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April
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- Esteban and Clara
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- The Three Marias
- Rosa the Beautiful
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April
(23)
First off, I'm completely confused as to where this story is taking place. Is it Mexico? For some reason I can't find a single mention about where this is all taking place country-wise, and I think knowing this would help me out A LOT. I'm guessing the story is taking place in the 1920's because of the way it talks about womans fashion changing and automobiles, but that's all I know. Secondly, I'm really going to end up hating Esteban by the end of this novel aren't I? "Not a girl passed from puberty to adulthood that he did not subject to the woods, the riverbank, or the wrought-iron bed," pg 63. Esteban is an absolute pig at the end of this chapter and I'm not understanding why the brothers, fathers, husbands, and employers didn't do more than turn to cowards the moment they confront him about raping all the girls in town. Esteban seems very sexist and cruel to me, not only because of the rapes he commits (and the children he denies as his) in this chapter, but also by the way he thinks about woman. At the beginning of the story and even up until the middle of this chapter he seems fine, but then his personality is completely changed when he moves to and cleans up Tres Marias. "Trueba's bad temper became legend, and grew so exaggerated that it even made him uncomfortable," (pg 63). Also, I'm not sure what to think of Ferula yet, but she seems a bit 'off' be me.
ReplyDeleteFirst, do some research on Allende, and you'll figure out the probable setting of the novel - she never specifically reveals the setting.
ReplyDeleteOkay, so dig deeper here. How does he respond to women before the death of Rosa and after? Why does he change, or does he change? And why don't the men do more? Ferula is definitely odd.
Esteban did change in my opinion after the death of Rosa. Before her death he was doing everything in his power to woo Rosa and find enough gold so that he could one day settle down with her and make her live a happy and comfortable life. He treats women better than he does after Rosas death. After Rosas' death Estebans actions and thoughts make it seem as though women are only good for sex and making babies and nothing else. He doesn't care what happens to the women he rapes or if they have 20 of his children as a result of him raping them. Also, it seemed to me as though Esteban didn't even truly love Rosa, he just loved her beauty and the idea of her being his.
ReplyDeleteIt says on page 63 that the men stopped appearing as freqently because they are, "faced with his uncontrolled violence." Also the book says, "Twice the bullet-riddled bodies of peasants from other haciendas were discovered," so obviously Esteban frightens the men and the idea of him killing them scares the men away from getting their daughters the justice they deserve. Even if the police didn't care like they do in the story, I would have at least forced Esteban to pay money to help with raising his child. But it is just a story and times were different I suppose.
On page 41, "...when he used to throw himself on the floor foaming at the mouth...", this sounds to me like epilepsy. Also it is said "...he was left with a short temper...", a lot of people that suffer from epilepsy have problems controling their anger. So could have be a start to how his "problem" started. When Rosa died he practically went off the deep end. He gave up on wooing Rosa and threw his life out te door. However, he never thought that he would become the person he used to be, said previously in the book (forgot to mark exact page). He was said to go after women and pay for their bodies. Which gives me great instinct that trying to woo Rosa kept his mind off his urge and after she died there was no distraction. Especially, in the middle of nowhere. The rape made a nauseous. I couldnt believe how drastically his change went. From respect to none at all. However when he decided to kick her out and disown her when she was pregnant didn't surprise me at all.
ReplyDeleteThis was definitely a disturbing chapter. Dona Ester is in despirate need of good care and Ferula gave up everything to care for her mother. Esteban shows no concern for his mother and on page 71 it says " Esteban had never really loved his mother or felt at ease in her bresence." How rude of a son to say something like that! She was the one who brought him upon this earth and he should not treat her like he has been even if she is frail and sick.
ReplyDeleteEsteban is a sick child molestor. There are other ways to satisfy his needs besides taking advantage of 15 year old girls! Poor Pancha didn't even have a chance! Esteban of course gets the poor girl pregnant and ditches her which didn't suprise me a bit. Especially since he started sleeping around and on page 66 refers to his offspring as "the string of bastards that was springing up behind him as if by magic." This is a sick man who needs to sort out his priorities wisely and take responsibility for his actions.
On page 70, Esteban states that "Communists are atheist bastards who eat little children." When I read that sentence I instantly thought of "A Modest Proposal."
Esteban really needs to get a hold on his anger issues. On page 71 he gutted a poor chicken just by kicking him because of his temper tantrums. He needs to get over Rosa and find someone else to spend the rest of his life with and turn back into the respectible man he once was.
Your point, Brittany, about "A Modest Proposal" certainly reminds us that Esteban is continually prone to exaggeration in every area of his life. Why does he feel the need to do everything so dramatically?
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to Esteban's character for this chapter he does appear to be a person who can be corrupted by power. Before he took over for the Tres Marias he wasn't exactly the nicest person in the story but he did have his moments. The raping of Pancha is what really caused the power to affect him and he started to push to become better than the rest and to be feared. His desire to keep said power in the family is one of the reasons for rejecting Pancha and her child. So, Esteban doesn't have to be as evil as people make him out to be. He can simply be infected by something that has corrupted, is corrupting, and will corrupt.
ReplyDeleteIt could be because he is frustrated with everything that is going on in his life. He is still getting over Rosa, trying to find females to satisfy his masculine needs, trying to improve, run, maintain, and civilize a village that has been through years of inhumane behavior. He tends to lash out when he gets angry and be over dramatic over something he can't change such as the rigging of the ballot boxes. This dramatic part of his life seems to end when he has to leave Tres Marias in order to see his mother again. I think he was dramatic because he was going through a rough time and didn't know what to do to help him through this tough time.
ReplyDeleteNot once does Esteban take responsibility for his own actions. Esteban seems to blame everything on his sister, Ferula. On pages 42-44, "Esteban could recall the exact moment...that he would have to escape." In the situation the family needed every cent to help to take care of their mother who was deathly ill.
ReplyDeleteAfter Rosa's death Esteban he decides not to return to work but instead goes to Tres Marias and becomes, in lack of a better phrase, a man whore. It starts with the rape of Pancha Garcia. On page 57 this sad scene begins, "...he spotted her on the path that led to her hut...Before dropping her off at her hut, the patron kissed her on the lips." I don't understand why she didn't try to stop it. She acted as if it were inevitable and it was going to happen no matter what. It's sad to see that she didn't try to fight back.
Later on in this chapter Esteban seeks "companionship" from Transito Soto at the Red Lantern. He continues to see her but one night he offers her a present. She asks that he lends him 50 pesos so that she can start furthering her career. This woman is a prostitute and I am still shocked that he would lend her so much money when she is not try to get a real job but instead is trying to further her career in prostitution.
It is sad to see Esteban suffering the lose of Rosa but his actions are selfish and just sad.
To Mrs. Matysak:
ReplyDeleteI think Estaban does everything so exaggerated because he feels more people will reconginize it. He complains about his childhood being taken away from him and now Rosa being taken by death, he feels nothing is noticed due to these. His mother never gave him recognization throughout his childhood and now Rosa the women he "loved" was killed. I think him raping the women and going to extremes is all for attention. He wants attention and just like a child , attention is attenion good or bad.
This chapter was just as entertaining as the first, but it has left me somewhat confused about a few things. Why does Esteban blame Rosa for her death (p.36)? It's not like she killed herself because she was going to marry him. I think we might notice later on that he will make a habit of blaming everything that goes wrong on someone else. Why would he wait until after his misfortunes to begin his work on Tres Marias (p.44)? Besides not wanting children, why does he feel the need to continue raping women and barely grown girls instead of finding someone to marry (p.63&66)? Why does he not go to his mother until he gets the letter from Ferula warning Esteban of their mother's oncoming death (p.71)?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Brittany completely on this chapter. It was very sickening to read what Esteban did to these poor girls. His first "victim" was Pancha Garcia and I find it horrible the way he treated her. Also disturbing in this chapter is how Esteban just leaves his sister and his sick mother when they both needed him. Dona Ester Trueba was dying and the only thing she wanted was to see her son and then after reading the letter on pg. 71, Esteban Trueba says that he never really even loved his mother. After reading this chapter I had no respect for Esteban Trueba, even after reading the entire book.
ReplyDeleteIn this chapter I think it's sad to watch Esteban, who had to endure his mother and Rosa's death, turn into someone who feels entitled to engage in his crazy violent behavior that starts to characterize his life. He started out with very humble beginnings and turns into a violent and stubborn man almost overnight.
ReplyDeleteI noticed an interesting conflict of interest within this chapter. Once again, Eseban's actions have peaked my interest.
ReplyDeleteOn page 67, Esteban seems completely appauled by the idea of women thinking and acting freely of men.
"It would go against nature... Their duty is motherhood and the home....It's a crying shame that there's always some influential husband, some spineless judge or firebrand member of Congress to set them free. What these cases really need is a strong hand."
On page 69, however, he seems to have a change of heart. Transito Soto requests 50 pesos "For a train ticket, a red dress, high-heeled shoes, a bottle of perfume, and a permanent..." She says "... That's everything [she] needs to start."
Does that sound like Transito is on a quest towards a life of "motherhood and the home"? No. She even proclaims that she has aspirations of becoming "rich and famous". It seems as though Mr. Trueba has become just the "spineless" gentleman he was cursing just two pages before.
I did not like reading about the rape in this chapter. It was just horrible! One thing that really bothers me though is that Pancha didn't even make an attempt to resist or fight. Her mother and grandmother were both raped. Why wouldnt she fight it?! I would have done something than just lay there looking at the sky. There is a lot more in this chapter but the rape just sticks out in my mind and is something I cant get over and I'm just the reader.
ReplyDelete“Yes, I’ve been a good patron; there’s no doubt about it” (p.54) said Esteban Trueba. I would like to remain clear and sincere of my views for this man. I do not like one piece of him. He’s a rapist, sexist, and freak. His hunger for affluence and sexuality disgust me! This is when I started to hate the book and it is now the most hated book in the house.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, Esteban Trueba was not a good patron. Yes, he did help the tenants rise from the lowest state of poverty. But at the same time, he made their lives miserable. They had to deal with the embarrassment of having a herd of bastard children running around. Their patron had no respect for the females. And the tenants had to deal with a temper that no chill pill could cure. Only the Lord knows how they suffered.
In chapter two, Allende sets the stage for what will become a novel filled with injustice and class struggle.
ReplyDeleteIn the narrow-minded world of young Esteban Trueba, each man, woman, and child has its place. It just so happens that Trueba's place is above them all. On p.64 he blatantly states, "it would be lovely if we were all created equal, but the fact is we're not." Trueba says that peasants are too ignorant to be treated with respect, but at the same time refuses to educated them past basic literacy in fear of an uprising.
He raves incessantly on p.64 and 67 that a "strong hand" will keep the "poor devils" in check. In fact he says it's the "only language they understand." Throughout the novel his "strong hand" sentiment is repeated. For after his strict rule with the workers at Tres Marias comes crashing down, he favors a "strong hand" approach with the Socialists, a decision he later comes to regret.
Beyond the oppression of the working class illuminated by this chapter, the reader can also see the depressing condition of women. The most pitiful example of this is in Ferula Trueba's life. Three words about Ferula really stuck with me, "ugliness of resignation." (p.42) How miserable must her life have been? To endlessly care for, and never be cared about? She seems to believe that the more she suffers, the more she will be rewarded in the afterlife, which never givers her a chance to live or love, instead making her into an ugly old spinster wracked with guilt and capable of administering "unrepayable debts of gratitude" to all of those around her.
These situations let the reader in on a sobering idea, that what a person is born determines what he will become. If born a farmhand, one dies a farmhand. If given the task of caring for an ailing elder, one must sacrifice a normal life.
I completely agree with Kierstynn about Pancha, why would she not fight back. She did not have to necessaraily sit and just take it, and that makes me so angry. When i read the rape scene i was so enraged that she did not fight back. Also Esteban really caught my attention and made this chapter more intersting for me. The fact that he started out so calm and humble and then he turns into a violent rapist with no moral. He wanted to help the peasants but yet did not want them to be equal. He wanted them to learn but not learn to much. I thought that issuing out the voucher system to the peasants for their labor was clever on his part (since they could be used at the shop he set up) but i did not agree with it. After this chapter Esteban is just a selfish idoit in my eyes.
ReplyDeleteThroughout this chapter I didn't know if I should feel sympathetic towards Esteban Trueba or just hate him. Although he doesn't show very much compassion towards his sister and mother for being poor, he DOES care for their well being by promising to provide everything they would need. I was also shocked that Ferula would get happy at things that had happened to Esteban, "Before him lay a destiny that was bright, free, and full of promise. He could marry, have children, know what love was. The day she sent the telegram telling him of Rosa's death she had felt a strange shiver, almost of joy." (p. 44). Although Esteban is a straight up jerk, he did work extremely hard and I have to give him credit for that. I'm not trying to justify anything he does, but he was so stricken with grief that I could see him keeping himself busy to distract all the other issues that were really bothering him. On the other hand, rape can never be justified and this was the turning point where I decided that I hated Esteban. Later in the chapter Trueba starts mingling into politics, which would later become one of the main drives in Esteban Trueba's life. This chapter had shown a darker side of Esteban Trueba, one full of grief, anger, frusteration, and power. This chapter seems like a turning point in Esteban Trueba's life, and from this point on most of those qualities are shown in the rest of the book.
ReplyDelete