Materialism+versus+Spirituality

The first chapter describes Rosa's short life and how, even in such a short span of time, she managed to convince mostly everyone that she was not of this earth. A quotation from page 6 says that Nivea, her mother,preferred not to torment her with the 'earthly demands' because she had had a dream that her daughter was a 'heavenly being' and was not 'destined to last very long' on this planet, all suggesting that Rosa was some mythical creature. Also, her description when she was born (pg 4) with yellow eyes and green hair reminds us of some monster or mythical beast.

· Symbolism of the house The house that Esteban Trueba builds during his courtship with Clara acts as a powerful symbol of materialism versus spirituality. Esteban’s irrefutable aspiration for ‘beauty and civilisation’ (Pg 93) of ‘North America and Europe’ (pg 93) results in the ornate, antique and oppressive ‘two or three heroic floors, rows of white columns and a majestic staircase’ with ‘French gardens with topiaries fit for Versailles (Pg 93). The vivid description of the house by the narrator leads the materialistic nature of Esteban to surface in the novel.

However, the element of spirituality that Clara contributes to the house leads it to transform from ‘the big house on the corner’ (Pg 93) to ‘The House of The Spirits’. Clara’s spirituality leads the ‘well-lit windows’ to transform to ‘small windows that could not be opened’(Pg 93), the ‘rows of white columns’ to change drastically to ‘crooked hallways’ (Pg 93) and the ‘majestic staircase’ to modify to ‘twisted staircases that lead to empty space’ (Pg 93). Thus, the house acts as an adept example illustrating the stark contrast between Esteban’s materialism and Clara’s spirituality, effectively enhancing the conflict in the novel.

· Esteban’s materialistic nature Esteban acts as the symbol of materialism in the novel. Esteban’s urge for materialistic wealth is first seen when he mourns of Rosa ‘slipping through my hand’ (Pg 34). This leads the readers not only to question Esteban’s love for Rosa, but also to acknowledge Esteban’s greed. Esteban’s desire to be ‘rich’ with ‘seam of gold’ (Pg 46) is satisfied when he ‘sent crates of fruit, slated meat, hams, fresh eggs, hens, both living and in brine, sacks of flour, and all the money that they need, because he had plenty’(Pg 65). The craving for luxury is further illustrated by Esteban’s longing to find ‘gold and silver’ (Pg 24) in the mines. Furthermore, Esteban’s admiration of the ‘Viennese coffee – superb, delicious and accompanied by three honey biscuits’ (Pg 43) throws light on the hedonism that was prevalent even ‘in his dreams as a child’ (Pg 43). Moreover, Esteban’s urge to comply with the western world is reflected by his wedding day preparation where ‘any display of extravagance was a sign of vulgarity’ (Pg 90). The refrain from vanity does not arise due to Esteban’s spiritual nature, but rather his materialistic urge of ‘the overall appearance of order and peace’ (Pg 93). By effectively painting a portrait of Esteban’s urge for materialistic acquisition, Allende arouses emotions of disgust and negativity form the readers towards Esteban. Esteban’s gift to Clara- ‘the black back of Barrabas, who lay there split down the middle, transformed into a rug’ (Pg 97) out of good intentions, fills Clara with disgust. This introduces the revolting nature of Esteban’s materialism. Esteban’s desires of hedonistic pleasures leads him to fail to realise that ‘it was not little brick houses or pints of milk that made a man a good employer or an honest Christian, but rather giving his workers a decent salary instead of slips of pink paper, and a little dignity and respect’(Pg 63). Hence, Esteban’s failure to balance his spiritual and material nature acts as his Hamartia in the novel. · Spirituality within Clara Clara comes across as one of the most spiritual characters in the text. In the beginning of the novel, when Clara clairvoyance became ‘a source of income’ (Pg 15) for the family, she expressed no monetary intentions. Thus, Allende effectively introduces Clara’s indifference to materialistic pleasures. This is further highlighted by her indifference towards luxury, as she ‘was as happy to eat truffles as she was to have leftover soup, to sleep in a featherbed as to sitting up in a chair, or to bathe in scented water as not to bathe at all’ (Pg 100). Clara’s unconcerned attitude towards worldly pleasures is depicted when she doesn’t ‘give one distracted look’ (Pg 92) to ‘travel dresses, country dresses, party dresses, stylish hats, matching shoes and purses of lizard and suede, and various other thing’ (Pg 92) that Nivea bought for her.

Clara’s spirituality is accentuated by her connection with spirits. During Clara’s period of silence, she spent her time ‘accompanied by the spirits of the water, air and the earth’ (Pg 82). One of the most prominent examples that illustrates Clara’s link with the world of spirits is her response when ‘the spirits told her that there was a hidden treasure or an unburied body in the foundation’ (Pg 93) by transforming ‘the big house on the corner’ (Pg 93) to an ‘enchanted labyrinth’. · Ferula’s spirituality Ferula’s acceptance of the role of her ‘mother’s nurse’ (Pg 42) and the sacrifice of her ‘life to care for her mother’(Pg 42) undoubtedly throws light on the spirituality of Ferula, as she represents the Madonna figure in the Trueba household. This is moreover highlighted when Ferula visits the ‘Misericordia District every Friday’(Pg 87) ‘to say the rosary for the poor’ (Pg 87) despite her maltreatment when ‘they throw garbage at her’ (Pg 87) and ‘dumped chamber pots on her’ (Pg 87). However, unlike Clara, Ferula’s spirituality stemmed from her belief of spiritual salvation that ‘she would get to heaven by suffering terrible injustice’ (Pg 42). · Nana’s materialism When Clara and Uncle Marcos began foreseeing futures, ‘the only one who cared about the material side of things had been Nana’ (Pg 17). Allende, hence, draws upon the startling contrast between Clara’s indifference to monetary wealth and Nana’s acquisitive nature.

CHAPTERS 4 to 6 - Significance of the ant plague striking Tres Marias - Esteban tries everything to rid the property of the ants, including bringing in Mr. Brown, a midget gringo "agricultural technician specializing in insecticides." After hearing that Mr. Brown's method will take months to succeed, too long a time to save Tres Marias, in desperation they go to Pedro Garcia, who successfully rids Tres Marias of the ants. Pedro Garcia shows them the way out—as he explains to Mr. Brown, all that was needed was to "Tell them to go, that they're a nuisance her. They understand." Esteban tried all possible 'materialistic' solutions to the ant plague, very sophisticated equipment and specialist people. However, when all of this fails he is forced to look towards Pedro Garcia's spiritual method of talking to the ants to disappear, which proves very effective.

Clara's spiritual nature - When Nana comes to Tres Marias after the death of Clara's parents, she and Ferula take charge of the house, while Clara once again becomes heavily invovled with the Mora sisters and her spirituality. Clara's parents die in a car accident, and the whole family doesn't tell her about it because they think it may be too much for her to bear. What they do not realise is that she foresaw their death before the entire family came to know of it. She is not distressed at the death of her parents unlike most in her family. This may be because she can still speak to the spirits of the dead and communicate with them and because of her spirituality, she views life and death as part of a unified cycle, and not as opposite poles. Her spiritualist outlook on death gives her a certain sort of detachment from the death in her family.

Earthquake - The earthquake destroyed the large Trueba mansion - a symbol of hard-core materialism (connect to chapter when Esteban ordered for everything imported to have the best of facilities in his house) Trueba himself is victim of this disaster and the earthquake manages to hurt him quite badly. As is said on p. 161, 'if you move him, he'll die' so he could not be taken to a hospital. The only option, again, was to rely upon Pedro Garcia, who through 'mumbling litanies to teh healing saints, invoking good luck and the Virgin Mary' 'restored the body so perfectly' in such a manner that Dr.Curvas himself 'wouldn't have tried'. p. 161 - This shows that no matter how much materialism may try its best to prove itself by ostentatious means, it is always spiritualism that persists in the end. However, we also sse another effect of the earthquake. The otherwise removed, non-chalant Clara now suddenly had to shoulder domestic responsibility - p. 164 'For the first time in her life she took charge of material things, without any help' - This marks a significant change in her character

Technology as an example of materialsim - The ambivalent and percarious nature of technology was already portrayed to us in the Codovowanga, the car in which Clara's parents had an accident. Technology arrives in Tres Marias in the form of a phone, yet its stance in society is unstable. Materialism is slowly gaining importance with the advent of these technological inventions.