Elaborate On The Functions Of Ferula, Nana, The Count, And Esteban Garcia, Using A Compare And Contrast Format.

Journal 5:

Elaborate on the functions of Ferula, Nana, the Count, and Esteban Garcia, using a compare and contrast format.

The characters Ferula, Nana, the Count, and Esteban Garcia, in the novel The House of the Spirits all have similar functions throughout the novel but they express them in different ways. Ferula and Nana are more alike because they have motherly skills and they like to care for others, while the Count and Esteban Garcia are distinctly more similar than the other because of the male chauvinist attitudes and the need to always have what they want.

Ferula was Esteban Trueba's sister, she had spent her life caring for their sick mother. Then after her mother died she became very sick and bitter towards a lot of things because she is used to caring for someone else. After Esteban finds out about their mother passed away her took Ferula into Clara and his home. There she took over most of the maternal duties, cooking, cleaning, and giving advice. Over time Clara and her became very close, which formed an unknown bond between them. Ferula became obsessed with Clara to the point that Esteban kicks her out of the house for being to close to his wife. Ferula gave off the vibe that she wanted more in life than what it was giving her but she didn't want it for herself, she liked not having much, which explains why she didn't accept the money that Esteban sent to her after he kicked her out. Ferula relied on helping others to keep her going.

Nana was an Indian caretaker for the del Valle family in the beginning of the novel then became a caretaker at the Trueba's house. Nana was a motherly figure to Rosa and Clara and even Severo del Valle after Rosa's death. She was an important member of the del Valle family, but she has somewhat of an unseen obsession with caring for others but not caring for herself. She thrived off of others happiness and others grief and sorrows, because she was able to talk to them and comfort them in her way and tell them what she thinks and what she knows. When she moves into the Trueba's house Ferula was furious with this because she was the only on who wanted to take care of Clara and Ferula knew that Nana and Clara had a past together. Nana doesn't really have a life, she lives other peoples lives without them knowing and I think that each of these characters do in some sense because each character is trying to talk to the other trying to convince them of something of something to do.

The Count, also known as Jean de Satigny, was the forced husband upon Blanca. He was of high social class in the society, so Esteban Trueba could not deny him the right to his daughters hand. After they were married he continually lied to her about his job and what was in the locked room all he told her was that she could not go in their. After a while he begins to wonder if he did what was right by basically forcing her to marry him, he didn't know whether to feel sorry or whether to be happy that he had married a rich, young beautiful heiress. The marriage however does not last that long, after many nights of odd noises Blanca decides to go into the room that she wasn't suppose to go into. She finds something she never thought that she would find. She found pornographic pictures of the Count and the male Indian servants. She got her things and left immediately. It seems as if Jean de Satigny doesn't know what he wants out of life, he doesn't know if he is gay or straight. His function in the novel was that he wanted to fulfill his dream of marrying a beautiful rich girl, and continue his family