Unamuno seems to
construct his novels inside the platonic cavern, in a world of indistinction in relation to the margin of
the real one. His narrations do not rise to the level, and therein lies the problem. They do not reproduce the sensitive experience of the nature of the individual. When eliminating the circumstantial, the sensation of the passage of time is annulled completely. Although often it says to us that many have passed by you, and who was once young now is old, the reader does not feel it like so. The subtle game of ideas that the author employs leaves its lack of ability, and its scorn by the art of an infertile lie. Here we find the history of the ideal pulse that carries out two “personifications of entities,” Abel Sanchez and Joaquin Monegro, on which Unamuno expounds on the old Biblical legend of Abel and Caín, a prototype of envy. Envy is for the author the greater national sin. Both are friends from childhood, almost brothers. First the second doctor decides to be a painter and, and so it is. (In the novelistic world of Unamuno to decide to be a painter, and to actually become a painter one are almost one in the same, thus there is no conflict.) Joaquin as Caín cannot avoid to feel always envious of Abel: he seems to be resigned to his own beginnings, and everything in his life is based on the other. He believes that Abel is humiliating him on purpose with his success and his good fortune. Abel prevails as an artist, and lives with the woman who loved Joaquin. Joaquin also succeeds as a doctor, although not in the area of research, as he would have liked to have. (Like the rest, this too is seen as a great attack from Abel.), and Abel living with the woman is almost too much. The envy, and the constant jealousy that Abelín, maintains diminishes when Abelín, son of Abel, demonstrates an interest in the medical profession, and exhibits affection towards him and Abelín''s good-naturedness lessens Joaquin''s resentments towards Abelín ''s father.
Abelín takes to Joaquin as a disciple and Joaquin pushes him to marry his daughter. Everything turns out fine when Joaquinito, grandson of Joaquin and Abel, is born. But then Joaquinito demonstrates more affection to Abel, and favors one grandfather over the other. Joaquin returns to his hopeless state, and explodes with jealousy in front of Abel, and takes him by the neck, which causes the ill heart of Abel to fail. Shortly an hour after Abel passes the hour arrives for the death of Joaquin, and from his bed he affirms to have been cured of his envy, and is sorry to have lost his life by the obsession that has dominated him. Between the positive points of the novel, lies as always the superschematic frame of the Unamuno
narration, narrating the correct description of the relationship between the feelings of Joaquin''s envy, and the calm, good will of Abel.
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