Problematic binaries

There are many problematic binaries in chapter 1 to 3 of The House of The Spirits. One of them is the conflict between women and men. This is seen in the Trueba family. Ferula, Esteban's sister, has no problems talking care of her sick mother, if somebody ask her, but sometimes she is jealous of her brother Esteban. He is able to go out, travels, has his work, and comes only sometimes back home. But Ferula is not mad of his brother because he has a better life, she does not like the rules in the community. She wishes to have the same freedom as Esteban but she can not do it because the society at this time expected that women have a different life stile than men.
Another example of the conflict between women and men is Pancha Garcia. Esteban rapes her and he does not get in trouble. Pancha grew up in this society therefore she does not fight about it. She expected something like this. Also Esteban knows that he would not get in trouble because he knows that men has more rights than women at this time.

One way to summarize all the "Problematic Binaries" of House of Spirits is "Old vs New". The obvious conflicts being; Science and Religion, Man and Woman, Rural Technologies and New Technologies. These create Political problems for the reader as their opinion is manipulated by the dialogue and writing in the novel. For example the natural remedies that Nana relies on are used much more then the ones the doctor gives the characters. If memory serves, every baby in this novel has been born at home instead of a hospital. An example how the readers opinion is twisted is when the motorcar comes into the picture. The novel talks about how the community hated the motorcar and it outlines all the problems with it leading the reader to believe that the motor car was some horrible contraption when really we use cars today in everyday life. The Characters are conflicted by the Spiritualism versus Religion in which Clara has mystic abilities and is concidered a demon by the church.

theas post: problematic binaires

In the House of the Spirits there are many problematic binaries. One is the way the men treated the women. Esteban trubeba proves this in his actions held towards Pancha Garcia. Through his eyes, he sees women as just something to fulfill his sexual requirements. Although the way he treated the young girl resulted in no consequences, it was common for that relationship to be established, especially given the society and culture that both Pancha and Esteban grew up in. Most men in that time had the same view about women having equal rights. Estabans view changes after meeting clara, and his actions towards women becomes acceptable.

As the plot develop itself, we can see a variety of problematic binaries. One in special, is beauty x grotesque. The first chapter has as a title: "Rosa the beautiful", which insinuates that the reader will see beautiful descriptions, but as the reader goes through the chapter, the beauty is contradicted by Barrabas' arrival for example, or the situations in which Clara get involved in the church. For the characters it become a role in which everything starts to contradict itself, beginning by Clara's beauty and her strange powers.

There are many varying problematic binaries in The House of the Spirits, but a primary one is religion vs. science. Two of the daughters represent how science is constantly being mixed with religious concepts and their constant game of tug-of-war.

Rosa is just a bizarre but beautiful outcome of genetics yet she is constantly compared to an angel of sorts. The people are always looking for religion in things that have no religious implications at all. Clara, on the other hand, has mental powers that people can easily dismiss as the devil's work

I think one problematic binary in HOS is the conflicting opinions between children and adults. This is especially prevalent around Clara, because of her special abilities. In a sense, these abilities make her superior to her elders, and not just different. The irony, of course, is that children are definitely not ever seen as even being capable of having any sort of edge over their adult counterparts. Clara exercises this superiority through her clairvoyance, since the adults in the del Valle family rely on her to understand and prepare for the future. They are so dependent that they readily accept anything that she predicts, and even though it remains true, I believe that they would believe anything she would say. In this sense, the child figure is controlling the adult figure, an idea that is rarely true. Clara seems to be fully aware of this 'dominance', and believes she can exercise it where she wills, for example cussing in church. In fact, not only does she swear, but she also doubts the priest's authority.The idea of a child doubting, not just any adult but one with a great amount of abstract control, clearly outlines that there is an obvious conflict between who has the 'real' authority in the events having to do with Clara.

One problematic binary in The House of The Spirits is that of colonizer vs colonized. When Esteban trueba takes over as the Patron of Tres Marias, he rapes the peasant girls there who he is the "boss" of. Pedro segundo has a relationship with Esteban much like a relationship that a chief of an indian tribe would have with a conquistador. Pedro hates Esteban, but also carries a resentful feeling of admiration and respect for him. The peasantry of Tres Marias feel roughly the same way toward Esteban, and while Esteban continues to rape young peasant girls, and treat the workers poorly, it creates a mounting tension within Tres Marias. I am going out on a limb a little, but i think that this mounting tension at Tres Marias will climax in a large event, that greatly effects Esteban, and the peasants of Tres Marias.

Identify one problematic binary in the first three chapters of The House of The Spirits, and explain (in 1-2 paragraphs) how it creates "political" problems for either the protagonists or the reader.

I believe that in The House of The Spirits there is major binary problem of religion versus spirituality. Clara's father is forced to go to church even though he is an atheist because of his political ambitions. By doing this he also brings Clara, who is known for her supernatural capabilities, into a vulnerable position. When she directly challenges God's preacher she left a large gap open for her entire family to be criticized for months. She was directly accused of being possessed by the devil while her father's political ambitions were dented. The rest of the family also had to lay low for a while because during those times one persons' mistakes would be seen as the family's mistakes. While Clara's direct attack on the church affected her entire family, the church struck back by shaming them for an indefinite amount of time. The issue between the physical representatives of spirituality and religion, I feel, is magnified by the fact that they are able to conflict with each other with actual physical consequences.

There are many problematic binaries in the first three chapters of The House of The Spirits, one of which is the conflict between man and woman. This is seen between Esteban Trueba and Ferula, his sister. Ferula claims she is okay with taking care of her sick mother in the way that she does, but when there is nobody to see her generosity, she becomes resentful of her brother. Esteban goes out, works, travels, and comes home to visit his sister and his mother very rarely. Ferula's complaints are not at her brother, for his freedom, but at the sexist norms of the community. Ferula does not volunteer for the disgusting jobs because truly wants to help – she volunteers because that is what her society expects out of her because she is the woman and Esteban is the man.

Esteban is also in another sexist relationship, but this one is with Pancha Garcia. Esteban rapes her violently, and suffers no immediate consequence. In fact, the incedent only allows Esteban to manipulate Pancha furthur and she begins to become his full time kitchen and sex worker. She puts up no fight because she has been exposed to the culture her whole life, and expected such a thing to happen. Esteban shows no restraint, because he knows that in this community, he can get away with raping a fifteen year old girl.

Politics of problematic binaries

Identify one problematic binary in the first three chapters of The House of The Spirits, and explain (in 1-2 paragraphs) how it creates "political" problems for either the protagonists or the reader.