The Purpose of "The House of Spirits" - Caroline Tucker

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The House of Spirits is one of those books that you have no idea why you are reading it but you cannot put it down. At least it was this way for me. So far, I could not figure out the purpose behind the book. Honors has been reading books that all seem to link together in different ways. For The House of Spirits, I could not find the link to what we have read so far. I am sure that if there is a link we will find it as we continue reading the book. 
One of my biggest thoughts as I have already mentioned is, what is the purpose of the book? What compelled Isabel Allende to write The House of Spirits? Every book has a purpose or message, whether the book is to entertain, teach a lesson, inform, etc. The books that we have read so far fall under the teaching and informing categories. I look forward to seeing what the message is inThe House of Spirits. 
What do you think is the message behind The House of Spirits?

P.S. I commented on Eliza's and Zane's posts

Comments

Jamie Peters said…
I think that the point of the book thus far is to tell a story. However, I think the more we get into it, it will be about thinking about others before ourselves. Slowly but surely, everyone in the book is realizing this simple truth; Nicolas is the most recent one to climb out of the hole that is egotism. With the birth of Alba, hopefully Esteban will also be humbled. The only person I don't seeing it happening to is the other Esteban. Good blog post!!
March 22, 2020 at 5:19 PM
AnnaKate Burleson said…
I feel like this book is peak realism. Allende is teaching us that everything is connected and that nothing we do is without consequence. Social issues handled in public office really do trickle down and affect the lives of the "peasants," and the way that you treat others directly impacts the way others will treat you. The structure of the novel is confusing, the characters are frustrating, and nothing seems to have the kind of happy ending that comes tied up in a bow with no loose ends. But that's reality. It's what being human looks like, and I think Allende does a great job of portraying the human condition as it is.
March 23, 2020 at 2:31 PM
Zane Duke said…
The only thing that I can really take away from this is that there are imperfections in each of the characters, even in Rosa and Clara. They are what I think to be the symbols of purity in the story, where as the male figures such as Esteban and Severo and Esteban's father have been imperfect figures who have all made costly mistakes. So I think there could be some sort of a bias, that the female characters mentioned in the work are the "good guys" while the male figures are the bad guys. Which if you think about it does make sense in a more matriarchal culture such as the culture that would be present in Chile.
March 23, 2020 at 5:15 PM
Logan Turner said…
Like you, I have no clue as to why we're reading this. The plot seems irrelevant to the other books we've read so far in class and, as a result, I'm left looking forward to how this connects in the grand scheme of things. It just seems so out of place compared to the other stories we've read, especially since they've all had some connection to one another.
March 23, 2020 at 8:36 PM
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