The House of the Spirits
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Anyone who views The House of the Spirits without specific knowledge of the political evolution of Latin America over the course of the 20th century would perhaps find it totally unbelievable. However, the observation that "Latin America's democratic opening has been uneven and fragile" (Lowenthal, 1991, p. vii) goes some way toward lending verisimilitude to the action. It helps to know that even the countries that have adopted democratic reforms have fragile democratic institutions and have proved to be vulnerable to postcolonial exploitation, Cold War politics, internal left- and right-wing political factionalism, and the shifting loyalties of the military and social elites. One consistent pattern of activity seems to have been the oppression of the uneducated masses by various elites and the weight of Latin American social structure in general. The whole matter has been further complicated by continual recourse to the politics of violence, with civil war, coups d'état, or revolution either a present or a possible condition at one time or another in virtually all of the countries of Latin America. Bethell sums the picture up:The commitment of Latin American elites (and the middle classes) to democracy, insofar as it existed in other than a purely rhetorical form, by no means implied an acceptance of broadly based popular participation in the democratic process, competition for power by parties of the left as well as the right and center, and recognition of organized labor
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d South American country that appears to be a mythical amalgam of Argentina and Chile, each of which experienced protracted fascist junta rule in the 1970s and 1980s. The action begins in the last part of the 19th century and proceeds to the 1980s.
The portrayal of Trueba, who insists he is a "good patron" (August, 1993), demonstrates his presumption of privilege and entitlement vis-ŕ-vis the indigenous peoples--especially the Indian woman he forcibly impregnates. That background fits him perfectly for ultraconservative modern politics and positions him as the very fundament and enabler of the fascist takeover of a nation on the brink of progressive reform. Just as Trueba never interrogates his rights over the peasants, he never feels anything except entitlement to contempt for his self-abnegating sister Ferula and jealousy of the deep friendship between her and his wife Clara. So great is his self-absorption that he rationalizes his infidelities with prostitutes, as well as his racial prejudice, retrograde politics, and multiple moral imperfections.
The action of the film shows the implications and consequences of Trueba's attitudes and actions. His opposition to Pedro Segundo's union-organizing efforts takes violent form; what
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1231
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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