House of the Spirits (Allende)

Discussion Questions 
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:

• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)

Also consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for The House of the Spirits: 

1. Rosa dies early in the book. Her green hair and unearthly beauty engender comparisons to mermaids. What symbolic meaning does she carry—and why, at the end, is her body still intact? Figure that one out!

2. The names of the other three women, Clara, Blanca, and Alba refer to white, or the lack of color—while Rosa's name refers to red. Any ideas?

3. You might explore the dichotomy between Esteban and Clara: one a hard materialist, the other a spiritualist (not unlike what E.M Forster does in Howards End). Is Allende perhaps commenting on the dual aspects of human life...the need to incorporate both approaches in our lives?

(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)

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