Many of the places and situations described in the novel are already known thanks to the novel of the same author.''''Way
of Perfection''''.he students of medicine, the familiar problematic, the differences of social classes, night life in a cafe or casino, the go and come within different sad or dusty villages, horror of previous life.. Also the used recourses to develop this relate, are identified in the stated novel. A central person( many references in han indicate to the lector that this person is the author himself, that visits various village; phisosophy disserations even together and with other pesrons of hierarchy; subjects like religion, politics and art and Spanish desaster, are aborted as well with this feeling, caracteristic of generation of ''''98, of a nation mourn. Schopenhauer and Kant are also present in the whole novel. Andrew
Hurtado is the central person. He''s studying medicine and shortly he gets involved in this field professionally, even his study does not develop him with force that brands passion by a real vocation. Spain where Andrew lives is dying, loosing identity and seeing how they ground their superiority. Andres is a critic inspector that seems to have solutions but it does not count with the sufficient forces for not doing anything that raises a real change and sustain. For example in a political plan, between conservatives and liberals that he considers to be the same, he does not take part, although he haas a formal offe to make a carrier. In this novel, Pio Baroja reflects Spain end XIX century and the individual caracteristics of the persons are, like a Way of perfection, national descriptions. In the faculty of medicin, at the beginning of the novel, an enormous apathy is described.Algaraby of students , will of young people, is opaced by aa group of deactivaated professors, old married ones hat expose their knowledge feeling that students aare privileged beings to rely on them, reflecting on this attitude that national vision of previous glory.Among condisciples of Andres are encountered various social types; for intance the scenery represnted by Antonio Cesares that is looking for poor and unlucky woman to take advantage of them sexually. Also the master appears, represented by anger, th uncle of Andrew twho is the mentor, the guide, the persson that fights against pessimism of the protagonsit.There are vivitors also that are distinguished like the case of the married friend with an adinerated woman that leaves her to a man who is his wife''s lover, live in the same house , all this ends up with an economic profit. The women are described from different view points; Lulu for example is a ''''pitcher'''' with litte natural beauty but with sufficient mental sharpness to defend herself in an environment that she''s disembodied. There''s also Dorothea, the woman patron, a nice and clever woman that lives by watching the social appearances and must bear an idiot husband, as it is defined by Hurtado himself. The subject that gives title to the novel is explained in chapter III of the fourth part. Iturrioz uncle of Andres, shares with him the meaning of symbolism of life and of the tree of
science narrated in Genesis.The conclusion is that life is simple. The man for not suffering would just have to feed body. Its mental food, science would lead it to destruction. This can also represent a proportion with Spain itself. The science of this nation was its conquist, but after getting to knwo this science it suffers from death of its power. Andres Hurtado, lives inside his flesh the pain of science. Turned to a doctor he''s not able to save life of Luis, his younger brother and however he cannot do anything to save Lulu and the son of both of them. But knowing science also allows him to get liberated and Andres committs suicide by empoisonment. This is a liberation because all life of Andres was marked by a feeling of dissatisfaction. Not knowing the purpose of his life made him live in a gap, that caracterises already persons of other novels of the era like Azorin in ''''Will'''' and Fernando Osorio in ''''Way of perfection''''.