Character Analysis
The Trueba children, Blanca, Jaime, and Nicolás, all have their own supporting roles in this family saga, though none of the members of this generation figures as prominently in the overall plot of the novel as Clara, Esteban, or Alba. Blanca, the beautiful hypochondriac, is a complete romantic – her great accomplishment in life is her love for Pedro Tercero García, whom she finally manages to live with in Canadian matrimonial bliss. She's significant as Alba's mother, but she's not the strongest female character in the novel. In fact, she's probably the Trueba woman most removed from the spiritual and political ideals that the rest of her female relatives hold dear.
The twins Jaime and Nicolás have little in common with one another. Nicolás inherits the nomadic and entrepreneurial tendencies of his Great Uncle Marcos, while gentle Jaime displays a fierce intellectual idealism that is all his own. Perhaps the one thing we can say that these brothers have in common is their eagerness to buck their father's authority and to make their own way in the world – Nicolás as a spiritual guru and Jaime as a medical doctor, helping the poor who he sees as victims of the opportunism of his father's class. Nicolás is essentially disinherited by his father, while Jaime changes his last name in order to deny his paternal legacy. Both men show more of an appreciation for the traits they inherit from their mother – Nicolás tries desperately to emulate Clara's telekinetic powers, while Jaime follows in her charitable footsteps.