Pablo Neruda’s “I’m Explaining a Few Things” in Connection with Isabel Allende’s House of Spirits
Through their separate mediums of writing, poetry and literature, both Neruda and Allende both achieve a common goal of criticizing the actions of certain militant forces, past or present, within there country of living. In Neruda’s “I’m explaining a Few Things”, the Civil Spanish war, sparked by the forceful and bloody overtake of the current, fair republican government by the Faschist general Fransisco Franco, is the topic of Neruda’s disgust and criticism. The “burning” and “devouring” manner of Franco’s revolt changed his political opinion concerning his fondness for the communistic ideals and history tells he realigned with the Republican Party. This same general theme persists in Allende’s House of Spirits as she criticizes the military coup that revolted against the fully democratic communist leader in power in Chile. Through obvious shifts in positive and negative connotation, strong war and peace imagery juxtaposition, and colloquial diction, Neruda highlights the reasons for his hatred for the unjust revolt in Spain during the 1930’s; a criticism almost paralleled in Allende’s House of Spirits. Neruda begins his poem with a lengthy and vivid description of the prosperity experienced by himself and the town of Madrid before the bloody events of the 1930’s Spanish Civil War. The “lilacs”, “pile ups of palpitating bread”, and “the house of flowers” depicted the marvelous prosperity and happiness of the current times with the Republican Democracy. In House of Spirits, the great revival of the Tres Marias plantation and the exorbitance of Esteban Trueba’s life parallels the first half of Neruda’s poem in which a great Spain, a lovely Spain, is set stage for. The repetition of “flowers” and “light” emphasize the luxuries being enjoyed by Neruda in this great time of peace. This overwhelming image of peace and prosperity comes to an abrupt ending with a simple shift of “And one morning all that was burning.”. Neruda’s perfect and happy state of living is