Sophomore Paige Arthur, music education student at AU,
writes about the novel The House of the
Spirits by Chilean author Isabel Allende. Paige read this novel in Dr.
Rathbun’s FL 220 Latin American Literature in Translation class.
The House of the Spirits is a great
novel for a class that double dips (Core Humanities & Border Crossing). The
amount of history and culture we see is astounding. The novel focuses on a
family the entire time, which paints a cultural picture of the importance of
family in Latin America. We also see a lot about women’s suffrage and identity
in Latin America in the novel - this was a very real thing in Latin America, a
real struggle for the women.
The most significant historical/
cultural event that The House of the
Spirits focuses on is the Chilean military coup in 1973. We see how a country
(represented in whole by one family) deals with the dictatorship, the torture,
and the hard times of the Coup.
This novel is also a great one for
its literary applications. For example, the use of intertextuality ,
particularly toward the end, allows the readers to connect with other literary
works and themes. The literary use of “full circle” writing leaves the reader
with questions answered by still wanting more. Additionally, the fact that some
words in the English translation were not translated I believe was a great use
of causing the reader to search for more. Overall, I believe this book covers
the “double dip” more than any double dip class I have ever taken.
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| Paige Arthur on the left. |
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