Please post your blog contribution as a comment to “Assignment 7” between 5 pm Friday April 20 and 5 pm Saturday April 21.
From any of the first 208 pages in HoS, pick an incident that exemplifies racial injustice. In 100 words, briefly describe it and analyze what is unjust about the incident.
The book “The House Of the Spirits, exemplifies racial injustice in several situations. One instance that really stood out to me while reading was the relationship between Blanca and Pedro. They had what was called a forbidden love—similar to Romeo and Juliet. Pedro is from a peasant, poorer family whereas Blanca was raised in a wealthier home. Pedro comes from a darker skinned background and Blanca came from a lighter skinned family. Blanca and her father did not get along very well because she was in love with Pedro, but her father forbid her from seeing him. As mentioned prior, this situation is comparable to the story of Romeo and Juliet because they were from different family backgrounds and were forbidden to see one another. This racial injustice is still seen in our world today as being immoral—simply because, people should not be judged by the money they have, their social status, or the color of their skin. When people fall in love, they should have the same rights no matter where they come from, how they look like, etc. just as for any sort of discrimination for any reason.
ReplyDeleteIn The House of the Spirits the first six chapters are like a family drama series you will find on a Soap Opera channel. But as you read through the chapters will find that there is racial injustice. I found racial injustice in chapter 2 when Esteban decides to invest his money and go rebuild Tres Marias. In Tres Marias lived peasants mostly women and kids. Esteban found the urge to rape the female peasants, as he was becoming the face of the town as he was restoring it back to life. Tres Marias became on of the richest properties in the region thanks to Esteban. He meet a peasant name Pedro Segundo who helped him rebuild the property. But the peasants were unhappy with Esteban by the way he treats them but fails to listen to his partner Pedro who tries to reason with him to give the peasants a fair pay. The injustice comes in when Esteban rapes the women for fun and does not give them equal right of being paid for there hard work in helping restore the property of Tres Marias. There are many people in the world today who are wealthy but refuse to treat others fairly because they have low income.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest example of racial injustice and actually, just pure racism, is when the Count de Satigny came to visit Esteban at the Tres Marias estate. This man, French I believe, was a walking example of racial injustice. Not towards him, but his thoughts, actions and words against other people seemed very racially unjust. He also seemed to have no humanitarian values, because his intentions upon visiting Trueba were to start a 'chinchilla farm'. He wanted to raise them and then kill them to use their fur in jackets and such. But he came in and put himself on a very high pedestal, and then mentioned to Clara that perhaps he could export her to find work for an Indian like her indigenous crafts. She had to tell him his assumption was wrong and that she nor her work was any bit Indian, but he didn't understand her language. Then later when he went outside to smoke with Esteban, he explained his idea of perfection, no Negroes or wild Indians in his way. The count asked for Esteban's daughter, Blanca's hand in marriage but she seemed to be the only level-headed person to see right through him. She said no and this angered Esteban. Jean de Satigny assumed he was 'civilizing' the family and area, but really he was only in it for money and he demonstrated numerous examples of racial injustice.
ReplyDeleteOne incident that I felt exemplified racial injustice was on pages 64-65; it was a racial injustice against the poor. Esteban Trueba states, “Poor people are completely ignorant and uneducated. They’re like children, they can’t handle responsibility. How could they know what’s best for them? WIthout me they’d be lost -- if you don’t believe me, just look what happens every time I turn my back. Everything goes to pieces and they start acting like a bunch of donkeys. They’re very ignorant.” He then goes on to further say, “You have to use a strong hand on these poor devils -- that’s the only language they understand... They don’t know how to clean their asses and they want the right to vote! ... If we go to the heart of the matter, they’re useless even for running errands. There’s not one of them can do what he’s supposed to do without me there behind him driving him on. And then they start in on me with the story that we are all equal! It’s enough to make you die laughing!” This long passage shows the racial injustice of the poor and the peasants. He strongly looks down upon these people and thinks that they are not capable of doing anything; they are just useless people that are put onto the earth. The poor are working very hard and he is not giving them any credit, but he is taking all the credit. He is giving them horrible characteristics and is actually aiding to the stereotype that many believe today.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most disturbing racial injustices in the book is the rape scene of Pancha Garcia. Esteban Trueba had been watching the young Indian, peasant girl for a long time and followed her on her way home where he pursued her. She was violently raped against her own will despite not fighting back. He took her virginity and when she became pregnant he tossed her aside and did not want a relationship with their child. Esteban believed that just because he had control over Tres Marias, he had control over its workers. He truly was convinced he was above those of the lower class. His merciless rape of a poor Indian girl reflects his large ego and his want of domination of the lower class, the Indians. Obviously rape is completely wrong and devastating in all ways but his rape of an Indian further shows his lack of respect for the race, as well as the social class of the peasants. No one should ever have to submit to something they find uncomfortable just because they are thought of as inferior due to their race.
ReplyDeleteI believe that throughout chapter 2, Esteban Trueba severley and at times, brutally mistreats the peasants for his own personal gain and benefit. For example, Esteban decides, against Ferula's advice, to go to Tres Marias and try to turn it into a moneymaking estate. He and the peasants labor day and night to rebuild the estate, and slowly he begins to see results. He also rapes a young peasant virgin girl, for his own pleasure. She is looked down upon as merely easy prey. The workers are not satisfied with the way Esteban treats them, but he refuses to listen to Pedro Segundo's requests for things such as fair pay. Esteban continues to rape every girl he can find and produces many children. He never acknowledges any of them. This is a good example of racism because Esteban clearly has no regard for these people because he feels they are inferior.
ReplyDeleteOne example of racial injustice that stuck out for me is in Chapter two when Esteban Trueba rapes a young peasant girl that is working for him, Pancha Garcia. He brings her to live with him to be his housekeeper and mistress. She later gets pregnant but he does not want to be bothered so he moves on to other peasant girls. This becomes normal for him and he begins raping many other young girls. They are obviously scared of him but what are they to do to stop him. He is simply using these lower class girls for his satisfaction. He makes many pregnant but doesn’t have a care in the world, they only temporarily satisfy his sexual appetite.
ReplyDeleteThe assigned reading in The House of Spirits had many instances of racial injustice. Chapters four and five show a growing tension between social classes that relates to what was actually happening in Latin America. Pedro and Blanca’s romance is a prime example of injustice in that there is tension between Esteban and Pedro because their social statuses are different. Blanca and Esteban were wealthy, while Pedro came from a poor situation. The indifference in the love affair was strictly based on the social status. After researching more about how this section relates to Latin America, I found that Pedro and Esteban represent different political groups. Esteban represents the conservatives of Latin America and Pedro represents the Marxist. To me this shows that at the time these chapters are set in Latin America history, political battles were very heated and the indifference between social groups was one of great magnitude. Like politics of today, people do not budge on their viewpoints. In relation to the story, this shows in the relationship Blanca and Esteban have (one of dislike for that lack of acceptance Esteban has for Blanca “bridging the gap” of social classes).
ReplyDeleteI think the biggest racial injustice was by Estaban Trueba. He started out poor, and ended up with the biggest hacienda. The reason this happened was because of the people who worked for him. He treated them as if they were nothing and felt they should be thankful for the life they had,. When Pedro Garcia tried to organize the people to rise up against Trueba, he made the comment he didn't like him and only put up with him because of his father (pp118). I think he felt this was partly because he was black and partly because of the way Blanca felt about Garcia. More of his racism can be seen when he finds out from Satingy that Blanca has been sneaking out and meeting Garcia at the river. Treuba does't make very many racial comments throughout the book, but his racism is seen more within his actions and emotions. WHen the people talk about voting he gets angry. He treats his workers like they don't know anything and doesn't want them to think for themselves. WHen they start to he says he will fire them all and throw them off his land. I think Trueba is a very insecure man.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that the character of the patron was developed into that of a brutal, rapist. Had the patron of Tres Marias been a kind hearted, soft spoken, faithfully married man, who had done everything else the exact same way as Esteban, I can’t help but wonder if Pedro would still have looked at the patron with murder in his eyes. I believe he would have. The racial injustice suffered by the peasants makes itself fully known through the serial rapes performed by Esteban. The peasants are viewed as chattel. They don’t have the right to justice in the courts. They don’t have the means to fight back, and they don’t have the option to run away. They are powerless and have no say as to how they will be used, and therein lies the profundity; it really doesn’t matter how nice of a guy the patron turns out to be; the peasantry is always at his mercy. If the peasantry is well fed, it is because of the charity of its master. If the peasantry is housed in brick huts painted with real gold, it is because of the benevolence of its master. And if one day the master decides to rape, then the self indulgence of the master must be endured. The rapes by Esteban exemplify the racial injustice that is taking place in every patron-peasant relationship, even the ones where the patron is humane.
ReplyDeleteAs racial injustice is a consistent theme throughout every chapter in House of Spirits, not all of its examples are negative or degrading. Chapter six begins to examine Jamie and Pedro Tercero’s friendship. An unlikely friendship colored by and yet cultivated by a shared interest in racial and social equality. The two who come from vastly different walks of life and are constantly reminded by society of their differences rather than their similarities, it is unique that a friendship would blossom between them. Stemming from a childhood acquaintance at a time when racism was an accepted social norm, it is a beacon among an otherwise depressing reality that we are much more alike than we are different.
ReplyDeleteThe House of Spirits demonstrates several forms if racial injustice throughout the novel. The most obvious form of racial injustice that sticks out to me is the rape of Pancha Garcia. She was a fifteen-year-old mestizo peasant who worked on his hacienda. He spotted her on a path where he was riding his horse and immediately felt the urge to rape her. He realized that she was a virgin and that she did not fight back, yet he still had no shame in his actions because he knew he would not be caught because of her descent and lack of aristocracy. During the following months of her working in the house under his orders, he realized that she had become pregnant. When it was fully noticeable, he was not able to view the pregnancy as his own child and she became repulsive to him. This example of racial injustice is obvious because he knew that he had complete control of Pancha and her family because they were inferior to him and that he could not face consequences for his actions.
ReplyDeleteIn “the House of Spirits”, there were many examples of racial injustice, and just injustice in general. Esteban Trueba is one example of someone who disregards others for his own personal gain. The poor is one group of people that were looked down upon and mistreated severely. Whether Trueba rapes a peasant for the mere pleasure of it, or treating his workers horribly. Even in today’s world, racial injustice and injustice in itself is seen today. People are judged by the color of their skin, the jobs that they attain, the money they make, and the status that they have in their community.
ReplyDeleteIn the house of the spirits you will find that there is racial injustice scattered throughout the chapters. There is a story of rape which shows an injustice towards females and peasants when it comes to the story of Esteban. He found a young girl (Pancha Garcia) to be attractive and because of his sexual appetite he decided that he wanted to have sex with her by any means therefore he saw her and the first thing that came to his mind was that he had to have sex with her so he raped her. This then led to Esteban becoming interested in more and more peasants
ReplyDeleteIn the book House of Spirts, racial injustice seems to be a constant theme. the major racial injustice that stuck out to me was that Esteban Trueba saw his workers as nothing but slaves. he treated them poorly and thought that they should be happy to just work for him. he saw himself as a rich person and anyone that did not sure his wealth was poor, uneducated and stupid. He thought that they could not make decsions for themselves, therefore should be controlled and had decsions made for them. Though he seemed to forget that he started out as a poor person too.
ReplyDeleteI think that racial injustice came out when Pedro and Blanca were treated unjustly by Blanca's father when he forbid Blanca and Pedro to be associated with one another because of there different backgrounds. Pedro was a peasant and Blanca came from higher social class with money. Also her father was racist because Blanca was of lighter skin and Pedro's skin was that of a black person darker. Sad that someone would ever judge anyone because of the color of their skin and social status, but it still holds true today, when the black and white people mix outside their race are looked at as lower class. I feel that people are still closed minded when it comes to interracial relationships.I feel people need to forget about the color of the skin or judge someone for how much money they have, but to look past that and see the beauty of love.
ReplyDeleteOne example of racial injustice that was a red light for me is was in Chapter two when Esteban rapes Pancha Garcia, a young peasant girl that works for him. When she becomes pregnant he leaves her and moves on. This becomes a routine (sadly to say) with finding young peasant girls and raping them. He makes many of them pregnant. Even in the world we live in today, racial injustice and social status ruin peoples lives. He raped her because he knew he would not be caught and nobody would find out because of her social status, nobody would care.
ReplyDelete