Unexpectedly Important Characters in House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

Isabel Allende in House of the Spirits portrayed many seemingly minor characters that ended up having a greater role than expected. One of the unexpected characters was Alba. Despite the fact that Alba was not born until chapter nine, she played a significant role in the plot of the story and character dynamics of the Trueba family and other strong men and women. This then lead to the fact that Allende built up powerful and outspoken personalities to ultimately create one strong character, Alba, who finished the novel with a shocking and hopeful ending.

Alba was brought into the world as a beautiful baby, with good astrological fortune. In her first hours, she already had traits that resembled her to two strong-minded characters, Rosa and Pedro Tecero Garcia. “[Clara]…pasted the child’s first greenish locks of hair [with]… various [other] portraits that allow one to see her as she was then: an extraordinary tiny creature… with no other sign of human intelligence than her sparkling black eyes, which bore an expression of ancient wisdom”(Page 262). The first character description in the whole book was that of Rosa’s, who had the important role of being Esteban Trueba’s first love. This related back to Alba, who was Esteban’s first love after his many years of pain and loveless relationships. Pedro Tecero Garcia’s importance was in a way that he was always a constant in the story. Even through his and Blanca’s childhood, Esteban’s bloodthirsty uproar in Tres Marias, Blanca’s marriage to The Count, and the Time of Terror, he was always there, both in person and in thought.

As Alba was growing up in “the big house on the corner”, she received strange and unexpected educations from her twin uncles, Jaime and Nicholás. Jaime and Nic...

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...nnecting role in the life of the Trueba family. Alba and Clara are the only two characters that maintained a relationship with all of the other family members, including Esteban. Other than Clara, Alba was the only person to deflect Esteban Trueba’s bad behavior and ever show him any tenderness. Most importantly, Clara and Alba are the only reason Esteban sticks around at “the big house on the corner”.

Alba being the most influential character brought a resolution to the story. It was Alba’s act of forgiveness towards Esteban Garcia and the Security Police that brought a happy conclusion to the novel. Alba’s narration caused the story to begin to end and end to begin. Alba opened up the possibility of a break in the pattern of violence that had haunted her family for generations. This further shows the power of many outspoken personalities that come together as one.