LatinosUSA

Revealing the Formation of Social Strata: —The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende

Because it is the history of a family, The House of the Spirits is often compared to One Hundred Years of Solitude. Indeed, readers are frequently reminded of the latter when reading the former. However, one aspect of Allende’s writing that I think most critics overlook is her attempt to narrate the development of a society from the pre-industrial stage to capitalism, through the new divide of the dominant and the dominated, and eventually, the establishment of differentiated social classes. With this strategy, the author is able to interpret why at first people did not know much about WWII happening in remote countries, but became much involved in the anti-communism campaign during the cold war period.

Published in 1982, during Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorial rule in Chile and while Allende was in exile, and after being rejected by several Spanish-language publishing houses, the original Spanish version of The House of the Spirits (La casa de los espíritus) certainly helped the world understand the atrocities of the regime. This is evident from Chapter Eleven to the end of the novel, which has been much discussed even long after Pinochet’s rule. The function of literature as a witness to history is demonstrated by this outstanding novel. The English version first came out in 1985, its influence reached out even further. Up until now, The House of Spirits is still a best-seller all over the world.

In fact, post-war dictatorships were quite common in the anti-communism camp. Examples include Spain under Francisco Franco (1939–1975), the Greek junta (1967–1974) under Georgios Papadopoulos, Argentina (1976–1983) under Jorge Rafael Videla, South Korea (1948–1987) under Syngman Rhee, Park Chung Hee, and Chun Doo-hwan, Indonesia (1967–1998) under Suharto, and the Republic of China (Taiwan, 1949–1987) under Chiang Kai-shek and his successors. Nevertheless, the umbrella of the anti-communism campaign ensured that these dictators were supported by the West, and the exploitation of underprivileged groups in these countries was often ignored.

In The House of the Spirits, Marxism and socialism, which attempt to address inequality and poverty, are depicted as being associated with the evils of the Soviet Union by politicians. In contrast, capitalism is linked to democracy and freedom through political propaganda. As an ardent anti-communist, is the protagonist of the novel, Esteban Trueba, a genuine believer of democracy or merely driven by self-interest? In fiction or in reality, one certainty is that the exploitation inherent in capitalism is further entrenched by the false promises of freedom.

It is the reason why I’d like to emphasize the significance of the earlier part of the novel, in which the author narrates, through each character’s role, how the rivalry between different social classes gradually forms as a society moves toward modernization, which is almost synonymous with the accumulation and concentration of capital, and how the prestigious class takes advantage of these circumstances to fortify class differences.

In terms of narrative structure, I think the main drawback of The House of the Spirits is its uneven distribution of political elements. The first ten chapters are almost apolitical, while the last four chapters are heavily focused on political incidents. Had there been more early hints of political themes, the novel might have achieved greater impact, rather than remaining in the shadow of García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Ultimately, even more than four decades after its debut, The House of the Spirits remains a poignant warning against injustice, state violence, and mass human rights violations, conveyed through the author’s profound insight and literary aesthetics.