The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

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In the novel The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende the epilogue is

a conclusion to all that has happening in the novel.

In the novel ‘The House of the Spirits’ by Isabel Allende the epilogue

is a conclusion to all that has happening in the novel. In

demonstrates the overall themes of recurring cycles throughout the

lives of the characters, and also of the importance of the past and

memories. The cycles run throughout the book, but in the epilogue we

see how they are beginning to be broken and new cycles are being

formed. The tone of the final chapter is both hopeful and cheerful at

the beginning, and melancholic almost to depression by the end. The

symbol of the old house on the corner is powerfully portrayed in this

final chapter, representing both Clara’s presence and spirituality,

but also Esteban’s fading wealth and power. Magical realism is used to

help distort the distinction between reality and fiction. Finally we

see the growth of the central character of this chapter, and the

narrators of the book, Alba and Esteban.

In the epilogue of the novel, Alba has returned from being held in a

concentration camp. She and her grandfather Esteban Trueba restore the

old house on the corner. Esteban dies peacefully in Alba’s arms Alba

is revealed to be pregnant and she begins to read her grandmother

Clara’s diaries and her mother Blanca’s letters and begin to piece

together the story the was just told.

The one of the main themes in the epilogue, and in the entire novel is

that of cycles, history repeating itself and fate. Alba has become

pregnant, and is renewing the cycle by continuing life, making the end

of the story the beginning of another one, the tale of her daughter.

It also tells how the n...

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...y grandfather when he was young and stood six feet

tall, irrefutable proof that Ferula’s curse came true and that his

body shrank in the same proportions as his soul.’

To conclude, in the epilogue of the novel ‘The House of the Spirits

we see finish to two of the major themes of the novel, memories and

cycles. The tone of the chapter is a fitting ending, as it is both

optimistic but at the same time cheerless about the events of the

past. We observe an example of the magical realism used throughout the

novel, the better show the involvement of spiritual aspects in the

characters, especially Clara’s, lives. The house on the corner, a

strong symbol through the novel has been restored, emphasizing the

cycles seen in the novel. And finally, the characters have developed

to a stage where they have become whole and are ready to begin new

cycles of their own.

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