Bombal’s Shrouded Women is a novel narrated by a dead woman, Ana Maria, who is also the main character of this story. The story begins with Ana Maria depicting the place where she is lying in and the people who are here to see her. Slowly, she starts to recount the memories from when she was alive: her first love with Ricardo, her reaction to her children’s marriages, her friend Fernando whom she describes how his love “humiliates her”, and finally reflects upon her marriage with Antonio (a man that she never loved). The most intriguing aspect of this novel is the way the story unfolds. It is told from a person who is dead but is still able to think, see. This choice of presentation allows for a very personal feeling, which enables readers to connect and understand the character from a more intimate level.The depictions of various events of Ana Maria’s life being combined with her reflections derived hindsight allows the book to be insightful. 

There were two instances in this book that I found to be particularly interesting. The first one is Maria Griselda’s own perception of her beauty. Maria Griselda is characterized as the “loveliest” woman any one has ever seen, and many people adore her for this reason. One would expect Maria Griselda to take pride in this beauty, especially since men praise her and women envy her. However, her thoughts are entirely opposite from what one would expect. From Ana’s narrations, we learn that Maria Griselda suffered and how she barely received love from her parents. Furthermore she experienced a sense of loneliness particularly from her parents not being able to resemble her, especially as she feels she isn’t able to find any common feature where she is recognized as “a link in human chain”. 

The other instance is Fernando’s response to Ana Maria’s death. Fernando was Ana Maria’s confidant, but he secretly adored her. He would always listen to what she has to say. He would even despise her husband on the surface but secretly envy his role. It was obvious that Ana Maria truly trusted Fernando as a confidant and appreciated his company. However, I was utterly shocked by Fernando’s reaction to Ana Maria’s death. Ana Maria expected Fernando to kiss her, but he only looked at her “fixedly”. He indifferently expressed how he feels that her death brings him peace, and that he even felt glad as he desired her death. Knowing the affection he had for the main character, it leaves me to wonder whether or not he really meant what he said.

My question for this week is why do you think Bombal decided to tell this story from the perspective of a dead woman?