Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The House of the Spirits, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Class, Politics, and Corruption
Women and the Patriarchy
Magic and the Supernatural
Love
Family
Writing and the Past
Summary
Analysis
“My grandfather died last night,” Alba writes. Esteban died peacefully in her arms; he was happy and lucid, and he wasn’t in any pain. Since Esteban’s death, Alba has opened Clara’s bedroom, and she sits writing in a notebook in the middle of the room, a canary in a cage in the corner and Barrabás’s head staring at her from the rug below. When Alba arrived back at the big house on the corner, she went immediately to the library, where she knew Esteban would be waiting, and ran into his arms. They hugged and cried, and he said he was getting them out of the country, but Alba refused. She would be like a tree chopped down at Christmastime without her country, Alba said.
After Esteban’s death, the narrator switches to Alba. The fact that Alba sits in Clara’s room, writing in a notebook with the Barrabás rug nearby underscores Alba’s deep connection to her grandmother, and their shared belief in the importance of writing and recording history. The caged canary suggests that while Alba may be free from the police, she will still have to struggle with the oppression of her sexist society. Alba’s refusal to leave the country is interesting, especially since author Allende was forced into exile in Venezuela after the Chilean coup of 1973.
Themes
Esteban knew that Alba was really waiting for Miguel, and when he said as much, she was shocked that he even knew about Miguel. After Alba’s arrest, Miguel showed up at the big house on the corner and tried to help Esteban find her. It was Miguel’s idea to go to Tránsito Soto in the first place, Esteban said. Alba told her grandfather everything. After her hand became infected, she was put in a clinic where the doctor hated her and refused to give her painkillers, but a kind male nurse took pity on her and slipped her medicine. It was that nurse who told her that Amanda was dead. Amanda was loyal to Miguel to the end and never told the police anything about her brother.
Like Esteban, Alba glosses over the amputation of her fingers by Esteban García, barely mentioning it other than to confirm it happened. The kind male nurse mirrors the kind soldier who told Blanca and Esteban about Jaime’s death, and he further represents those who are forced to participate in the coup. Amanda’s unyielding loyalty and love for Miguel again underscores the profound connection between family members, as Amanda was willing to die to protect her brother.
Themes
Alba told Esteban how the police took her to a concentration camp for women, where the women watched over each other and never let her be alone. She told him about Ana Díaz, who gave Alba a notebook to write in and helped her to remember that she wasn’t the only woman who was raped. After a few days, the police dumped Alba in a street near the city, where a young boy helped her to his tenement house. There, the boy’s mother sat with Alba all night, waiting for curfew to pass. That night, Alba understood that the evil of men like Esteban García can’t destroy the spirit of such remarkable women.
The support of Ana and the women in the concentration camp, as well as the kindness of the woman in the tenement house, again underscores the solidarity of women and the strength this connection gives them to overcome the oppression of their sexist society. Furthermore, the notebook Ana gives Alba to record her experiences again suggests that writing can be therapeutic in coping with trauma.
Themes
When Alba returned home, Esteban went to work fixing up the big house on the corner. It was thoroughly cleaned, and a fresh coat of paint applied, and even the garden was replanted. Esteban and Alba went together to buy new birds in cages, and Alba put fresh flowers in the vases, just as she did when she was a child. It was Esteban’s idea to write their story down, and after writing all he had to say, Esteban laid down in Clara’s bed. At first, Clara was “a mysterious glow,” but as Esteban died and slowly let go of his anger, she finally appeared, looking as she did in the prime of her life. He died muttering Clara’s name.
The restoration of the big house on the corner is completed in honor of Clara, and it helps Esteban to further heal and cope with the loss of his family. Esteban dies comfortable and content after writing his story, and this, too, implies that writing is therapeutic and can help one cope with tragedy or trauma. The appearance of Clara’s ghost as Esteban dies implies that Clara has finally forgiven him for the pain he caused her in life. In this way, Clara and Esteban both let go of their pain and resentment.
Themes
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In the doghouse, Alba dreamed of seeking revenge on Esteban García for all he had done to her, but now her anger has softened. The day Esteban Trueba raped Pancha García in the bushes, he started a chain of events that must be completed, Alba says. Now, the grandson of that woman has raped the granddaughter of the rapist. Alba wonders if, years from now, her own grandson will attack García’s granddaughter in the bushes and continue the “unending tale of sorrow, blood, and love.” Alba understands that everyone—even Esteban García—has reasons for being the way they are.
Alba’s reflection and her waning resent for Esteban García suggests that ultimately, family connections are neither inherently good nor inherently bad. Rather, families are made up of equal parts pain and love, and they are an essential part of being human. Esteban García isn’t simply a monster for no reason—he was made that way by Esteban’s abandonment and his grandmother’s attempts to turn him against the Truebas.
Themes
Alba writes in the notebook, just as Clara did, because memory fails and life is short. It is difficult to see how events are connected to each other when they are quickly passing by, which is why Clara kept her notebooks. Alba is determined to “break that terrible chain” started by Esteban Trueba in the bushes with Pancha García, but for now, she waits for Miguel and better times. Alba carries a child she knows is a girl, and while she doesn’t know who the child’s father is, the important thing is that she is Alba’s daughter. Clara wrote in her notebooks so Alba could one day reclaim the past, and Alba does the same now. “Barrabás came to us by sea…” she begins.
Like Blanca, Alba implies that the identity of her daughter’s father isn’t important. What matters to Alba, and to Blanca as well, is the connection between women, and between mothers and daughters specifically. Alba’s life is uncertain—the coup is still in progress and she doesn’t know where Miguel is—but the novel ends on an optimistic note. Alba is determined to “break the terrible chain” of abuse and sexism started by her grandfather, and she is planning to achieve this through the powerful connection between women—starting with her own daughter.
Themes
