Esteban Trueba In Allende's The House Of The Spirits

In Allende’s novel The House of the Spirits, Esteban Trueba is the only character to survive the entirety of the novel. In the commencement, the reader witnesses how his rigorous childhood plays a key role in foreshadowing how his violence develops the themes throughout the novel. Furthermore, the reader additionally grows with Esteban as an adult, and witness how his volatile relationships with characters conform the theme of society and class. Lastly, throughout the novel he plays a central role as the antagonist in numerous conflicts, which develop the recurring theme of violence. From a zealous young man, to the main antagonist in various conflicts; examining Esteban’s growth throughout the novel involves the reader in the core of Esteban,

In the beginning, Esteban marries Clara who is an eccentric and feminist women. One night when Clara dissatisfied him, “he lost control and struck her in the face, knocking her against the wall…finally [she] opened her eyes. Blood flowing from her nose [and] spat out several teeth” (Allende 200-201). Allende emphasizes how harshly Esteban assaulted Clara by using imagery of the blood flowing out of her nose, and the action of her spitting out her teeth to illustrate to the reader how immensely hard Esteban struck her. Following this assault, Esteban has no legal repercussions, developing how male violence towards women in Chilean society is acceptable. Not only does Esteban’s violence emphasize society’s view of women, it also emphasizes the struggle between the lower and upper class. Esteban verbally expresses what poor people “don’t realize is that [they] are completely ignorant and uneducated. Without me they’d be lost…every time I turn my back. Everything goes to pieces and they start acting like a bunch of donkeys” (Allende 65). Through this line, prejudice is developed towards the lower class from the upper class in society. Esteban provides these donkeys, as he describes them, with a source of ascendency that results in harsh violence, without which they’d be unable to live. The technique Esteban runs his

In the novel, women play a central role aimed at focusing a lot on their concerns, struggles, as well as the growing feminist movement of Chile. Esteban’s machismo frequently creates conflict when the women go against what he wants. Jean de Satigny one night decides to tell Esteban about Blanca’s affairs with Pedro Tercero, which he strongly disagrees with, and states “I’m going to kill them both” (Allende 199). Esteban’s murderous intentions towards Pedro, as well as his daughter effectively develops the sense of violence within conflicts. When Esteban finds Blanca, his murderous intentions do not end, “[he is] unable to restrain his evil character and he charged at her with his horse, whip in the air, beating her mercilessly, lash upon lash, until the girl fell flat and rigid to the ground…”Who is it? Tell me who it is or I’ll kill you!”” (Allende 199) The violence is not only emphasized through his intention, but also through his actions in the line. Esteban beats his daughter mercilessly with his whip, until she falls flat to the ground. Allende’s successful use of imagery through this line allows the reader to visualize and feel the pain Esteban’s violence inflicts on Blanca. The reader not only grasps conflict between Esteban and Blanca, but also the conflict between Esteban and the people of Tres Marias. The violent conflict the