FREE ESSAY ON EVA LUNA

EVA LUNA

Novel: Eva Luna by Isabel Allende; 307 pp; Cost: $7.99
Eva Luna is based on the life of the protagonist of the novel, Eva Luna. The story begins
with the tale of how Eva Luna was concieved by her mother trying to save the life of a
snake bitten indian. It takes place in an unnamed South American country because the
characters speak Spanish. Eva's mother dies when she is only 7 years old and is forced to
work as a servant in different houses. One thing she inheirited from her mother was the
gift of story telling. Wherever she would go everyone loved to hear her improvised
stories. At the age of 17 she worked in the house of a Turkish immigrant named Riad
Halabi whom she falls in love with but he is twice her age. She is then forced to move to
the city were she is reunited with her transexual friend, Mimi. At first Eva works at a
military warehouse but Mimi insists that Eva make a living from her stories. After an
attempted suduction by one of the military generals, Eva decides to quit her job at the
warehouse and write stories for a living. Her and Mimi live successful lives without the
help of men. Mimi is a well known soap opera actress and Eva writes the plots for them. 
Along with the story of Eva Luna is the story of the European immigrant Rolf Carle. He
comes from a broken family and migrates to the South American country and lives with his
aunt and uncle in the countryside. As he gets older he decides he wants to become a
journalist and soon enough he is known as one of the most prominant journalists in the
country. Rolf and Eva meet and thier separate stories become one. 
The important theme in this book is feminism. None of the females in this story are
dependent on any man and they all seem fine without them. Some men are mentioned and come
and go but the women still move on without them and live thier lives. The only sign of
dependency is Zulema. Zulema becomes dependent on a man she falls in love with but she
undergoes depression and commits suicide. This shows how week it is to be anti-feminist
and how strong and successful it is to be independent. 
I think this book is mainly aimed towards the adult and mature teen audience. I would
definitely recommend this book. However, I enjoyed Allende's House of the Spirits more
than this novel. Eva Luna is faster reading than House of the Spirits and the plot is not
as extended.