Wednesday, May 25, 2011
6: Revenge
When you respond to this chapter, DO NOT simply repeat the thoughts of others. Add something new to a previous comment. Comment or critique on a previous posting. BUT YOUR ULTIMATE goal is to add something new to the discussion. Also...don't forget to use as many direct quotes as possible!!!!
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17 comments:
One of the things that really caught my attention was the mood swings Esteban continually had. He went from loving Clara and trying to get her attention by going to other means for pleasure to being so furious with her that he actually hit her and knocked her unconscious. He also had mood swings when it came to Pedro Trecero Garcia. Esteban says "I swear on my mother's soul he's going to regret that he was ever born" (200). Esteban is so enraged at Pedro that he threatens to kill him. But later on when Esteban gets a chance to kill him and doesn't succeed he says he is relieved about it. He says "My first reaction was one of relief..." (206). I think that Esteban is a very impulsive sort of person and he doesn't really think everything through until it is too late. On page 199, he brutally punishes Blanca and threatens her to get answers, but realizes after he has hurt her that he addressed the problem from the wrong direction and that he was overly harsh with his punishment. He is emotional and he lets his emotions control him.
Oh how I love a good man hunt that leaves you wondering what one of the characters is planning. The one character that I am referring to is Esteban Garcia and why did he lead Esteban Trueba to Pedro Tercero Garcia. Was he planning on actually fulfilling one of his fantasies of getting rid of the family so he would be the head of Tres Marias? For example "The child would lie awake at night imagining all sorts of dreadful illnesses and accidents that could put an end to the life of the patron and his children so that he could inherit the property. Tres Marias would become his kingdom. He nursed these fantasies throughout his life, even long after it was evident that he would receive nothing by way of inheritance" (189). So far I liked the way the chapter built up to end with the confrontation between Esteban Trueba and Pedro Tercero. Throughout this chapter I was just waiting for Blanca to finally get caught in one of her night adventures. I find that this Count Jean de Satigny is a shady character and might be someone to be very cautious of because he was worried when he saw Blance leave for one of her night meets with Pedro Tercero. As is stated "But he was worried, because what he had just seen jeopardized the scheme he had in mind" (184). What was he plotting to do?
It's interesting that Esteban can be so many different things at once, isn't it. Yes, I agree he's impulsive...he impulsively falls in love with Rosa, but wants to first create money for a future with her (not impulsive, right). He continually struggles with this act of paying for his impulsiveness...and yet he never seems to learn from his mistakes.
Although this has nothing to do with any of the postings on this page, when I read this chapter I became angry with Blanca and even a bit with Clara. When Esteban lies to Blanca about Pedro's death she is clearly devastated and yet she succumbs to her father's rage and marries Jean. I understand that she is lost and in the deepest grief, but even after she receives her mother's confirmation that Pedro is alive, she still marries another man. If she truly loved him why didn't she fight harder? Why didn't Clara help her more and try to make Esteban see the error in his ways? It makes me lost just a bit of sympathy for Blanca because she wasn't brave enough to do what her heart was telling her, to stand for what she worked so hard to keep and protect.
~Brittany Rowe
Oops, I stand corrected it was during this chapter that Esteban attacked Pedro, it was in the next that he broke the news to Blanca.
~Britany Rowe
Revenge is the perfect name for this chapter. So many things take place that have to deal with some sort of revenge. Pedro Tercero and Nicolas Trueba continue to go against Esteban Trueba's ideals. Esteban Garcia wishes to kill Esteban Trueba to take revenge for his mother and to take over Tres Marias. Esteban Trueba beats his own daughter Blanca in a rage that could be considered revenge against Pedro Tercero. Clara seems to be on the verge of having an affair with Pedro Segundo, and then Esteban Trueba almost kills Pedro Tercero for being with his daughter! All of these things put together really made this chapter fit together well. Esteban Trueba is to blame for all of these happenings. He has no control over himself. For example, when he beats Blanca "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" (199). And then again when he slaps Clara, "he lost control and struck her in the face, knocking her against the wall. Clara fell to the floor without a sound" (200). Maybe if he could control his disastrous rages he would not have lost so many people in his life.
Excellent posting Coad Man!! Yes, we and Esteban witness the consequences of his actions in various ways with various people. Two characters we've spoken little of on this blog that need more discussion - Esteban Garcia and Pedro Segundo.
What does Esteban Garcia symbolize? Who is he? What does he want? Who does he speak to? How is he treated? With Esteban Garcia, what are we, the readers, seeing??
And why is Clara attracted to Pedtro Tercero?
To me Esteban Garcia represents not only a victim of the patron's uncaring personality, but also a victim of fate. He's the son of the patron's bastard child. Garcia grows up knowing that he will never inherit anything from Esteban Trueba, and this makes him bitter, evil, and corrupted even from a young age. Even in the future he does gruesome things (like an incident with a chicken's eye and a nail when he was still young). Every time Esteban Garcia spoke I would always wonder "Oh, what bad thing is he going to do now?" and it didn't surprise me that he'd be the one to turn in Pedro Tercero.
~Julianna Richey
Esteban Garcia is a scary little devil. He is the grandson of Esteban Trueba. You can just tell he is a malicious child by the way he "held the fingers like a bouqet of bloody asparagus" (207), which to me sounds like he is holding them lovingly which is very disturbing. In fact it is so disturbing even to Esteban Trueba, that he vomits all over just from the sight and of course from what he had done. And to me in a large part was Esteban Garcia's fault.
Tania
Chapter 6 brought much tension between Clara and Esteban. When Clara no longer let him into the bedroom and locked the door every night, I instantly thought how she is shutting him out of her life. But, Esteban is still madly in love with Clara and tries every method he can to try to get her to love him again, "one day, Clara had a bolt installed on her bedroom door and after that she never let me in her bed again, except when I forced myself on her and when to have said no would have meant the end of our marriage" (179). I have to say I felt bad for Esteban because all he really wanted was for her to love him, but at the same time, did he really deserve her love? This tension between Clara and Esteban was pretty much the same as Blanca and The Count. She refused his hand in marriage and tried to shut him out of her life by trying hard to avoid him. I kind of wish Esteban would have listen and realized that Blanca felt the same as Clara felt to Esteban.
-Janel
"Who is it? Tell me who it is or Ill kill you" (199). This is being yelled to Blanca by her father, when he is told that Blanca is sneaking out to see her lover. She does not tell him and he has to find out by someone else. A little boy, that he later realizes is really important in the story, shows him where Pedro Tercero Garcia is hiding. In their 'little' confrontation, Esteban is sickened by his murderous acts. He is also sickened by the little boy when he picks up the fingers and acts like they're something delicious.
~SHELBY~
After the earthquake Clara had change. "She looked tired, and i could see she was pulling away from me. She had no compassion for my suffering, and I realized that she was avoiding me"(176). The more distant Clara became the more Esteban needed her love. Esteban even said "her spirit wasn't with me"(177). I kind of felt bad for Esteban. He did really try hard to become close with her. Blanca also became distant with her father. He never really appreciated his daughter he said "she was never the loving and gentle child i would have liked to have"(177). He blamed their bad relationship on Pedro instead of taking the blame for himself. Because of Pedro he thinks Blanca distanced herself from both her mother and father. Esteban's tensions started to build up until he finally sought out his revenge. He physically and mentally abused his wife and daughter and tried to kill his daughters soul mate. Esteban's tantrums started to lead to him showing his true side again. I do not blame Clara and Blanca leaving him.
Autumn
Tania...thanks for pointing out that very unsavory simile. Yes, Esteban is certainly a disturbing creature. And isn't it interesting that we, the reader, have seen so many births (and deaths) so far in the novel. Why is Esteban Garcia like this?
These latest postings have been particulary good ladies!
Although this is the wrong chapter, I completely agree with what Brittany said about Blanca and Clara. That part of the story also made me very agitated.Blanca was supposedly so in love with Pedro, but yet she still married the count.This makes you question how deep her love for Pedro actually is. Clara could have done more as well to fight for her daughter like Brittany also said, but perhaps Clara already knew this marriage wouldn't last long anyways so she did not try as hard as she possibly could.
Taylor Quella
Esteban is an angry man. He lets his anger get the best of him and when he feels bad it's too late...which only angers him more. I feel like this whole chapter was just a bunch of things that made Esteban mad piled up on top of one another until finally he snapped. As it turns out revenge is not as sweet as he thought it would be when he goes after Pedro.
On the subject of Blanca and Jean, maybe she settled just like Clara did. Maybe she just accepted her fate. Didn't question it, or fight it. Just simply accepted it.
I think Esteban is a hypocrite. In his rage he begans yellying at Clara because of course she is to blame for his daughter's actions.
"He accused her of having raised Blanca without morals, without religion, without principles, like a libertine atheist, even worse, without a sense of her own class, because you could understand if she wanted to do it with someone from a decent family, but not with this hick, this simpleton, this hothead, this lazy good-for-nothing son of a gun"(200). I personally don't think Esteban has any room to judge. For if I remember right, he raped many peasant girls just for the thrill of it. And now he looks down on his daughter for trying to find love? That sounds a little messed up if you ask me.
Your Welcome,
Travis
I love in the chapter about revenge how Clara is not afraid to stand up to Esteban, especially when he is in a mad mood anyway. I love when Clara tells him, “Pedro Tercero Garcia hasn’t done a thing you haven’t done yourself, you also slept with unmarried women not of your own class. The only difference is that he did it for love. And so did Blanca” (200). It is true, except Blanca went out of her class for love, not just to make love. Esteban Trueba is such a hypocrite, he knew he wouldn’t be criticized for what he did because he was the upper class in his situation, Garcia was just doing what he felt his heart desired. I love that Blanca and Pedro Tercero did not let Esteban’s heartless soul stop what they were destined to have.
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