Through the character of Tao Chi’en, Allende introduces the concept of karma. Tao believes that his fate had already “been determined by the acts of his family before him” (5). In contrast, characters such as Paulina del Valle and, eventually, Eliza Sommers, take action believing that “what matters is what you do in this world, not how you come into it” (5). Unlike her passive sisters, Paulina del Valle decides early to escape her father’s dictates and family tradition, marrying outside of her social class to a newly rich man of uncertain origins. As a business visionary, Paulina continually succeeds by trying new things that have never been done, such as exporting Chilean produce preserved in glacier ice to the California market.

When Eliza initially encountered Joaquín, she “thought she had met her destiny: she would be his slave forever” (82). Mama Fresia and the Mapuche machi try various cures and spells, but they feel unable to change Eliza’s fate. After the devastating impact of the love affair with Joaquín on Eliza’s life, she concludes that she would never have been able to avoid this overwhelming passion, so “her fate had been determined since the beginning of time” (80).