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April
(23)
The House of Spirits nevers ceases to suprise me. So much goes on in one chapter, and at such a fast pace its hard to remember everything after only reading the chapter once. Esteban Trueba is just getting worse and worse as the chapters go on, and while one would think being crushed under a house would improve Estebans' character and make him more sympathetic, especially toward his tenants since Pedro Garcia saved his life, it doesn't. In fact, Esteban becomes so out of control in this chapter that even Clara, the one person who seems to not be as affected by his insanity as everyone else, is affected by his temper tantrums for once. By the end of Revenge she stops talking to Esteban completely and its says that she even changes her last name, "Clara never spoke to her husband again. She stopped using her married name and removed the fine gold wedding ring that he had placed on her finger twenty years before..." (pg 201). Esteban blames Pedro Tercero Garcia for loosing his daughters love, for loosing his wifes' love, and for becoming a miserable, shrinking old man. Esteban, being an absolute hypocrite, plots Pedro Terceros' murder after finding out Pedro has been having sex with Blanca, "'Pedro Tercero Garcia hasn't done a thing you haven't done yourself,' Clara said when she could interrupt him. 'You slept with unmarried women not of your own class. The only difference is that he did it for love. And so did Blanca.'" (pg 200). The man is filled with so much anger all the time, and in my opinion, for the stupidest of reasons. Esteban can't face reality and realize that he is a yelling, screaming, stubborn monster in the eyes of his family and that that is the reason why his family and Pedro Segundo have left him. Esteban isn't even apologetic towards Blanca for what he has done to her, what he has done to his only daughter, "When he saw his daughter, Esteban Trueba was unable to restrain his evil character and he charged her with his horse, whip in the air, beating her mercilessly, lash upon lash, until the girl fell flat and rigid to the ground. Her father jumped down from his horse, shook her until she came to, and shouted every insult known to man plus others he made up in the heat of the moment." (pg 199). He is only sorry for stricking Clara in the face, and only because I believe he is so obsessed with wanting her to have sex with him again. Honestly, Esteban Trueba is absolutely ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I agree completely with Kaitlyn, but I don't get credit for repeating everything she said, so I'll try to pick up on a something different.
ReplyDeleteTo me, Esteban Garcia, the grandson of Esteban Trueba, is startting to become an important charcter in Revenge. There was some forshadowing mentioned before "...he [Esteban Garcia] would one day be the instrument of a tragedy taht would befall her [Blanca] family." (p.190) along with others, all saying that Esteban Garcia will one day be the end to the family. At the end of the chapter it says both Esteban and grandson were weeping in rage (p. 208). Esteban Garcia was enraged that his grandfather could still be so cruel as to send him away without his reward, calling him a traitor, when the child did nothing wrong. In fact, he was the only one out of all of the people who know of Pedro Tercero's hideaway to tell the old man. If Esteban would have kept his word, perhaps Esteban Garcia wouldn't have grown up hating his grandfather, and all others related to his mother's seducer.
First of all I feel the need to say that Esteban Trueba is a moron and I really dislike his character. Following are some of the quotes I picked out to prove my point. "The desire I had for her when we married had not diminished; I wanted to possess her absolutely, down to her last thought, but that diaphanous woman would float by me like a breat of air, and even if I held her down with my hands and embraced her with all my strength, I could never make her mine." (p.177) I don't understand Esteban here, he says his desire had not diminished, but is desire the only thing he feels towards Clara? He tries to get close to her by pretty much never giving her any privacy. He invades her most private and personal moments, when writing in her notebooks that bore witness to life and when using her three legged table (p.177). I honestly believe that the only reason he did that was, not to become close to her, but to convince her to let him act out on his desires. And I really cannot get over what he said about Blanca! "Ever since she was a child, my daughter had been rather strange; she was never the loving gentle girl I would have liked to have. As a matter of fact, she was more like an armadillo." (p.177). What a strange thing to compare his daughter to! I fail to see how he could think that he could just decide to build a relationship with his daughter, when he really didn't care at all for her before. Not to mention he gave up on the relationship way too soon if he really had expected it to go anywhere. This leads me to assume that the only reason he was doing this, was again, to get to Clara. He also seems to contradict himself (p.179) because he said that Clara was the only woman for him, and yet he was desperately in love with Rosa, as was every other man, and he's been with prostitutes since they've been married. I really cannot grasp his logic either. "I tried everything from showering her with praise and gifts to threatening to knock down her door and beat her to a pulp, but none of these effects was enough to bridge the gap between us." (p. 180) How the heck does he expect her to love him if he threatens to beat her after giving her gifts doesn't persuade her to sleep with him? I really tried to like him in the beginning, but everything he has done has persuaded me otherwise. If he were not a novel character, but a real man, I think I may feel a sort of hatred toward him. For instance, why would he think that his visiting prostitutes and attempting to rape will make her jealous (p.181)? Also, his refusal to accept anything as being his fault really annoys me. "Pedro Tercero Garcia was the one to blame for everything that had happened. Because of him Blanca had left me; because of him I had fought with Clara; because of him Pedro Segundo had left the hacienda and the tenants looked at me with hatred in their eyes and whispered behind my back." (p.202). All of these things are his fault, Pedro Tercero is not to blame. If Esteban were not so hot headed he wouldn't have as screwed up a life as he does.
ReplyDeleteI think that Isabel Allende mad a mistake in this chapter. (p185) "You're already twenty-four, sister. Do you want to end up saying rosaries for the poor?" This was when the twins were trying to talk Blanca into marrying Jean. (p201) 'Clara never spoke to her husband again. She stopped using her married name and removed the fine gold wedding ring that he had placed on her finger twenty years before.' How could they have only been married twenty years when Blanca was born after they were married and she was already twenty-four years of age?
ReplyDeleteThroughout this chapter, Clara changes qutie a bit. On Page 176 when she "looks tired and starts pulling away from me (Esteban)" to when she practically ends her marriage on page 201, and has absolutely no problem leaving behind her husband. Everything that Esteban seems to do repulses Clara enough to drag them further and further apart from eachother.
ReplyDeleteThe Count de Satigny is a very unique fellow. Apparently raising a chinchilla ranch will make someone very wealthy except for the fact that when Esteban invested in the ranch, he only lost money because all his chinchillas died. The count seemed like a creeper to me anyway, especially when he tried to court Blanca. Back then so many people were pedafiles that it was creepy.
Esteban needs to act more rationally about issues concerning the shared lives of Pedro Tercero and Blanca. Going to kill the boy, hunting him down, offering a reward, and cutting off the guy's fingers was definitely over the line. He needs to realise that Blanca has her own life and her own idea how it should be run. Some fathers are so hard headed.
This chapter got to me alot. At the beginning Esteban seems like he is kind of lost without Clara's guidance. Then he started to irritate me all over again with the ways he was trying to get to her. On page 181, "At times I would decide I was going.....I was old, damn it."
ReplyDeleteIn this chapter yet another character appeared that I soon grew to hate, Count Jean De Satigny. I understood his attraction to Blanca but the attraction grew to be too much when he found out she was sneaking out and began watching her. I thought it was hilarious how he was afraid of the dogs so he wouldn't continue following her.
When the Count asks for Blanca's hand in marriage I was proud of her for refusing him. His persistence did not feign. His odd ways confused me incredibly. On page 190, "Jean de Satigny was excited... destroyed the plates." Does he not realize it is wrong to take pictures at a funeral and to be happy about a death?
When he was finally able to follow Blanca and he saw them together he decided he had to end it. It was low and immoral the way he turned her into her father. Esteban beat Blanca several times before forcefully taking her home. I don't blame Clara for taking Blanca and leaving him to his own troubles.
Esteban Garcia stepped in and gave Esteban the information he had been looking for, Tercero's where-abouts. The brawl that ensued left Terceros without several fingers. Esteban slaps Garcia and calls him a traitor instead of giving him the reward he deserves. In the end I think this event will have been a huge mistake that Esteban will pay for.
Wow, is this chapter intense? The answer is obviously yes. Right from the beginning it starts off with a romantic twist. The desire Esteban Trueba feels for Clara is the exact desire Blanca feels for Pedro Tercero. Esteban feels as if his wife does not desire him as well and by the end of the chapter he allows his anger to get out of control causing him to lose not only his wife but his daughter as well.
ReplyDeleteJean de Satigny made me so angry. On page 198, "...he had already decided to tell Blanca's father...", where does he have the right to do so? He wants Blanca to himself but she tells him every chance she gets that she will not marry him (page 196, first paragraph). Jean out of rage and jealousy follows her and then almost gets her and her mother killed. Also, on top of that he takes the time, after telling Esteban, to get on his horse and ride away (page 200). He was such a smuck from the time he entered the hosuehold and Clara realized it, hence not remembering his name (page 183).
On page 200, "Pedro Tercero Garcia hasn't done a thing you haven't done yourself", that was a slap in the face by reality. Clara held nothing back from Esteban becasue she knew his past and he was being a hypocrit. She stood up for her daughter just as any mother should. I found so much strength in that. It truely gave me a different perspective on Clara.
This chapter introduces one peculiar character. Jean de Satigny raises an eyebrow or two, if you know what I mean. ;-)
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, on page 181 it is quoted that "He wore kidskin shoes...". I realize that "kids" most likely refers to baby goats. However, my modern mind can't help but to wonder if the author was trying to portray him as a creep from the very beginning.
Continuing his description from the same quote, de Satigny apparently polishes his nails and wears eyeliner along with an extensive cache of other odd habits. The speaker seems to sweep it off as simple eccentricities of royalty. I, on the other hand, have a feeling that he may be hiding some secrets about his sexuality.
On page 184, my feelings became a little conflicted when "the count asked for Blanca Trueba's hand in marriage." That did not last for long. Isn't it true that marriages were mostly political in that era?
Does anyone else feel the same way?
In this chapter my favorite part of the book happens. It shows the relationship between Jaime and Nicolas and the kind of antics that they did to each other as children. I love the sibling rivalry between the two.
ReplyDelete(p.187) " He had invented a game to torture him with: he would argue so well and so persuasively that he always ended convincing Jaime that he was wrong, forcing him to admit his error.
"Are you sure I'm right?" Nicolas would finally ask his brother.
"Yes, you're right," Jaime would grudgingly admit with a rectitude that prevented him from arguing in bad faith.
"Good!" Nicolas would exclaim. "Because now I'm going to prove that you're right and I'm wrong. I'm going to give the arguments you would have given me if you were smarter."
It sort of reminds me of my childhood with my brother and how I would beat him in arguments.
After I read this chapter, I had to resent Esteban. No matter what the circumstance, no father should be able to abuse his family as he did Blanca.(p.199) I understand Count de Satigny may be a better husband for Blanca, but Pedro Tercero is the one she loves and it's her decision on who she wants to be with. Esteban may not be satisfied with her choice, but he has no right to abuse his daughter and risk their relationship. Esteban should have some respect for her as a person and as his daughter.
ReplyDelete"Pedro Tercero Garcia hasn't done a thinkg you haven't done yoursel...the only difference is that he did it for love." (p.200) This was said by Clara after Esteben had one of his fits after hearing about the affair involving his daughter and Pedro. This begins what will become a war between these two men lasting many years. Esteben reacts with a revengeful heart and in the end only winds up hurting himself. He is a man who strives to kepp things as they should be according to class and despises change and the revolution that starts to evolve by some including his enemy Pedro Garcia. His vengeful spirit and contempt for new ideas that bloom around him leads him to future misery.
ReplyDeleteJean is definitally to blame for most of the chaos in this chapter. If he would have just kept his mouth shut and let things unfold between the family I think that the outcome would have been slightly less severe. He knew that Esteban was a man with a temper but I suppose that was his way at getting back at Blanca for her lack of commitment to him and Esteban for the chinchilla farm plans. After Esteban beats Blanca senseless, it makes you want to do the same thing to him. If he would've been beat after everytime he had raped a peasant girl, I think he would've had a whole new attitude about his daughter. I really liked how Clara stood up for Blanca. Like Tausha said, her words were like a slap in the face for Esteban. I was so happy when Clara walked out the door after he hit her. I figured that she would have gone into one of her trances after that, his sweet words trying to win her back, but no she stood up like the strong woman she she should be and walked out.
ReplyDelete