Miguel Delibes: Life, Works, and The Holy Innocents Analysis

Biography and Principal Works of Miguel Delibes

Miguel Delibes' life was deeply connected to the newspaper El Norte de Castilla. He also served as a professor of commercial law. His personality traits heavily influenced his literary themes: his fondness for hunting, his love of nature, his passion for travel, and his loyalty to his roots led him to denounce the depopulation and poverty of Castile.

Key Works

• It Happens in Each: An attempt at restoration.
• Idolized My Son: A focus on education.
• The Way: A reflection on rural childhood.
• Five Hours with Mario: A widow's soliloquy before her husband's coffin.
• The Holy Innocents: A critique of the degradation of the poor, exploited by their masters.
• The Heretic: A work regarding the Church.

Structure of The Holy Innocents

Miguel Delibes began writing the novel in 1963. The action is minimal, as events serve primarily to characterize the figures. The novel is presented in six books with a fragmentary plot that only chains together at the end. The story is divided into three parts:

• Part 1 (Books 1-3): Focuses on the presentation of humble, innocent characters. It highlights misery, poverty, and psychic deficiencies, alongside goodness and love for one's neighbor. It depicts the desire for children to improve, though everything ends in frustration.
• Part 2 (Book 4, "Secretary"): Focuses on Master Ivan, the antagonist of the innocents, defined by his arrogance and passion for hunting. It marks the opposition between the oppressors and the oppressed.
• Part 3 (Books 5-6, "The Accident" and "Crime"): Aggression and death take precedence. The concentration of action and time increases the tension until the tragic end. There is a predominance of narrative over description, resulting in a disappointing outcome.

According to Delibes, the main input of a narrative is "a landscape, a character, and a passion." In this novel, the character is Azarias, the landscape is the setting, and the passion is the clash between two different conceptions of life.

Character Analysis

Delibes achieves perfection in characterization, creating figures that are plausible and almost alive. The Holy Innocents is fundamentally a novel of character, featuring a high number of individuals despite the limited space and time. They are divided into three groups:

• Group A (Foreground): The protagonist, Azarias, and the antagonist, Master Ivan. Paco is also involved in the basic actions of the intrigue.
• Group B (Background): Important for deepening human relationships between the workers and the farm owners. This includes Paco's family (the child Quirce, Rogelio, and Nieves) and Master Ivan's circle (the Marquise, Miriam, and farm managers like Don Pedro).
• Group C (Third Level): The remaining servants.