Delvalle

In the first chapter, "Rosa the Beautiful," we learn of an Uncle Marcos who is related to the del Valle family. Midway through the chapter he dies.

Does Uncle Marcos presence in the beginning of the chapter have any significance to the story or Clara? (Especially, since his role is very small and he eventually dies from some kind of African viruses.)

Uncle Marcos had been on numerous expeditions, where he traveled to various countries and recorded his impressions and excursions of what he saw, felt and learned. His visits to the del Valle family only occurred when his journeys ended, in where he stayed with them for months at a time or until another journey was calling him. Out of all the del Valle children, Clara was the closes to Uncle Marcos. Was it because of her strangeness to having prophesying powers? Or was it Claras' intriguing interest in worlds of different cultures that she found fascinating? Somehow, Uncle Marcos and Clara connected in a way that the rest of the family did not understand. And Why? Could it be that Uncle Marcos knew that Clara had a special gift and wanted her to utilize her ability to summon spirits and use her powers to foretell events? I believe we learn about Uncle Marcos and his strange doings only to understand Clara and her capabilities. Knowing the capabilities that Clara can do, we find later in the story that the spirits are around all the time. For example, when she learned that Uncle Marcos had died from a strange African virsus, it hit her really hard. Although, she did claim the strange looking dog barrbais'. At first, I thought that this dog might have a special connection between Clara and Uncle Marcos. Even though that Uncle Marcos is dead, it seems as though he is wathcing Clara through this dog.