to come to the Palace as the military is revolting and the President needs his
doctors with him. After a confrontation lasting a few hours, the army bombs the
palace and takes the survivors as prisoners. They take Jaime prisoner, torture
him and finally kill him. The President also does not survive the military
coup. On the one hand, Esteban Trueba, Jaime's father, celebrates the fall of
the socialist government, while on the other, Alba is concerned about his
family and friends, especially Miguel. Esteban Trueba then admits his mistake
in supporting the new military government. He then helps Blanca and Pedro
Tercero to seek political asylum in the residence of the Apostolic Nuncio in
order to flee the country. Eventually, the police enter the big corner house
and arrest Alba in the middle of the night. They make a campfire out of the
books from the family library and send Alba to a secret prison. Her grandfather
promises to find her and bring her to the house. When he arrives in jail he is
blindfolded, but recognizes the voice of the man in charge, he is none other
than Esteban García, the illegitimate grandson of Esteban Trueba, now a
colonel. Alba is repeatedly raped and tortured. It is then that she realizes
that her goal is to make her pay for being the rightful heir to Esteban
Trueba's fortune. Alba decides to end her suffering and stops eating, but her
grandmother Clara's spirit convinces her to try to survive by writing a
testimony with thought. This new activity protects her from suffering and gives
her a reason to live. At the request of Esteban Trueba, Tránsito Soto uses his
connections to secure the release of Alba, who returns to the house. He
arranges the house with Esteban Trueba and he proposes to write this story.
Each narrates passages starring the family saga. When he finishes writing his
share, he dies. Alba tries to forget her desire to get revenge on Esteban
García. He decides that his mission is life and why he writes, while waiting
for Miguel with a girl in his womb.
Values &
Anti-Values
Work ethic: observed in Esteban Trueba. He channels his material
ambitions into work, effort, sacrifice.
Love for children: in Clara and her parents, Nivea and Severo, Blanca. ·
Compassion for the poor and needy: in Clara, in her son, the doctor,
Jaime and Alba and her boyfriend, Miguel.
Spirituality: Clara lives above the domestic routine, more connected to
her beloved children from the point of view of feelings, ideas, than physical
and everyday needs. Live more connected to your foreboding dreams, to the
spirits that roam the house. She doesn't give any value to her husband's
jewelry and other expensive gifts (she finds it all "very nice" and
then forgets).
Loyalty, to whom he gives work (to the boss): in Pedro García, the old
man, in his son, Pedro Segundo García.
Spirit of sacrifice: in Férula, in the care of his mother and younger
brother, Esteban, as a child and adult. Also in Esteban, when younger, while
building his fortune and his social position.
Love for animals: in Clara and Jaime, their son.
Social justice: Jaime, Alba, her niece, and Miguel, her boyfriend and
Amanda's brother, live to help the underprivileged, to the point of risking
their lives in it. Also in Pedro Tercero García, fighter for social justice,
hero of the poorest.
Forgiveness/mercy: in Alba, who decides to forgive Esteban García (h),
his rapist and torturer.
Devotion: of Férula, in the care of Clara, her sister-in-law. ·
Gratitude: in Tránsito Soto, who helps Esteban rescue Alba from the
kidnapping.
Rage: in Pancha García, who sows these same feelings in his grandson,
Esteban García (h).
Ignorance: in Pancha García, who submits to the patron, Esteban Trueba,
because he believes it with the right to abuse it. ·
Selfishness: in Esteban Trueba, he prioritizes his own needs, over the
rights and needs of others, even of his own family.
Deceit/lie: The Count of Santigny, Blanca's husband, who feclaims his
love for her, although what he is really looking for is to marry the heiress of
some fortune, while hiding his homosexuality.
Critical Appreciation Valuation
The linear structure of the work
makes it easier to follow the thread of the story. The prose, a form of
expression chosen by the author, is agile and entertaining. Her colloquial
language gives the feeling of actually reading "the life writing
notebooks" of Clara, her main character. The humor with which he relates
the daily life of the family is an important element in the story. Both the
discursive, narrative genre, and the textual genre, novel, allow the author to
cover about sixty years of the history of Chile, where the work takes place.
The narrator, who alternates from omniscient to protagonist, leads the reader
to fully understand the feelings and sensations of the characters in each scene
of the story. Finally, although throughout the work great prominence is given
to the female characters, the actions, good and bad, of Esteban Trueba have
great influence on the future of his whole family, until the last generation presented
in the work: his granddaughter Alba. Likewise, the characters of Pedro Tercero
García, social fighter and Jaime, the doctor, son of Esteban Trueba, turn out
to be true ideological rivals of Esteban Trueba, not only in his speeches, but
in his actions.
Argumentative text
Compassion
According to the dictionary the definition of the Royal Spanish Academy
of compassion is a feeling of sorrow, tenderness and identification in the face
of someone's ills. Today we use the word empathy a lot to refer to that ability
to "put ourselves in another person's place," of another living
being, in general. It is this precisely one of the values observed in some of
the characters of the analyzed work. In real life it is appreciable to the
naked eye, compassion trying to compensate for the dismanting caused by
selfishness; by ignorance that leads to the misery of the poorest and most
helpless; by the selfish inability to take charge of the consequences of his
actions. The generous spirit tries all the time to compensate moved by
compassion, deficiencies and needs, some of them caused by the general social
situation and others, by the actions of individuals in particular. This
struggle to maintain the delicate balance between selfishness and compassion
towards those who cannot defend themselves or do not know how to defend
themselves is constant. In the work analyzed, those more compassionate, such as
people in real life, lead more fulfilling lives. They are perceived as happier,
fuller, detached from their own shortcomings and needs, affective or material.
Suffering from the grief of others, struggling to help them overcome them. But
in this struggle they seem to find true joy, perhaps much greater than that
they provoke in the people they help, whose faces often reflect nothing but
spite, ingratitude, reproach (perhaps for being in the place of those who need
that help) in contrast with the joy and satisfaction of the one who gives the
help, when it happens with true and genuine selflessness.
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