Time in House of spirits and chronicle of a death foretold Essay Example

title of the novel emphasizes this connection, as it refers to both the entire book and the grand mansion on the corner, which is constantly inhabited by ghosts and spirits due to Clara's presence. While a significant portion of The House of the Spirits employs a seemingly simple third-person narration, it actually contains three distinct narrative voices.

Initiating with an unlabelled first-person narrator, later identified as Alba in the epilogue, the text unfolds. The story is noted to be compiled from Clara's journals. Following this disclosure, most of the narrative transitions to third person narration. This all-knowing narrator uses pronouns like "he" or "she" to refer to the characters and possesses a deep understanding of their feelings and thoughts.

The method of narrative in this story follows a re-creation style, which is not uncommon. However, it is occasionally interrupted by another voice. This voice belongs to Esteban Trueba and is written in first person ("I"). Through Esteban's accounts, we experience his intense passion and acute suffering. It is noteworthy that all but the initial encounters with Trinsito Soto are narrated in Esteban's voice. These first-person accounts by Esteban serve two purposes: first, they strengthen the notion that the novel is composed from the reconstructed family histories, both written and spoken.

Esteban's words reveal the emotions he hides from others, making him appear cruel and heartless if not for his heartfelt declarations. These declarations expose him as a complex character wrestling with inner demons of passion and anger. The constant shifting between past and future emphasizes the cyclical nature and development of fate in both novels.

The constant reminder that any moment connects the past and future is exemplified

in both novels through the repetition of the future as an unchangeable event. In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Marquez repeatedly states that "they were going to kill Santiago Nasar." Similarly, in The House of the Spirits, Clara's clairvoyance allows her to continually comprehend people's fates, which she believes cannot be altered. This is demonstrated through her passive acceptance of her impending marriage, as she foresees that she is "going to be married soon... to Rosa's fiance." Clara's unwavering certainty in this outcome leads her to take no action to prevent it.

She holds the belief that one cannot alter the future and later in that month, "Esteban Trueba...appeared at her doorstep to propose marriage." She herself becomes Esteban's wife. Both books extensively utilize testimonies. The recollections of witnesses are scrutinized over time, as discovered by Marquez in Chronicle. He stumbles upon a town filled with individuals possessing diverse and often clashing memories of the events he is examining. As a result, what starts off as an endeavor to bridge the gaps—to definitively determine what truly transpired on that 'dark and drizzly morning' or was it 'bright and sunny'?—translates into a mockery of any effort to resurrect and rebuild history. He likens this process to attempting "to reassemble the shattered mirror of memory from its varied fragments." A starkly contrasting perspective is portrayed in The House of Spirits. On the first page itself, the omniscient author confides: "I would utilize [Clara's] diaries to redeem history and conquer my personal fears." Alba actually narrates this tale by combining Esteban Trueba's memories, her own reminiscences, and Clara’s entries from her “diaries that testified life". As she concludes The

House of Spirits, Alba seems to echo Allende’s voice saying: "Memory is delicate and a single lifespan so brief—it passes so swiftly we never get an opportunity to perceive connections between events; Time serves as a gateway facilitating access to different aspects within these novels.
We fail to understand completely the consequences of what we do, clinging to the concept that past, present, and future are distinct. Yet, it could also be true that all events happen at once.

Different perspectives can be achieved, as well as changing opinions over time. Fate is intertwined throughout time, connecting the past and future even more closely. Recounts are a frequently employed technique for rediscovering the past. In Chronicle, we become aware of the daunting challenge of reconstructing the truth, given that many believe the complete truth can never be fully known, particularly after numerous years have passed. In The House of Spirits, Clara's writings serve as a method for assembling their "true" family history. Time plays a crucial role in constructing and unveiling an entire dimension in these novels.