Isabel Allende, Essay Example

Introduction

“My life seems to be about pain, loss, love, and memory” (Allende). In this seemingly simple sentence, writer Isabel Allende reveals a great deal about the kind of woman and literary artist she is. In a plain manner, she lists the most potent forces affecting anyone’s life, and this basic approach is evidence of a woman always ready to face the great forces of living. Equally importantly, she stands a little distanced from this appraisal, as though she is examining the path of another woman. These two elements form the core of Isabel Allende, even as her career has been marked by a duality of reception. Her work has inspired millions, yet also been severely criticized by her fellow writers. She has suffered many personal losses, yet she seems to find life a rich and satisfying experience. In all of it is her relentless search for beauty and meaning, even in the worst of times. In the final analysis, Isabel Allende is an extraordinary woman and writer because she understands that truth is not always what it appears to be, but must always be sought out in the hearts of men and women.

Life and Work

Many names could be attached to Allende: feminist, humorist, spiritualist, wife and mother, political activist, and literary giant. In a sense, all belong to her because her life has been a patchwork of these lives and more. The bare facts suggest the dimensions of her life, but cannot capture their expanse. She was born in Peru in 1945, the daughter of a diplomat and first cousin to Salvador Allende. Three years later, and in what must have been a daring move, her mother annulled her marriage and took Isabel and her siblings to Santiago, Chile. Her mother’s marriage to a Chilean diplomat translated to a girlhood of travel for her, and Isabel received a high-level education in Bolivia and Lebanon. As a young woman, Isabel enlisted in the United Nations, married Miguel Frias and, in 1963, gave birth to her daughter, Paula. Later, a son is born, the family lives in various European cities, and Isabel focuses on her writing. Ahead of her time, she founded Paula, a feminist magazine; by the 1970s, she was hosting a popular television show.

Later years are marked by marriage issues, further exploration of her writing, escape from Chile where her name alone placed her and her family in danger, and her settling in the United States, as the wife of Willie Gordon (Allende). Importantly, the more recent decades saw her ascension into the international circles of literary fame.

As Allende herself admits, her books and plays are deeply personal products of her soul, her mind, and her talent. This is most profoundly evident in her first major novel, La Casa de los Espiritus (The House of the Spirits), which came to life from a letter she was writing to her dying, beloved grandfather. The novel was greatly successful, even as its “magical realism” drew both praise and criticism. What is critical, however, is that this work introduced the world to Allende’s uniquely feminist consciousness, one unlike that of other modern women writers. As Harold Bloom notes, the real and the supernatural coexist in Allende’s fiction, and in a way promoting female power (Bloom 88). Allende fiercely believes in empowering women, yet she is determined that women retain the distinctly feminine forms of this power, and not confuse power with masculinity. Allende sets her sights on issues of the universe, not of the mundane, and this is why her work consistently reflects transcendent themes.

Allende’s canon is extensive, but it seems that no work from this deeply personal author is more personal than Paula, dedicated to and inspired by her daughter. After the death of Paula, Allende found that only translating the misery into art could reconcile her to the loss: “I would light a candle in front of Paula’s picture, turn on the computer, and start to cry” (Allende). The effort consumed Allende’s life for years as she rendered her memories and feelings into a memoir that was also somewhat autobiographical; in seeing Paula’s life, Allende saw her own through new eyes, and once again she turned grief into an elevating experience. This same honesty, and same insistence on finding the true forces beneath ordinary existence, may be found in her later works, from The Sum of Our Days to Island Beneath the Sea. Then, as Paula’s life and death inspired Allende’s writing, so too did it serve as the impetus for The Isabel Allende Foundation, begun in 1996. Allende acknowledges the scope of need to be met in regard to philanthropy, so the foundation limits itself out of necessity to assisting non-profits in San Francisco and Chile, specifically in protecting women from abuse, providing education and healthcare, and focusing on women’s reproductive rights (Allende). In this way, she keeps the generous spirit of her daughter alive.

In a sense, the essence of Allende’s life has been spent in an exile of which she is always conscious. She was forced to flee Chile in 1975, as the new political regime was ruthlessly hunting down all those with her name. Even the beauty of Venezuela, however, could not ease the pain of having been displaced, and Allende was paralyzed by the trauma. Rescue came through art: “I found something that saved me from despair. I found literature” (Allende). To this day, she candidly asserts that she never would have left her native land, had the circumstances been different. Nonetheless, it seems she also values the pain of the experience as yet another avenue that prompted her to draw on her creative energies, if only as a means of salvation.

Conclusion

Critics have found it easy to dismiss much of Allende’s fiction, but that in no way detracts from either the power of her work, its enormous impact on millions of readers, or the woman’s own integrity as an artist. Isabel Allende has survived great hardship, yet each occasion has served to promote her gift. An enforced exile and the death of her grandfather began the process, as Paula’s passing again compelled her to render grief into beauty. Moreover, and true to a lifetime spent championing the rights and inherent power of women, Allende takes the struggle further and gives as much as she can to help women in need. Underlying all of this is her dedication to real spirituality. Ultimately, Isabel Allende is an extraordinary woman and writer because she understands that the truth is not always what it appears to be, yet it must always be sought out in the hearts and souls of men and women.

Works Cited

Bloom, Harold. Gabriel Garcia Marquez. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2007. Print.

Isabel Allende. Isabel Allende. n.d. Web. 5 May 2012.