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Severo del Valle
Old Pedro’s son, Pedro Tercero’s father, and Pancha García’s brother. Pedro Segundo is a peasant at Tres Marías, and he serves as the hacienda’s unofficial foreman in Esteban Trueba’s absence. Pedro continues as the foreman after Esteban’s arrival, and the two men spend hours together working the land. Pedro is the closet Esteban has to a friend, but Pedro detests Esteban and his cruelty, and Esteban can see the “murderous hatred” in Pedro’s eyes. Still, Pedro is loyal and honest, and he works for Esteban for years, later helping Clara run the hacienda when Esteban is injured in an earthquake. Pedro Segundo loves Clara as much as he hates Esteban, and he leaves Tres Marías for good when Esteban beats Blanca and knocks out Clara’s teeth after Blanca is caught having a secret affair with Pedro Tercero. Pedro Segundo represents the oppression and exploitation of the peasant class by an oligarchic society. He works hard for little pay and no respect, but he is too afraid to revolt against his oppressor and demand equality.
Pedro Segundo García Quotes in The House of the Spirits
The The House of the Spirits quotes below are all either spoken by Pedro Segundo García or refer to Pedro Segundo 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:
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Chapter 2 Quotes
In vain, Pedro Segundo García and the old priest from the nuns’ hospital tried to suggest to him that it was not little brick houses or pints of milk that made a man a good employer or an honest Christian, but rather giving his workers a decent salary instead of slips of pink paper, a workload that did not grind their bones to dust, and a little respect and dignity. Trueba would not listen to this sort of thing: it smacked, he said, of Communism.
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Pedro Segundo García Character Timeline in The House of the Spirits
The timeline below shows where the character Pedro Segundo García appears in The House of the Spirits. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2: The Three Marías
...around, he sees only women and children and asks where the men are. A man, Pedro Segundo García , steps forward and tells Esteban that all the other men have left. Esteban says...
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...He even gets a short-wave radio and listens to news of a great war, but Pedro Segundo García is the only peasant interested in outside events.
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Esteban and Pedro Segundo spend a lot of time together, listening to the radio and working, and he is...
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...the woods by Esteban, and the entire region is soon overflowing with Esteban’s “bastard offspring.” Pedro Segundo tries to convince Esteban that it isn’t brick houses and free milk that makes a...
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...dies. Esteban doesn’t really love his mother, but the telegram still bothers him. He calls Pedro Segundo , explains the situation, and leaves him in charge. As Esteban hands over the keys—except...
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Chapter 4: The Time of the Spirits
...Clara refuses to leave behind, and the family heads to the country. When they arrive, Pedro Segundo unloads the carriage. Only Blanca notices Pedro Tercero, Pedro Segundo’s son, standing nearby, naked with...
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...a month, but Esteban doesn’t think the hacienda can last that long. Old Pedro García, Pedro Segundo ’s father, offers to help. He climbs on a horse and rides out of sight,...
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Pedro Tercero loves only his father, Pedro Segundo , and Blanca. He has loved Blanca ever since they were children and fell asleep...
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Chapter 5: The Lovers
...keeps a close eye on him. That summer, Esteban whips Pedro Tercero in front of Pedro Segundo for giving the other peasants ideas of Sundays off and minimum wage.
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...house. They finally reach him, but he has too many broken bones to be counted. Pedro Segundo says they must get him to a doctor, but old Pedro says Esteban won’t survive...
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...and is buried without any of the children she raised in attendance. At Tres Marías, Pedro Segundo is again made foreman, and the peasants quickly take to burying the dead and rebuilding...
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...the kitchen, which all the cooks hate and refuse to use. Clara works closely with Pedro Segundo , taking charge of the hacienda, and she also serves as Esteban’s nurse. Clara comes...
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...dressed as a preacher or a pagan, but Blanca always knows him by his eyes. Pedro Segundo suspects that his son is disobeying Esteban’s order to stay away from the hacienda, and...
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Chapter 6: Revenge
...is alerted to the drama by barking dogs and finds Blanca bleeding in the mud. Pedro Segundo helps Clara get Blanca upstairs, where Clara gently cleans her cuts and applies cold compresses...
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...door. As she walks out the door, Clara collapses and falls into the arms of Pedro Segundo . Clara never speaks to Esteban again. Two days later, Clara and Blanca return to...
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Chapter 10: The Epoch of Decline
...pay their final respects. Even the peasants from Tres Marías show up, and Esteban notices Pedro Segundo in the crowd, weeping.
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