Clara is seen as an elevated and floating happiness and magic, which is revealed by the diction used in descriptions. The diction that Allende used in the two different phases' of the novel are clearly defined by the change of syntax. Allende's elongated sentences demonstrate a flow of images, instead of the abrupt, short sentences in the sections after Clara's death.
the canvas shows a middle-aged woman dressed in white, with silvery hair and the sweet gaze of a trapeze artist, resting in a rocking chair that hangs suspended just above the floor, floating amidst flowered curtains, a vase flying upside down (p267).
The image that this section conveys is undoubtedly magical, imaginary, and whimsical. Allende's choice of using the word "silvery- conveys an angel-like image to our minds. Allende could have chosen the word "gray- in place of "silvery."" This shows her word choice as a vehicle for an image of an angel. The dreamlike diction Allende uses illustrates the reality of the house, and of the family. A "vase flying upside down- expresses a clearly eccentric feeling. The painting captures the magic and the spirits of the house, especially with Clara, floating and hovering above the ground, with supernatural qualities. But, as further explanations show, this "divine good humor- (p267) that is present in the family and society disappears with Clara's death.
Allende's diction changes to almost a polar opposite from that of the beginning of the novel. Allende's style begins to change at Clara's death. She shifts from polysyllabic diction, to a monosyllabic technique of writing. Full of coarse and cacophonous diction, the second phase' of the novel begins at the moment of Clara's death.
It was her first kiss. She felt a warm, brutal sensation as his rough, badly shaven skin scraped her face She felt dirty and humiliated She imagined that tongue as a warm, slimy mollusk (p327-328).
