Although throughout most of his time in the novel "The House of the Spirits", written by Isabel Allende, Esteban Trueba acts as selfish person who for the most part has no respect for people's lives. Toward the end of the novel through his own reflections, does the good of his presence come out. The goodness that comes out from Esteban's presence mitigates the bad in his younger years, since he realizes his actions to be selfish and comes to a self-understanding of himself.
Despite the fact that Esteban's connection with his family had many atrocities, the outcomes of his actions do lessen the acts he committed in his younger years. Esteban works to insure that his family is comfortable, one good aspect that comes out of him. Though because of his incessant lust and arrogance, he is cruel to his family for the choices that they make. Some examples of his cruelty are his attempt to kill Pedro, his knocking out of Clara's teeth, and his raping of women at Tres Marias. Blanca never asks for money from her father, and learns to live independently. Although throughout most of the novel she is separated from Pedro, by Esteban, her love for him leads her to great extremes. Later in life, Esteban has a special relationship with his granddaughter, Alba. Only with her is he able to express his softer side. Esteban writes many of the chapters in his perspective. Esteban changes dramatically throughout the end of the novel, especially by the end. In his old age, he reflects on past events and this shows that he regrets his actions. But the turning point in this new revelation was when he helped Blanca and Pedro Tercero flee the country, in which he displayed his content with their love.
Esteban is a person who is obsessed with having his authority on the world, no matter who gets hurt in the process. During the first part of the novel, Esteban seems apathetic to those around him. His incessant raping of girls at Tres Marias clearly shows that Esteban did not care towards human life and others' feelings.
