The End (or the Beginning?)

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As much as I had a lot of questions through our initial readings from the book, now I feel that a lot of those same questions are answered through simple resolutions of conflict that grew throughout the story. Watching the political/military conflict unfold and how it resolved (both positively and negatively) a lot of major strife in the lives of some of the characters who were involved in it was definitely one of the more fascinating story arcs. I will say that although I definitely don't necessarily agree with much of the politics that went on in the closing chapters, I decidedly prefer that reality compared to the way I thought it would play out based on the beginning- I thought that much of House of Spirits' meaning was originally subjective. With that said, it is strange to see Jaime and Amanda's relationship fall out of order due to a lack of love since love seemed to be such a key theme or tenet of House of Spirits. I really enjoyed seeing Esteban Trueba finally find redemption in the closing of the book, as his end is more peaceful than a reckoning which would have been violent and deserved earlier in the book. Finally, it was really cool looking back at how the book is pretty wrapped up in patterns, especially regarding the lives and deaths of main characters. Like I mentioned in the title, that's reflected with the way the book begins and ends with an identical phrase.



Edit: I commented on Rachael and Moriah's posts.

Comments

Rebecca Belew said…
I found the patterns riveting as well. I'm a logical and pattern-based person and so the idea that things tied together rather well at the end gave me a sense of relief in some cases. Every story-line tied into every other person's life so well that it made me forget that it was fiction. It made me forget that I am not, myself, part of the Trueba family. Allende did an impeccable job and I cannot wait to hear everyone's final thoughts on it.
March 30, 2020 at 8:43 AM
Clabo said…
I definitely see how some things in the first half of the book were concluded, but I feel as if they still had a lot of things that were open-ended. It's as if the resolution of certain conflicts created more conflicts. I am very intrigued, but not at all satisfied.
March 30, 2020 at 4:46 PM
Ezra Kennedy said…
I somewhat agree with what you said about Esteban’s turn-around. Actually, I think I fully agree, because if he’d been punished later on in his life the way he should have been punished when he was younger and fully believed that he had no fault, it would just be kicking an old man when he’s already down. I feel like, allowing him to naturally come to the conclusion of his fault (also, because if it had come from another person he would have totally dismissed it.) is torture enough for a 90 year old man and now he would have to spend the rest of his days pondering that.
March 30, 2020 at 6:02 PM
AnnaKate Burleson said…
I really liked how this book ended in such an open-ended way, as well! The fact that the book opens and closes with the same phrase was really satisfying to me. Also, the fact that Alba is pregnant is a great way to both resolve this story and open a new one, since this book exists as a family history. We've reached the end of the tales of these three generations, but the family line is continuing and in time there will likely be even greater stories to tell. Will we ever hear them? Probably not, but we can imagine. The cycles and the patterns all become so beautifully clear as the novel reaches its close. This is definitely a book I'll revisit in the future!
March 30, 2020 at 7:04 PM
Cade Wood said…
I do think there were a lot of questions that were unanswered at the beginning of the book. Heck, I know I had some and apparently, others had some too. I think again I agree with Clabo though. Yes, some of those questions were answered and conflict was resolved; however, I also feel as though the open-ended ending left more questions unanswered.
March 30, 2020 at 8:00 PM
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