How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
"Be quiet!" he roared. "You're getting married. I don't want any bastards in the family, do you hear me?"
"I thought we already had several," Blanca replied. (7.28)
Blanca finally talks back to her dad and points out his hypocrisy in condemning her for having sex outside of marriage. Aside from being monumentally sexist and unfair, Esteban's attitude is also dangerous. His limited conception of "family" is what causes him to ignore the offspring he's sired outside of wedlock as well as the resentment that they feel towards him and his "legitimate" family.
Quote #8
Esteban Trueba […] ended up shouting and slamming doors because, as he put it, he was up to here with living among a bunch of lunatics and all he wanted was a little normality, but he had had the misfortune of marrying an eccentric and siring three good-for-nothing crazies who were ruining his life. (7.55)
Esteban has rigid ideas about what a family and a society should look like, and he's constantly trying to get his own family and his own society to fit that mold. His perpetual rage can be attributed to the fact that things never go exactly according to his plan. His dreams of "normality" elude him.
Quote #9
Once a week, on Saturday, they all dined around the great oak table that had always been in the family and had first belonged to the del Valles. […] The child watched the adults in fascination. There was her radiant grandmother, her teeth in place for the occasion, sending messages to her husband through her children or the servants; Jaime flaunting his bad manners by burping after each course and picking his teeth with his little finger to annoy his father; Nicolás with his eyes half closed chewing every bite fifty times; and Blanca chattering about anything she could think of just to create the illusion of a normal meal. (9.28)
The weekly meal, with all family members in attendance, provides a snapshot of familial relations in the Trueba household. They may seem dysfunctional, but each person has his or her role. Notice that the two family members who get along with everyone are Clara and Alba – they're the glue that keeps the family together.