59 pages • 1 hour read
Elizabeth Borton De TreviñoI, Juan de Pareja
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1965A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Essay Topics
Discuss the significance of clothing in the novel. How does de Treviño use clothing to advance characterization and setting? How does clothing speak to the novel’s broader questions regarding race and prejudice?
How does Juan and Diego’s relationship evolve over time? How does art encourage them toward understanding? Is their relationship morally ambiguous?
Analyze the novel’s shifting narrative tenses. When does Juan break from his memories to speak in the present tense, addressing the reader as he writes? How might those changes in tense forward the novel’s themes?
Examine the role of family in the novel and its relationship to slavery and servitude. How does Juan relate to other Velázquez family members, like Paquita or Juana? How does Juan’s conception of family and belonging change throughout the novel?
Compare and contrast Spanish and Italian culture. Why do they usually clash? Where do they discover similarities? How does art help repair cultural prejudices?
Analyze the various value systems present in the novel. How do religion, politics, and art vie for importance? What role does faith play in larger discussions surrounding racism and slavery?
Discuss the politics of naming in the novel. How do names convey certain relationships or perceptions? In what ways do names fit into the novel’s larger discussions surrounding truth and illusion or social rank?
How does the novel characterize the future? To what degree do the characters have control over their destinies? Why might de Treviño choose to end the novel as she does, with Juan’s return to Seville and reunion with Murillo?
Using the novel’s frequent mentions of light, mirrors, and other artistic elements, examine the tension between creation and reflection. To what degree is art inherently truthful? Is art meant to instruct or encourage debate? How does this phenomenon speak to the modern understanding of Diego’s legacy?
Throughout the novel, Juan is adjacent to people in power, from King Philip IV to the Pope. How does the novel measure greatness? How does art help the socially disadvantaged transcend their limitations? Is power necessarily served by examples of oppression?
