Analysis of the House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
In the book Isabel Allende experiments with various literary devices. The many different narrative voices used in this book allow the reader to understand the book from dissimilar perspectives. As the story unfolds, one can see the symbolism that occurs in many of the events. The story revolves around the different generations of the Del Valle family. Symbolism is used as a literary device in this book to apply ideas and images to explain something in particular. Symbolism provides meaning to the writing beyond what is actually being described. The plot and action that take place in this story can be thought of as one level, while the symbolism of certain things in the writing of this story act on another level to enhance the story.
The sharing and writing of stories among the various generations of females symbolizes a great deal in this book. The House of the Spirits begins and ends with the narrators referring clearly to the use of Clara’s journals in order to write the story at hand. Both Clara and Alba first learn how to write and then learn how to use writing. Writing in this book testifies each of the life experience of both women in their time. The writing is based on a personal or political level with the motive of broadcasting them to a wider audience which may learn from such experiences. Men had the political upper hand of the society in both generations, therefore sharing and writing of stories in the various generations then symbolized the only way to express themselves as their voices were “unheard”. This trend in society was prominent in the life of Ferula (Esteban Trueba’s sister), who had to give up her life and her education to take care of Esteban as a child, as well as her mother for the rest of her life. Esteban in no way appreciated this, and he probably just thought it was what she was expected to do. Nobody cared about the fact that Ferula never got a chance to do anything she wanted, just because she was a girl.
Magical realism, which
The sharing and writing of stories among the various generations of females symbolizes a great deal in this book. The House of the Spirits begins and ends with the narrators referring clearly to the use of Clara’s journals in order to write the story at hand. Both Clara and Alba first learn how to write and then learn how to use writing. Writing in this book testifies each of the life experience of both women in their time. The writing is based on a personal or political level with the motive of broadcasting them to a wider audience which may learn from such experiences. Men had the political upper hand of the society in both generations, therefore sharing and writing of stories in the various generations then symbolized the only way to express themselves as their voices were “unheard”. This trend in society was prominent in the life of Ferula (Esteban Trueba’s sister), who had to give up her life and her education to take care of Esteban as a child, as well as her mother for the rest of her life. Esteban in no way appreciated this, and he probably just thought it was what she was expected to do. Nobody cared about the fact that Ferula never got a chance to do anything she wanted, just because she was a girl.
Magical realism, which