The House of the Spirits Literature and Writing Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

As soon as she began to take notes with her mind, the doghouse filled with all the characters of her story, who rushed in, shoved each other out of the way to wrap her in their anecdotes, their vices, and their virtues, trampled on her intention to compose a documentary, and threw her testimony to the floor, pressing, insisting, and egging her on. (14.60)

The characters that occupy Alba's mind seem to have a life of their own. They sound a lot like the spirits that run around Clara's house.

Quote #5

Ana Díaz obtained a notebook and gave it to me. "For you to write in, to see if you can get out whatever's worrying you inside, so you'll get better once and for all and join our singing and help us sew," she said. (Epilogue.21)

Here, writing takes on another role – a therapeutic one. By writing down her worries, Ana hopes that Alba will be able to exorcise the memories that plague her and start living in the present.

Quote #6

I showed her my hand and shook my head, but she put the pencil in my left hand and told me to write with it. (Epilogue.22)

The link here between Alba and Pedro Tercero suggests a connection between Alba's writing and Pedro Tercero's composition of revolutionary songs.