Mia Grunburg

Carins

English 2H

18 August 2016

The House of the Spirits CDW

In The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende, Allende relates historical events and

people to her characters p throughout the novel to demonstrate the theme of social injustice.

After arriving in Tres Marias, Estaban states, " And then they start in on me with the story that

we are all equal! It's enough to make you die laughing!" (73). Esteban feels as though he is above

people of Tres Marias and gives them no respect or dignity. His belief is that because he is of a

higher class he has more dignity then the peasants. Estaban has an extremely selfish personality

and makes the people of Tres Marias work extremely hard and long and doesn't give them the

same opportunities because he believes that the thought of them being equal to him can make

one "die laughing." The author relates the hash nature of Estaban to the powerful conservative of

Chile, Augusto Pinochet. Just as Tres Marias was desperately in need for help, so was Chile at

the time. Both Esteban and Pinochet take over their domains with an iron fist and act without

thought or care about the people under their rule. Using this historical reference helps to illustrate

the severity of social injustice in Tres Marias and in Chile. Although both men did great things

for their domains, they did it at the price of the people. After finding out his daughter and Pedro

and his daughter Blanca are secretly seeing each other in the night, Esteban, raised my gun and

took a few steps forward. I was so close to him that I could have blown his head off without even

aiming." (304).