Salvador Allende is Isabel Allende’s uncle who won by a small margin, 36% to 35% and 28% on September 4th of 1970. (Ayala) On that day, he became the first socialist president of Chile. As a socialist, he sought to redistribute wealth and to give access to resources like milk and education to everyone, “The program that Allende and the Unidad Popular proposed to the people of Chile was revolutionary: social, economic and political measures to transform the country…The process sought the peaceful transformation of Chilean society, from underdeveloped capitalism to a socialist one, in a gradual way, that would expand and conquer the majority support of the middle sectors.” (Ayala) He knew it would be a struggle against the opposition including the United States, and he won the election contrary to what others have expected. (Ayala
In The House of the Spirits, Salvador Allende is represented as “The President”, a figure beloved by the public because he gave hope to the poor and to the working of a wealth distribution. Tercero, Blanca’s lover, was a musician that sang songs of hens chasing after the fox that abused them and an example of Allende using her characters to give her readers a perspective of why the people favored “The President.” It can be described as a slow burn to the events that transpires from the president’s win to chapter thirteen’s events. Miguel and Alba’s activism, Jamie’s assistance are also characters that give insight to the people that favor the president but also the people who did not agree, figures of authority such as the cops, politicians like Esteban Trueba, and the rich elite.
Works Cited
Ayala, Fernando. “Salvador Allende and the Chilean Way to Socialism.” Meer, Meer.com, 31 Oct. 2020, www.meer.com/en/63839-salvador-allende-and-the-chilean-way-to-socialism.
“Salvador Allende Goosens.” Biblioteca del Congreso Nacional de Chile. https://www.bcn.cl/historiapolitica/resenas_parlamentarias/wiki/Salvador_Allende_Gossens