The House of the Spirits Society and Class Quotes

How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #10

"Charity, like Socialism, is an invention of the weak to exploit the strong and bring them to their knees."

"I don't believe in your theory of the weak and the strong," Jaime replied.

"That's the way it is in nature. We live in a jungle."

"Yes, because the people who make up the rules think like you! But it won't always be that way."

"Oh, yes, it will. Because we always win. We know how to move around in the world and how to use power." (10.15)

Jaime's conversation with his dad reveals that they're both aware that things are the way they are because the powerful make the rules.

Quote #11

They lit torches, and the jumble of voices and dancing in the streets became a disciplined, jubilant procession that advanced toward the well-tended avenues of the bourgeoisie, creating the unaccustomed spectacle of ordinary citizens – factory workers in their heavy work shoes, women with babies in their arms, students in shirt-sleeves – calmly marching through the private, expensive neighborhood where they had rarely ventured before, and in which they were complete foreigners. (12.4)

The Socialist victory is illustrated through an inversion – and some fear an invasion – of space. When the party of the working class achieves victory, the wealthy suddenly have to make room in their ritzy neighborhood for the poor, just as they'll have to make room in the political arena for a class that had previously been shut out.