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April
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- Esteban and Clara
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April
(23)
Carefree and oblivious for the first four chapters, to caring/hardworking, and then almost completely back to her previous 'ghostlyness' until her death in chapter ten, Clara's attitudes changed a lot. I don't believe Clara had any attitude changes toward her mother, however towards Blanca, Clara's attitude changed on and off. From not taking care of her as a baby and being absolutely oblivious, to telling her storys, trying to teach her about menstration, and becoming so worried about her that she slapped and embraced her on pg 160. Despite her positive attitude change towards Blanca, however, Clara was more oblivious than caring towards everyone else. She had an uncaring attitude towards politics, marriage, and the tenants for most of her life. The exception being when Esteban had his accident on pg 160 and Clara became friends with Pedro Segundo. Clara started to care more about the tenants and their rights when she finally had to work and cook. She wanted them to be able to make money and began to care enough to teach the tenants in the schoolhouse for awhile before sinking back into 'ghost mode'. Unlike everything mentioned above, her attitude towards her marriage changed noticably and a quite often. From having, "...already made up her mind to marry without love," (pg 90) to falling in love with Esteban for a brief time, I believe. Then, whatever love she may have had slightly began to slowly ebb away when Esteban banished Ferula from the house. Thus changing her attitude towards her marriage for the worse. Clara was on and off crazy woman throughout this entire book, and I think the only completely normal moment she had was when she was nursing Esteban back to health on pgs 160-165. Her attitude changed for the worst on pg. 165 after Esteban hit her, and after those pages up until her death, Clara fluctuated from being a 'ghost', ignoring her husband, and caring for Blanca and Alba.
ReplyDeleteClara in the beginning of the book is very carefree and seems to be oblivious to her surroundings. As she gets a little older she goes through a stage in her life where she does not speak to anyone and the only one who seems to understand her is Barrabas. When her and Esteban first get married nothing that Esteban does seems to please her. She just floats around the house without caring for anyone or anything. When she has Blanca she goes from being carefree to becoming a mother and maturing along the way. She was always interested in the supernatural ways. Her and Blanca are very close especially after Esteban hits Clara because they are all they have in each others family. After Esteban hits Clara she changes and even reverts to her silence. She basically becomes a ghost and is never the same up until her death.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning Clara is practically secluded herself in her own world. She cares not what is happening around her but moves around in an almost dreamlike state. From that she becomes somewhat of a mute. She never speaks to anyone and no one knows what to do.
ReplyDeleteAfter her marriage to Esteban and the death of her good friend Barrabas, Clara returns to her dreamlike state for a lengthy bit of time.
After giving birth to Blanca, Clara again returned to reality. Although she still let Ferula do most of the stuff, Clara began to pick up the slack. Clara really begins to come alive when she and the Mora sisters begin the spiritual stuff and that becomes her time consumer. When Esteban hits Clara is when she retreats into her isolation again. but this time she is only silent towards her husband. Although she does appear in public with him when he enters politics, i believe that she still despises him and politics. Clara remains in her ghostlike state for the remainder of her years, but she does perk up a little bit when Alba is born.
At first Clara seems a tad strange, moving furniture, reading dreams, and tarot cards. However she becomes so much more once the earthquake happens (page 158). She began doing household jobs, such as, cooking, cleaning, and sewing. On top of being in charge of the rebuilding and taking care of Esteban. She started doing things for herself and becoming an earthly person rather than looking in the 'here after'. I have this sense that Clara has these different personalities depending on the situation rather than it being 'her'.
ReplyDeleteI think that Clara stays close to way she starts out in this book. Clara is an unaware person. Clara is also a carefree person but in times of stress she usually resorts to the silent treatment or focusing on housekeeping. When Clara's sister Rosa dies Clara has a time where she is silent for 9 years.(p.39). I think that any woman, no matter who you are, that has a child changes. I do not know from experience but I know giving birth helps a woman gain her motherly instincts. Clara's marriage also gives her a little change. Everyone knows Esteban is definitely not the best husband in the world. Clara handles everything in her own way though and I think everything she went through helped her grow as a mother, wife, and daughter.
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time with the idea of Clara marrying Esteban. Given that she was in contact with the spirits, wouldn’t they have warned her how terrible of a person he is most of his life? But after accepting that my opinions mattered not to the lives of fictional characters I grudgingly acknowledged that Clara and Esteban were pretty good for each other, however, Clara’s resignation to marry regardless of love was upsetting. She goes her entire life without showing real connection to anyone but Ferula, who is her primary care giver once she is wed to Esteban. She is so disconnected from everyone in the here and now that she hardly knows her children at all, realizing Blanca’s assent to womanhood not by her looks or behaviors, but by her aura.
ReplyDeleteClara’s also is apathetic to the tenants of Tres Marias until the cataclysmic natural disaster. Before it she acted mostly indifferently, but in the direct aftermath she was the primary patron in her husband’s absence and she insisted on schools and gathering opportunities for them. I believe that Clara’s character could have been more developed over all, as she left something to be desired.
~Haley
Growing up Clara was an odd child who had abilities that no one understood. "Clara lived in a universe of her own invention, protected from life's inclement weather, where the prosaic truth of material objects mingled with the tumultuous reality of dreams and the laws of physics and logic did not always apply." (p.82) Throughout most of her life Clara reamins distant and uninterested in what's happening in her life including her marriage which she ignores instead of building upon, and even her three children whom she barely notices. Only when her family really needs her (the earthquake and Blanca's traumatic beating by her father) does Clara seem to come back to reality and try to become the mother her children need. All in all, Clara is most comfortable shielding herself from the harsh light of reality through her own imaginings and though she does mature as she grows older she still reamins in that dreamy state of mind that I think is the reason she indured all the hardships in her life including her mother's horrible death and her husband's extreme temper.
ReplyDeleteI think that Clara changes to what she needs to be. When she has no real resposibility she simply goes to her spiritual side and zones out a bit. When she was a child she had a deep relationship with her mother that she in turn shared with her own daughter. Most of the time she is not conserned with domestic matters until after the earthquake, but the second that she can hire people to work in the house again she does. With her marriage it kind of seems like she is just there for the ride. She makes no real effort to do anything, you know she cares for him but not as much as he would like. She never had a relationship with her sons that was remotely close to the one she had with Blanca. It seems like she is the only one that wansn't terrified of her husband and she was one of the few to ever stand up to him. The politics in her life were kind of ironic to me. Her husband who had his first love die from politics spent most of his life trying to be a part of them. She lived her life the best she could with her spirits and her family.
ReplyDelete