Wednesday, May 25, 2011
10: The Epoch of Decline
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I was very disappointed in this chapter with Esteban Trueba in his failing to keep his house and family together after Clara died because "life without his wife lost all meaning to him" (295). His sons "lost what little interest they had in the family and had no compasion for their father" (297), and he became a recluse in his own house ignoring everyone but Alba. I think if he would have paid attention to his family he would not have been so alone.
Tania
It kind of amazes me the transformation that the big house on the corner takes. Before Clara’s death there were birds and cats, flowers blooming, a beautiful garden, and a sense of order. But after Clara died everything fell to shambles. The book says “She noticed it before anybody else in the flowers wilting in their vases, saturating the air with a sickening odor that lingered while they dried up, lost their leaves, and fell apart, leaving only the musty stalks...” (295). “Then the plants died…” (295). “The cats crept away…” (295). The house is described as follows; “The blind statues and the singing fountains filled with dry leaves, bird droppings, and moss. The broken, dirty arbors served as a refuge for wild animals and a garbage dump for the neighbors.” (296). The walls in the house turned green and the bucolic Versailles tapestry lost its beauty and became a dartboard for Nicolás and Alba. Between earthquakes, Esteban’s temper and doors slamming the walls were filled with holes. The only room that didn’t fall victim to the assault of time and neglect was Clara’s bedroom. The family stopped eating good and settled for chick-peas and rice pudding every day.
One thing that made me stop and think for a minute was how fixated Esteban was when it came to the burial of Clara and Rosa. He had the mausoleum built so he could place Rosa, Clara, and eventually himself in there. But he was so particular about the details and spared no expense that you would think he was building a castle. But it was a little depressing that Rosa turned to dust when Esteban tried to give her a final kiss goodbye.
What does that mausoleum represent allow Esteban to do...that he's been struggling to do his whole life? Absolutely appropriate that Rosa turns to dust, don't you think?
So Allende chooses to represent Clara's importance by describing the LITERAL deterioration of the house. Why?
Tania..you sound surprised that Esteban didn't do more? Do his actions in this chapter fit his character? Would you expect his sons to have had compassion? Or has Esteban gotten what he deserved? What does his reaction show us about Esteban?
Esteban definitely got what he deserved when it came to the house's deterioration. However, I really began to feel sympathy for Esteban throughout this chapter. He realizes that the only way he will ever be close to Clara or Rosa is through death. The book reads, "I felt better because i knew that sooner or later the three of us would be reunited there, along with our other loved ones, like my mother, Nana, and even Ferula, who I hope has forgiven me" (313). Esteban let loose all of his old grudges and sought forgiveness from the people that he had hurt most. I thought it was peculiar that he actually felt guilt after going to the Christopher Columbus and being with Transito Soto. I never thought that he would weep for Clara after that.
I'm mixed about this chapter. While one part of me feels that Esteban gets what he deserves, the other part feels that it was too much of a punishment. Here we can see how much Clara meant to not only the family, but to Esteban, even through his despicable attitude. The second person that meant anything to him was dead, and it changed him. And Esteban wasn't the only one. Clara was the thread keeping everyone in the Trueba together, and once she was gone that thread was severed, causing everyone to be dispersed away into the wind like dandelion seeds. And Clara's death was also the beginning of when everything in their lives started to go downhill.
~Julianna Richey
Unfortunately throughout this chapter I continued to carry a hatred for Esteban. It seems too difficult for me to feel compassion for such a despicable man. Yes he lost Clara and this affected him deeply but Clara put up with way too much from him before she finally vowed her silence to him. And in the very beginning of the chapter as he says, "I can't talk about it. But I'll try to write it. It's been twenty years and for a long time my grief was unabating."(292), to me it seems like a pity party for himself and all that he had lost. I must say that I could sympathize with him to an extent if he were to have had a terrible upbringing which had made him so hard. But I believe that he let himself grow into what he became. Because from what the author described him as he definitely didn't seem as if he was born evil. And although later on he regrets so many things and didn't quite deserve what he received, I still don't like him.
Mellisa Crisan
Esteban stealing Rosa the Beautiful's body was my favorite part in the chapter. Isabel Allende always starts and ends each chapter with a Wohh and I was taken off guard when Esteban even thought about taking her body. Esteban had to have it his way or the highway, he had very little ability to be around people who had different opinions then him. No where was it shown more then when he decided to bury Rosa's body in his mausoleum, that he was able to get his way because he broke the law. Esteban is not content with just the idea that Clara and Rosa's spirits will be with him, but he also reassured himself that they will be together physically too. This gave me an awe moment and I was amazed with his love for the two sisters, "I decided that if I hadn't been able to have them while I was alive, at least they would accompany me in death" (295).
-Janel
Janel...your blog postings have been consistently kick butt!!
Mellisa...I like you thinking here. Remember when we talked about Macbeth and the question of fault. I like what you say here "I believe he let himself grow into what he became."
I had mixed feelings when reading about the mansoleum idea. I mean at first I thought it was the sweetest thing ever. Especially when he states, "It would be of salmon-colored Italian marble, with satues made of the same material showing Rosa and Clara with angel wings, because they were, and always will be, angels"(295). Although I personally would have liked him to say "my angels" at the end, but thats just me. Then as i read on, I came to realize how horrible the idea was. When I read the statment, "If they won't give her to us, we'll have to take her by force"(304), I was in shock. I came to realize that that they are brutally digging up here grave and tossing her in a wheelbarrow, just so that Esteban can sleep at night. When a person is laid to rest, that person is supposed to rest in peace, not to be disturbed. I changed my opinion to very sweet to flat out selfish and cruel.
Your Welcome,
Travis
I believe Esteban had been struggling to love the two sisters at the same time. Esteban still had thoughts about Rosa and spoke her name accidentally even when he was married to Clara. He also loved Clara but in a different way.The burying of the two sisters next to each other helped him combine his love. " The two loves of my life, Rosa of the green hair and Clara the clairvoyant, the two sisters I adored, merged into one"(295). The fact that Rosa turned into dust fits because the there were no longer two bodies, but rather two souls merged into one.
Taylor Quella
Clara was clearly the staple of the house, the family, and Esteban. After her death flowers that once lived, wilt and die, the house starts to fall apart, and the family becomes disconnected. I feel like the only thing Esteban has left is his Alba, and when Nicolas forms the Institute for Union with Nothingness and Alba becomes a member, shaving her head, Esteban has a fit! He basically pays Nicolas to stay away and once Alba's hair grows back he sends her away to a British school for girls even though Alba hates it. Without Clara in the house the key thing that is missing is love.
Woaaahhhhh, where did this new Esteban Trueba come from? After Clara’s death, then he makes it known to everyone that he loved Clara throughly, but why during her living life couldn’t he make a little bit of an effort to show this love and compassion. Really throughout his whole life he seemed to have a way of going out of his way to make the women’s life miserable. Trueba pampered Clara on her death bed, after her life was out of her. He set her hair the way he wanted, sprayed her with cologne on her neck. He gave her his gold wedding band where her’s was placed but removed years before. He wouldn’t let anyone see her until he was ready for them too. This was the sense of control that Trueba always had to have. Trueba says, “You can bury her now, and while you’re at it, you might as well bury my mother-in-law’s head,” (293) this is a really weird and bold statement that is shocking but not at the same time. It’s not shocking that the demands are given by him, even though he is the husband. I’m sure he is the least person Clara wants tending to her after death. But the fact that he can just say that his mother-in-law’s head is collecting dust in the basement completely weirds me out. I would think that would be something he wouldn’t want to share, but I think it takes away from Clara’s death because he isn’t giving her her proper time. He rushes the mourning by just wanting to get rid of all the dead at once. Something about Trueba’s alternate personality in this chapter is just something I cannot figure out.
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