Alba

I always think it is very interesting how Isabel Allende comments on what will happen in the future. Like how when Alba was a little girl and Esteban Garcia came to visit. Then, when she was captured by the secret police at the end of "The Terror", she reminds us of how he had wanted to kill her then because she was the granddaughter of Esteban Trueba, and she took his place. Now, Allende leads us to believe that Esteban Garcia will finally get the chance he has been waiting so long for to kill Alba. This especially sad because Alba is one of the few people that Esteban Trueba really loves and she has been so nice through out the entire story.1207518409

This chapter really shows how Alba is so different from her grandfather. Esteban spent his entire life making himself rich. He does not like to associate with poor people and would rather pretend they did not exist. Esteban also makes himself believe that the new dictatorship in the country is not killing anyone, which is not true. Alba on the other hand embraces the poor and the fugitives. She helps those in danger of death find asylum in foreign embassies. She hides people in the empty wing of the house and then risks her life smuggling them to safety. Alba has a genuine concern for others, which Esteban really does not possess.user:mto-ia