Answer:
Julio Cortazar's 'House Taken Over' is a short story about an ancestral home that slowly becomes possessed by an unknown, unnamed entity. Explore an introduction and summary of the plot, then analyze the story's main themes of family, independence, and the unknown.
Updated: 08/18/2022
History Instructors
Megan Pryor
Master in Fiction Writing
Lesson Transcript
Instructor: Megan Pryor
Julio Cortazar's 'House Taken Over' is a short story about an ancestral home that slowly becomes possessed by an unknown, unnamed entity. Explore an introduction and summary of the plot, then analyze the story's main themes of family, independence, and the unknown. Updated: 08/18/2022
Introduction
Although originally from Argentina, Julio Cortazar wrote most of his short stories and novels while in political exile in France. Julio Cortazar is most famous for his novel Hopscotch, but he also wrote short stories, including 'House Taken Over,' which was published in 1946 in a literary magazine edited by Jorge Luis Borges. Readers today can find it in the English language translation of Julio Cortazar's short story collection, The Bestiary.
'House Taken Over' is about a pair of Argentinian siblings who find their house invaded or 'taken over' by an entity known as 'they.' The story starts out very realistic but eventually turns into magical realism, which is defined as any story in which supernatural (or magical) elements are presented as part of the natural (or real) world.
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Julio Cortazar, Author Of House Taken Over
Photograph of Julio Cortazar
Plot Summary
'House Taken Over' is narrated by a 40-year-old Argentinian man who lives with his sister in a house they inherited from their parents. The brother used to be engaged, but his relationship ended. The sister has never married, although she had several offers.
Nothing very exciting happens to either of the siblings during the first part of the story. Aside from taking care of their home, the siblings engage in their relatively uninteresting hobbies: the sister knits, while the brother reads books.
Then the house is taken over. At first, it begins mundanely with noises. The siblings refuse to go in the parts of the house where the noises originate from. The siblings even abandon their possessions in parts of the house taken over by 'them.' Eventually the siblings are completely driven out of their house when the mysterious entity takes over the last section. The siblings leave their ancestral home at the end of the story rather than confront whoever or whatever has taken over their house
