1. What is in decline? Clara, society, the family, the house, all of the above? Are they related?
a. It seems as though after Clara’s death at the end of the last chapter everything that she was once a part of is now crumbling. I had to look up what the word “epoch” meant and after learning that it was just another word for a period of time (like era), it made sense everything mentioned in this chapter would be crumbling as part of this period of decline. The one thing that doesn’t seem to be in decline in this chapter is Esteban’s relationship with Clara because it was in her death that they “were finally reconciled” (293). The house and the family are both in states of decline that are clearly described. In the years following Clara’s…show more content… As I mentioned in the first question, after Clara’s death the house and the relationships between the people living in it began to deteriorate. It sounds like Clara was the only one who ever bothered to maintain many aspects of the house, for example the gardens, and no one stepped up to fill this role after she passed away. The twins wanted absolutely nothing to do with their father and Blanca continued to live like a poor person despite the wealth of Esteban. Esteban also wanted nothing to do with his children and decided that they would inherit nothing when he died. He did however become more accepting of the spiritual world because he swore he could still feel Clara’s presence, especially as he got…show more content… He is worked up about the pending elections because he wants to “destroy what he called ‘the Marxist cancer,’ which was slowing gaining ground among the people” (306). He has noticed an alarming number of radical splinter groups popping up and he doesn’t understand why no one else from the Conservative Party is concerned about this threat to the very foundation of their country.
8. Why doesn’t Blanca run off with Pedro Tercero?
a. She originally gives him the excuse that “she had to watch over her daughter” (311), but this reasoning became less logical as Alba got older. Blanca would only admit to herself that, in reality, “she was horrified by Pedro Tercero’s way of living, and by his modest little house” (311). Though it isn’t mentioned in this chapter I do think that Blanca is also just afraid to leave behind the only life she’s ever known. It’s difficult for her to walk away from the friends has knowing that they will no longer accept her if she marries a man of a lower social class.
9. How has Tránsito’s business changed? What happenes when Esteban Trueba visits
