In the End...

The epilogue of Allende's "The House of the Spirits" was probably my favorite part of the whole book. I don't say that just because the book was finally over, but also because everything came full circle. Nothing bugs me more than when I have questions after I finish a book or a movie. (Inception's ending is still nagging me) Allende manages to tie up all the loose ends though in the final chapter. Alba makes her way home and convinces Esteban to write the story of their family. This allows the reader to understand how the book came to be and why Clara, Esteban, and Alba are the narrators. Also, with Esteban's death, all the characters from the beginning of the book are gone. With Alba being pregnant, it also shows that the story will continue on. I have hope that without Esteban's evil influence, Alba's child won't have to go through any traumatic events. Alba's child will also be the first in the family to have its parents happy and together out of love. Clara and Esteban's relationship took a toll in the behavior of their three kids, especially Nicholas. The fact that Blanca and Pedro could never be together led Alba to believe that her father was dead. Hopefully, this next child stands more of a chance for normalacy than any of the previous characters had. I loved the way that Allende came full circle with the story by using the same words "Barrabas came to us by sea."  I thought it was a neat trick that they wrote with Clara's diaries and that is how the beginning of the book got started. The fact that Allende leaves us with more hope than we have throughout the entire novel is nice of her. It leaves the reader feeling like the family is finally ok and I think that is the message Alba wanted to send by writing the book.