Introduction The House of the Spirits is centered around Chilean politics. In the House of the Spirits, the author uses characterization to present the concept of political themes to demonstrate chilean politics from 1925-1973. The Characters in the House of the Spirits are based on political movements and political people and events. The political themes include social and political classes and political representation. BODY To begin with, I have compared Arturo Alessandri and Severo Del Valle. Both characters portray liberalism. Arturo Alessandri was a chilean political figure for the liberal party and reformer who served president of Chile between 1920 and 1924, and then again in 1925. Severo represents the liberal party and movements …show more content…
for reform. The House of the Spirits begins with Severo and his family at church. Here is quote,”Severo Del Valle was an atheist and a Mason, but he had political ambitions and could not allow himself the luxury of missing the most heavily attended mass on Sundays and feast days, when everyone would have a chance to see him.”(Allende 3) This quote represents Severo’s ambition to be recognized by the humble people in order to be elected. This can also be seen with Nivea, she has ambitions to change Chile and provide more rights to women, which goes against the conservatives beliefs. “(......),but she shared her husbands parliamentary ambitions, hoping that if he won a seat in congress she would finally secure the vote for women….”(Allende 3) Overall, Severo's character introduces the theme of politics into the book. Allende portrays politics to be evil and the evils of politics is seen throughout the novel. For Example, Rosa represents beauty and innocence. Her death represents the death of innocent people at the hands of the government. Furthermore, Her death foreshadows the violent takeover at the end of the novel and the death of innocents. 2. Nivea represents the Women’s suffrage movement in chile occurring in the early 1900’s. Nivea represented the increasing participation and demand for women in politics. Here is a quote,” He knew that Nivea went out at night to hang suffragette posters(...) calling for all women to have equal rights with men, to be allowed to vote and attend the University, and for all children, even bastard, to be granted the full protection of the law.(Allende 66) Furthermore, female strength was demonstrated through politics and Nivea’s character. 3.
Esteban Trueba and General Carlos Ibanez Del Campo both parallel.Some History of Chile from 1925-1950’s, General Carlos Ibanez Del Campo became president in 1927. Under his rule political opponents were arrested and exiled which included the left wing political party. He comes into the presidency because Alessandri resigned because many ridiculed Alessandri as a pawn of Ibanez for criticizing Ibanez as being too ambitious. a.Severo and Nivea die just as liberalism dies with Alessandri in Chile. Their deaths introduce the beginning of a conservative era. b. Esteban Trueba represents the conservative party and all conservative movements. The conservative movement begins with Ibanez just as conservatism emerges with Esteban Trueba. Conservatives seek to preserve things as they are and they oppose modernism and seek a return to” the ways things were.” 4. Chile 1950’s- 1960’s a. In this time period there was High inflation and many strikes from workers. Many political parties are founded as well. President Ibanez is reinstated. He promises to curb inflation, help poor, but does, none of it. There is mismanagement of government economic problems, and poor conditions in Chile. Conservative Jorge Rodriguez became president in 1958, he reduces taxes and increases foreign investment. Earthquakes and tsunamis occur in 1960.Just as conservative rulers take hold of Chile, Esteban takes over Tres
Marias. b.”It was a year of poverty, a year in which the only thing missing to complete the sense of disaster was an earthquake.”(Allende 67) So earthquakes cause massive change in Chile, the plot, and charters of the book. Also, Esteban promises to make Tres Marias better, but he makes it worse just as the conservative rulers did to Chile. Allende uses tres Marias to portray the theme of social and shows the effects that politics can have on the working and poor classes. 5. Salvador Allende founded Chiles Socialist Party in 1933. For the Presidential elections of 1964 there were two candidates, Eduardo Frei and Salvador Allende. a.Eduardo Frei was a Christian Democrat and Salvador Allende was a Marxist. Frei wins by a wide margin and promises a reform program, which resembles the beliefs of a socialist. Furthermore, Socialism grows in The House of The Spirits,” The peasants were still living exactly as they had in colonial times, and had not heard of unions, or sundays off, or the minimum wage, but now the delegates from the new formed parties of the left disguised as evangelicals, were beginning to infiltrate the haciendas, with a bible tucked under one armpit and marxist pamphlets under the other.”(Allende 65) This shows how marxism is growing in the novel. b. Another quote,” The socialists are going to win Jamie had said(...) No Jamie, the ones who always win are going to win again,” Clara had replied(Allende 217)- Many believed Allende was going to win just as Jaime did but Clara knew that the conservatives will win again and Frei did. 6. The Coup d’tat During the coup the military dissolved congress,censored the press, banned political parties, cracked down on labor, land reform movements. Left wing party, union, and peasant leaders were murdered. A famous singer Victor Jara was taken to the prison and was later murdered. 7. Comparisons of other Characters In the novel there is a candidate and that represents Salvador Allende. The candidate,like Allende, was the first democratically elected marxist. Later, he was overthrown in a violent coup. Salvador Allende was Isabelle Allende’s uncle in real life. Esteban Garcia represents Pinochet. Esteban was the leader of the military coup to overthrow the government, he tortured thousands including Alba and Ana. Victor Jara was embodied in the character Pedro Tercero, he gave hope to the people and brought them the idea of socialism. Miguel represents those who joined the guerrillas in opposition to the coup. Also, jaime and Alba represent the violence done to the innocent and the freedoms taken away from the people of Chile because of politics. Conclusion Overall, Allende uses the plot and characters of the book to show the effects of politics and the violence that accompanies it, and the violence and terror done to each character parallel the politics of Chile.
Part I: “Consensus in Argentine Society and the Rise of Perón”. Chapter one, “ The Crisis of the Liberal Consensus” begins explaining the low participation of the Argentinean population in the government due to electoral fraudulence and intimidation. Then, he goes on to detailed how the democratic liberalism governmental system was threatened by the elites of Argentina because they fear the possible loss of their power from the new sectors that were rising. After, the author expressed that the
At first, the working class heavily supported Allende's campaign. A new movement of younger worker influence occurred during this time period, allowing Allende to accomplish many of the things he did. For instance, in the Yarur factory there was the "strike of 1962" which was the workers rebellion to the new Taylor system of the new generation of workers. They also rebelled because of the "union question" which revolved around three things: job security, free unions, and the elimination of the Taylor system. These were all things that Allende promised to fix, so naturally after a 9 week strike the people of the Yarur factory supported Allende and the promises he gave. All the workers in the Yarur factory were also deeply affected by the characteristics of postwar Chile: "dependency and stagflation, economic inequality and social inequality, the concentration of wealth and the persistence of poverty, the hegemony of the rich and the powerlessness of the poor" (54). These characteristics were the reasons that the working class suffered in Chile, as well as the...
Models for post-revolutionary Latin American government are born of the complex economic and social realities of 17th and 18th century Europe. From the momentum of the Enlightenment came major political rebellions of the elite class against entrenched national monarchies and systems of power. Within this time period of elitist revolt and intensive political restructuring, the fundamental basis for both liberal and conservative ideology was driven deep into Latin American soil. However, as neither ideology sought to fulfill or even recognize the needs or rights of mestizo people under government rule, the initial liberal doctrine pervading Latin American nations perpetuated racism and economic exploitation, and paved the way for all-consuming, cultural wars in the centuries to come.
The book “In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction” was published in the year 2008 on the 12th of February by Knopf Canada. The author of this book is Dr. Gabor Mate who has worked for twelve years in the eastside Vancouver with patients suffering from addiction, mental illness and HIV. He is also a renowned speaker and a bestselling author. He also received the Hubert Evans Prize for Literary Non-Fiction and the 2012 Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award for his work. (….)
The first turning point in hope for the Chilean road to socialism was that of the election of Salvador Allende as president, which gave many Yarur workers the belief that a ‘workers government’ was on their side. “For the first time, a self-proclaimed ‘workers government’ ruled Chile, dominated by the Left and Pledged to socialist revolution” (Winn, 53). Allende’s role as president gave identity to the Yarur workers that they were being represented and because of so, their struggles of working in the factory conditions set by Amador Yarur would come to an end. This identification with Allende as being represented by there own voice became the first stepping-stone to the demand for socialization of the factory. “The election of a ‘Popular Government’ was a signal...
In Allende’s The House of the Spirits, Esteban Trueba is the principal male character. During the course of the novel, Trueba increases his power in the world as he progresses in status from a conservative landowner to a powerful senator. He is tyrannical, treating his family members and the tenants on his family hacienda, Tres Marías, like subjects rather than intimate community. The basis for most of Trueba's actions is the desire for power, control, and wealth, and he pursues these things at any cost, disregarding his emotional decline and the effects of his actions upon the people in his life.
Time and rules have been transforming countries in many ways; especially, in the 1850’s and the 1920’s, when liberals were firmly in control across Latin American region. Liberalism can be defined as a dominant political philosophy in which almost every Latin American country was affected. A sense of progress over tradition, reason over faith, and free market over government control. Although each country was different, all liberals pursued similar policies. They emphasize on legal equality for all citizens, progress, free trade, anti-slavery, and removing power from church. Liberals declared promising changes for Latin American’s future. But Latin America had a stronger hierarchical society with more labor systems, nothing compare to the United States societies. Liberals weren’t good for Latin America. What I mean by “good” is the creation of a turning point or some type of contribution towards success. I define “good” as beneficial or helpful. The Latin American economy was stagnant between 1820 and 1850 because of independence wars, transportation and the recreation of facilities. I describe this era as, “the era when Latin America when off road”.
Salvador Allende promised to redistribute Chile's income (only two percent of the population received forty-six percent of the income), nationalize major industries (especially the copper companies), and to expand relations with socialist and communist countries. Allende's presidency presented a threat to the United States; a man with such aspirations would have to stray from United States policies and the policies of all other countries. Allende would neither respect nor consider the work the United States had done for them in the past. The United States would no longer be able to act as a parasite, sucking the money out of Chile. The U.S. decided it must stop this man from rising to power as soon as possible.
In Peter Winn’s book, Weavers of revolution, the revolution from below collided with the revolution from above, producing unexpected yet catastrophic effect in Chile. Generally speaking, a revolution is a complete transformation of an established government or a political system and a radical change in people’s views and behaviors. However, a revolution from above refers to major political and social changes that are imposed by the government on the population. In contrast, a revolution from below is when the people of a nation rebel against the hierarchy to gain a revolution. In Chile, the revolution from above was initiated by Salvador Allende’s election in 1970, but it was mistaken as a signal to the workers “to take the revolution into their own hands and fulfill their historic aspirations through direct action from below” (140).
In her famous The House of the Spirits, Isabel Allende documents the life of several characters during the Chilean reality in the 1930s. Her notorious feminist ideology is, at times, extremely obvious. Elements such as the clash of social classes and the social, political and economical conditions of Chile during this period of high turmoil are also well portrayed. Isabel Allende achieves to give us a good image of what life in Chile was like during those years. Some particular characters specially exemplify all of these elements very clearly.
The film uses instances of flashback to reveal what happened in Argentina during 1970-1980s, as such most of what “El Secreto De Sus Ojos” (The Secret in Their Eyes). Depicts about that period in Argentina’s history is borrowed from memory. In this film, the influence of memory is captured through certain crucial events, characters as well as their imagination. Since these historical events are narrated from memory, they reflect the passage of time and as such underline the social political transition that this country has undergone.
After the revolution of 1943 Juan Perón shared control of the Argentinean government. Under Pedro Ramirez, Perón held three cabinet positions. With that he saw an opportunity. He did many reform programs and won a lot of the support of labor unio...
The history of political instability in Mexico and its need for revolution is very complex and dates back to the colonization of Mexico by the Spaniards in the 1500s. However, many aspects of the social situation of Mexico when the Revolution broke out can be attributed to the thirty-year dictatorship of President Porfrio Diaz, prior to 1911. The Revolution began in November of 1910 in an effort to overthrow the Diaz dictatorship. Under the Diaz presidency, a small minority of people, primarily relatives and friends, were in ...
him. He tries to go back to raping peasants, but he can’t lift them up
The one of the main themes in the epilogue, and in the entire novel is