Ok! Does anyone else think that it is a little bit unrealistic that everything just turns out all warm and fuzzy at the end?! When I got to the last few chapters and the epilogue, I thought that I was reading either a completely different book or a totally sold out, Disney-princess style, cheesy ending to The House of the Spirits. On so many levels, there is no way that everything could have turned out that perfectly for all the characters.
For one thing, Senator Trueba was a grouchy, abusive, single-minded hot head who raped women, beat his wife, ignored his kids aspirations and spent his entire life campaigning for the right wing government that allowed him complete power over everything. There is no possible way that all of a sudden, he makes up with his arch-nemesis, Pedro Tercero, accepts Blanca's love for a peasant, helps them escape the country, assists Alba in caring for the poor, listens to the opinions of others and just overall become a completely different person than he was for the entirety of his life and the last 350 some pages.
It also seems a bit strange that after years of not speaking to Trueba, Clara would suddenly forgive him for his heinous husbanding only days before he was about to die and from the after life no less.
Sure, one could argue that things didn't turn out 'perfectly.' Nicolas is still a weirdo, Jaime and Amanda are dead and the evil government is still intact. However, on the whole, things turn out pretty darn fine compared to the significant misery and depression that was the rest of the book.
However, in spite of all my skepticism and arguments about reality, I can't help but feel these warm fuzzy feelings welling up inside of me. I am compelled to enjoy the cyclical nature of the final chapters and how Blanca and Alba will live out the rest of their lives in happiness with the ones they love...how Senator Trueba had a change of heart and was 'reconciled' to Clara. And even though I want to say something witty about how it's the typical fairytale ending, deep down, I really like it. So Congratulations Allende. You win.
I hadn't really thought about the cheesiness of the ending, but you are right- it is very unrealistic. Then again, we probably should have expected that. After all, a book titled "The House of the Spirits" doesn't hold much promise of being realistic. Despite the improbability of the ending, I do agree with your last paragraph. As much as this book disgusted me, I was very impressed by the cyclical ending.
ReplyDeleteI'm not convinced that the ending is impossible. I realize it is a drastic change from the Trueba we all knew and despised to the Trueba in the ending, but I feel that with all the tragedy that he went through, there is a real possibility for a change. I don't believe that anyone is beyond help and not able to change, even Trueba with all the evil he had done. I think that when Alba was taken, that was the last straw for him, as she was the last thing left on the earth that he truly cared for. He realized he had to change or he would lose her for good even after he got her back. It still is a little far fetched, but it is possible and I prefer this ending to any other.
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