I agree that the women in “The House of the Spirits” were all very strong in their own rights and ways. Clara actually reminded me of my momma’s momma – we called her Mum. Mum was always the strong one, and she knew exactly what to do in just about any situation. Mum was definitely the glue that held the family together, and I feel that Clara was the same way. I think Foreman really hit the nail right on the head with that one -- especially when it comes to talking about the strength of the women.
Blanca, it seemed, was independent and strong-willed, and that’s what I think made her strong. She knew what she wanted and she went for it. She put everything she had into her life – very passionate. But she still knew when to humble herself – I don’t know if that’s the word that I want or not, but she knows when to back off a little… like when Esteban when he wanted her to marry the French aristocrat. Blanca knew that he wouldn’t exactly be happy, but she still did so because it’s what her father wanted of her. But it seemed that she did things in the marriage on her own terms. She was quiet in the house and very pliant – much like Clara to an extent – but once she found out what her husband was doing in that secret room, she was out of there and right back home. And Clara knew in her own way. (And strangely enough, Mum always knew what was going on in the family, even though she lived two hours away from Columbus. Strange, ne? To be honest, I think that, because of Foreman’s thought on the strength of the women, the family in Allende’s novel is very similar to my family; we’re Italian, and we have tempers and we’re passionate about love and life and death.)
I also thought it was interesting how Foreman made the connection to “Beloved”. I knew there were similarities between Latin American Magical Realism and African American Magical Realism thanks to the choice-book Kelly read (which happened to be “Beloved”), but I never realized how deep they run together. I thought about it more after I read Foreman, and I mean I really started to think about it. Clara can see spirits; Beloved can be seen by her family. I don’t know; they just seem a lot alike. (And it’s been a while since I’ve read “Beloved” for myself, so all the details are a little fuzzy for me.)
Likewise, I never really noticed the fact that most of the Latin American Magical Realism and the African American Magical Realism had the same vein of memory in them. Seems silly that I’ve never noticed it before, but I just have as I read the opening to Foreman. It was like a Frisbee coming towards me and hitting me in the forehead saying, “Open your eyes!!” I can’t remember if I’ve ever read Morrison’s “Song of Solomon” before, but I really see the correlation between “Beloved” and “The House of the Spirits” in that Clara’s notebooks are used to keep the family alive in print, and Beloved herself is used to keep her own memory alive. It seems really obvious, and I feel kind of silly for not seeing it until Foreman handed it to me on a silver platter.
As kind of a random aside, Rosa the Beautiful kind of reminded me a little of the birth of Buddah, because Buddha had huge earlobes, a knot of bone on top of his head, golden skin, and flowers sprouted out wherever he stepped. Again, it’s the magical and the real combined to create something mystical and wonderful and strange all at once, and Foreman really points that out in her essay. Until I really sat down and thought about it, I never realized how much Magical Realism was used in all parts of the world and in all things that the world has – such as religion. It’s neat and strange and interesting.
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