The Shadow of the Wind: Days of Ashes: Chapter 6 Summary & Analysis

After a good night’s sleep, Daniel convinces himself that he imagined the sinister stranger. That afternoon, he puts on his Sunday clothes and walks to the Barceló house, where he’s greeted by the kind maid, Bernarda. The apartment seems palatial compared to Daniel’s humble home; it’s packed with the rare books, statues, and paintings that Barceló collects. Daniel finds Clara in a parlor overlooking the street, playing piano badly and serenely. Clara remarks that Barceló has hired a well-known music teacher, Adrián Neri, to fix her playing. Daniel is irritated by Clara’s obvious admiration for this man.

After a snack, Daniel begins to read out loud, gradually relaxing and becoming subsumed in the narrative. Clara says the novel reminds her of Carax’s other works, and Daniel volunteers to return the next day and read again. Soon, he’s in the habit of visiting every day, except when Clara has music lessons with Neri. Daniel becomes accustomed to every object in the apartment and goes for walks with Clara, describing for her all the things she can’t see.

Clara confides that once when she was alone in the street, a stranger approached her and started asking questions about Barceló and Daniel. When she touched his face, it felt like a leather mask. Daniel doesn’t quite believe her.

Daniel feels tortured by his passion for Clara, since he has no hope that she’ll ever reciprocate it. Still, he remarks that people always love “those who hurt us the most.” He dreads the start of the school year, when he won’t be able to spend all his time with Clara.

Meanwhile, Daniel befriends Bernarda, who pities his motherless state. She’s from an abusive family in a provincial town, but Barceló has taken her in and taught her to behave like a refined city maid. She goes to church every day and confesses “three times a week, four in warm weather,” having frequent arguments with the agnostic Barceló. Bernarda ensures that Daniel gets haircuts, has clean clothes, and uses toothpaste. She also tells Daniel that he’s too obsessed with Clara, referencing radio stories about boys who fall in love with teachers and are cursed, but he doesn’t listen to her.

Mr. Sempere also disapproves of Daniel’s devotion to Clara, and says he ought to spend more time with friends his own age. Daniel informs his father that he “doesn’t know anything about women.” Daniel fights with his father after he loans The Shadow of the Wind indefinitely to Clara. He also gripes about his large share of work in the bookshop, and he misses the “intimacy” and “small world” they shared in the years after his mother’s death. He concludes that his father is “hurt” that he spends so much time in the Barcelós’ luxurious orbit, and that he treats Bernarda like a mother figure, while Mr. Sempere never even thinks of remarrying.

Daniel becomes increasingly pained by his love for Clara, but refuses to address it. Whenever she tells him they need to talk, he makes excuses to leave the room.