The story first starts with Andrea, leaving on her own for school. She seems excited and she “carried herself with all the strength of my youth and eager anticipation” (3) First, Andrea goes to her grandmother’s apartment with various other family members. Immediately, I noticed that characters are highly detailed and the author writes little hints as to the personality of each character. For example, when Gloria is first described, she seems timid and Juan speaks for her, pushing her forward to meet Andrea. This passage alludes that things are somewhat normal looking on the outside yet secrets are hidden within the house: “[She] turned off the shower, that crystalline, protective magic spell, and was left alone in the midst of the filthiness of things” (9). She describes being afraid of the house itself and compares the bed she is made to sleep in, to a coffin. I like the independence and the self-supporting opinions that Andrea is able to form on her own. Her aunt is filled with judgement and even tries to convince Andrea to not befriend Gloria for example. The violence against Gloria by her husband Juan is disturbing and striking. When he throws a dish at her head and it shatters against the wall, it adds to the breaking down of their “home”. Her aunt also shows this controlling behaviour similar to Juan. She attempts to control Andrea’s every move and insult her when she doesn’t do as she’s told.
A theme in the novel seems to be freedom. Because Andrea’s grandmother is sick and probably has dementia from the beginning of the story, she is unable to exert the same power that other characters are. This unfortunate because she is the most kind person in the house. Her grandmother lacks the freedom to run the house while the other family members like Juan and the Aunt run it into the ground. Lots of references to “asphyxiation” are made such as when Andrea first describes the house to be dark and suffocating. Gloria talks about how the “air is always filled with shouting” and “the things responsible for that [are] asphyxiated, [and] grief-stricken” (26). I felt bad for Andrea throughout the story because it seems as if she is getting sucked into the darkness of the house, even though she was trying to experience freedom with going to school.
A question I would pose is, why do you think that a book titled “Nada” includes so many complicated relationships and family tensions?
Aquila
February 10, 2022 — 12:54 am
Hello! I enjoyed reading your thoughts. I also really felt suffocated by the book, and I think this is such an interesting thought because you would think that a book – which is something that you can’t even see the way you’d see a movie – would not be able to do this. Or at least I did. This book definitely gave me a lot to think about around this, just like you.
nier zhang
February 9, 2022 — 9:36 pm
Hi, when I reading this novel, I feel the same like you, observed these unsettled stories. However, I think it is precisely because there are so many vivid and distinctive characters that such a complex plot can reflect the particularity of this family, but such a family that is very special in our eyes may only be common in that war-torn era. Ordinary is the same as everyone else’s.
rebecca chan
February 9, 2022 — 2:35 pm
Hi! I agree that there is a theme of suffocation in the story. At times, the novel even had some gothic themes and you can definitely sense how uncomfortable Andrea is. For instance, I remember her Aunt and other family members constantly asking her if she was feeling scared/
Jennifer Nagtegaal
February 8, 2022 — 7:32 pm
Hi! I am curious if the emotions that you felt towards Andrea changed at the end of the novel, and if so, how?
Jon
February 8, 2022 — 1:28 am
What do you think is the relationship between the violence within the household and the violence of the world outside?