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Rosa del Valle
Pedro Segundo and Pancha García’s father, and grandfather to Pedro Tercero and Esteban García. Old Pedro is a peasant at Tres Marías, and he is a respected healer, whom even the local doctors acknowledge. When an infestation of ants threatens Tres Marías and modern insecticides and exterminators fail, old Pedro leads the ants away simply by talking to them, thereby saving the hacienda from ruin. After Esteban Trueba is nearly killed in an earthquake, old Pedro carefully sets each of Esteban’s broken bones and saves his life, gaining Esteban’s lifelong respect. Old Pedro dies of natural causes when he is over 90 years old, at which time he is blind and deaf, but his ability to perfectly recall the past remains intact. Old Pedro frequently tells Pedro Tercero and Blanca stories—including the story about the hens and foxes, which later becomes one of Pedro Tercero’s socialist songs—and he represents the importance of storytelling in preserving the past.
Old Pedro García Quotes in The House of the Spirits
The The House of the Spirits quotes below are all either spoken by Old Pedro García or refer to Old Pedro García. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 6
Quotes
It was Pedro Tercero García, who hadn’t wanted to miss his grandfather’s funeral and took advantage of the borrowed cassock to harangue the workers house by house, explaining that the coming elections were their chance to shake off the yoke under which they had always lived. They listened in surprise and confusion. For them, time was measured in seasons, and thought by generations. They were slow and cautious. Only the very young ones, those who had radios and listened to the news, those who sometimes went to town and talked with the union men, were able to follow his train of thought. The others listened to him because he was the hero the owners were after, but they were convinced that he was talking nonsense.
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Get the entire The House of the Spirits LitChart as a printable PDF.
Old Pedro García Quotes in The House of the Spirits
The The House of the Spirits quotes below are all either spoken by Old Pedro García or refer to Old Pedro García. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 6
Quotes
It was Pedro Tercero García, who hadn’t wanted to miss his grandfather’s funeral and took advantage of the borrowed cassock to harangue the workers house by house, explaining that the coming elections were their chance to shake off the yoke under which they had always lived. They listened in surprise and confusion. For them, time was measured in seasons, and thought by generations. They were slow and cautious. Only the very young ones, those who had radios and listened to the news, those who sometimes went to town and talked with the union men, were able to follow his train of thought. The others listened to him because he was the hero the owners were after, but they were convinced that he was talking nonsense.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
