The main character of the novel is Esteban’s wife Clara. Although Esteban possesses a great love for his wife he also wishes to be in complete control of her actions. “In all this time his love for her had grown to the point where it had become an obsession. He wanted Clara to think of nothing but him, and he could not bear for her to have a life outside that did not include him. He wanted her to tell him everything and own nothing he had not given her with his own two hands. He wanted her to be completely dependant.” (127) This quote shows Esteban’s intention to control every aspect of Clara’s life. The men in Chile was progressing from thinking that women were incompetent but were still wanting the women to have to depend entirely on them. Esteban has learned to love a woman naturally resulting in him to gain a slight amount of respect for her but he was still in the mind frame that women were inferior to men.