Blog Post 4

Synopsis

Our Share of Night is a story of a father and son, both engulfed in remarkable grief over the mysterious death of the wife and mother they both adored. A father, desperate to protect and withhold his son from the selfish grips of The Order. A family that performs unspeakable acts in search of immortality, this novel circulates the themes of magical realism within Latinx culture. 

Character Development

Juan: updated age-34, health continues to greatly deteriorate, continuing to slow him down. Juan presents Jasper with a box of eyelids. He experiences an acute pulmonary edema, and then an embolism that knocks him unconscious. Juan dies (or does he?)

Gasper: updated age-13, Gasper continues to experience severe headaches described to feel like needles stabbing his brain. Gasper has little to no knowledge about his and his father‘s magical capabilities and knows absolutely nothing about his mother’s family or The Order. Gasper was in a car accident but isn’t entirely sure of what events actually transpired. Juan’s urge of secrecy continues to drive a wedge in between their father-son relationship. Gasper begins to realize that he himself also possesses some unexplained magical abilities.

Rosario: Rosario Reyes was born in Buenos Aires in 1949. She was the first Argentinian woman to earn a doctorate and anthropology at University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. She specialized in symbolic anthropology, anthropology of religion and Guarani anthropology. She was a professor and researcher at the University of Buenos Aires, and published over 20 articles in Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, the United States, England, France, and Belgium.

3 Leaders of The Order: Mercedes Bradford, Florence Mathers, & Anne Clark

Gaspar’s Friends: Pablo, Adela, & Vicky

Summary: Part 3 & 4

With the hopes of my timeline being correct, about six years have passed. Our story continues with the introduction of Gasper’s friends. Pablo is Gasper‘s best friend, Vicky and her family have included Gasper on outings and vacations for many years while growing up. Adela is another of Gasper‘s friends mentioned. She is an amputee, half of her arm is removed. Betty is her mother. Strange occurrences continue to unfold. Gasper comes home to his father drunk, giving him a box containing eyelids that were once attached to real human beings. When questioned on why, Juan simply responds with, “sometimes I’m not like myself” and then goes out of town for a week and Gasper won’t hear from him. Gasper has become used to these occurrences by his father; learned to move on. Juan raised Gasper very protected yet unknowing of what dangers surrounded him. Juan managed to keep just about everything a secret, Rosario‘s family, the order and his expectancy to be heir. This choice of Juan came with repercussion of always being the bad guy in Gasper‘s eyes. Juan‘s health also continues to deteriorate, he hardly slept, barely ate, and had trouble getting to the bathroom, he even had to stop several times to catch his breath when he walked there. Dr.Biedma advised Juan he needed to be hospitalized or have a home nurse, but per usual, Juan declined. Plans were being arranged for Uncle Luis to adopt Gasper upon the passing of Juan‘s death. Things take a turn for the worst when Juan unexpectedly had an acute pulmonary edema at home. Lucky Gasper was there and called Dr. Biedma, the lawyers, and then Esteban. At the hospital when Juan woke up, he was having a Silent conversation with Esteban, they discovered Gasper had regain the ability to hear and join in on their conversation. His magical abilities were returning and something had to be done. Juan told Gasper upon his hospital release, they were going to be temporarily staying at a country home, property of Bradford’s. Esteban and Tali would be joining them along with the nurse for Juan, that Dr. Biedma had assigned. Suddenly, Gasper wakes up, body sore in pain with bruises and scratches. Gasper is being told a narrative; he does not quite believe to be true. Gasper was in a car accident while in-route to this country home. Esteban was in the same car and had marks on his neck, which helps the story add up, however Gasper can’t help but notice the marks resemble bite marks. Gasper has no memory of this and has doubts. He tries to remember but quick snapshot flashbacks tell a very different story. He grows fearful of what his father could’ve done. upon returning to his home his friends notice how strange it appeared that Juan had sudden regained strength. Wasn’t he dieing?

 “They’ve switched places, she thought. He looks like his dad; his eyes are the same.”

Vicky

At a later time, Juan takes Gasper to the river to dispose of Rosario‘s ashes, to set her free once and for all. While doing so, Juan shows Gasper a small taste of his forgotten magical abilities. After pouring the ashes in the water, Juan takes a handful of wet ashes and rubbed them on his chest scar, then burying the box and drawing symbolism on the dirt in ritualistic behavior Jasper found this odd.

let’s see, his father said, and when they reach the fence gate, locked with a padlock, he said go in son, go on in if you can, and Gasper confused, handed back the box that held his mother, and when he tried to push the door open, he realized he didn’t need a key, that if he wanted it open, he simply open it, and how was that possible? There was no way to understand, but suddenly the gate was open and had merely touched It- and he’d thought, yes, he had thought he can open it, and his father followed him without a word, as if it were the most normal thing in the world, and on the other side, on a muddy path through tall grass with pods shining like mirrors under the moon, he took Gasper‘s face in his hands, lean down to look at him in the eyes, and caress his hair, the box on the ground between them, and said, you have something of mine, I passed on something of me to you, and hopefully it isn’t cursed, I don’t know if I can leave you something that isn’t dirty, that isn’t dark, our share of night.

Juan

Gasper makes efforts to get a hold of his uncle Luis, to tell him to come sooner. This upsets Juan. Gasper tells his dad that he doesn’t want to be with him, that he would rather reach out to his maternal grandparents then be with his own father. Juan became enraged, he punched the window beside him, grabbed Gasper‘s arm, and with a piece of glass from the floor, he cut into his son’s arm, drawing a ritualistic design. Juan drank the blood from Gasper’s arm, then cut a design on his own arm, and forced Gasper to do the same. Followed by immediately kicking confused and hysterical Gasper out of the house, forcing him to make his own way to an emergency room.  Afterwards, once Jasper returned home, he approached his father, wanting answers as to why his father has hurt him like this. His dad’s response only leading him to have more questions.

“It’s possible that to you, I’m crazy, but it’s too late for you to understand and I don’t want you to understand, son. I’m prepared for you to hate me. I would like to die and leave you with a good memory of me, but that’s not possible and I think it’s for the best. I’m going to keep taking care of you, wait” said Juan, and he gently touched the hand of Gasper’s wounded arm. “Don’t be afraid of me. There’s no need to be afraid of me anymore.” Juan rested his hand on the bandage and Gasper gave a start, but then immediately the pain disappeared.

Juan

As the story continues, more bad news arrives when Juan has a sudden embolism and goes unconscious. Uncle Luis came to stay with Gasper and took over as guardianship. Gasper seems to be having a hard time knowing his father is dying and knows perhaps it’s time to go up to the hospital and say his final goodbyes.

“No one was paying attention to Gasper who rode his bike around the streets, or went swimming, or to the movies, where he watched one film after another. He looks so sad, so skinny, and he didn’t even seem happy when he was watching soccer anymore, plus he was skipping school.”

Gasper also had a dream that his dad was sitting in the hospital bed and was cutting off his eyelids, exposing his yellow eyes. Gasper didn’t understand the message he felt his dad was trying to send him, which was disappointing, because he felt it was important. Throughout the summer, Gasper and his friends had plans to break into the house on Villarreal. This home was abandoned and rumored to be haunted. Locals have said an old couple used to live there, oddly enough, that’s what anyone will remember, that an old couple lived there, even years and years ago, surely it wasn’t the same old couple? Gasper brought a crowbar, Pablo brought flashlights, Adela brought keys to try on the locks, Vicky brought nothing because all of a sudden, she was against going in the house. Vicky was the most scared, but also, she was the only one who could hear the deafening buzzing that radiated from the house. Gasper was able to hide the view from the others and magically open the padlock without inserting any key, he pretended to use a crowbar to pry the door open, but it had unlocked on its own. The outside of the house gave the impression of a small one-story home, however upon entering things were not with they appeared. The house had a long hallway with a staircase, leading to a second floor. The house was a liminal space, appearing eerie, and forlorn. Suddenly, all of the lights turned on, was someone here? Adela ran into the house deeper within the hallway, without stopping. Gasper ran after, he tried to stop her by holding her down, but Adela managed to escape by poking him in the eyes with her good hand, go figure. She escapes and runs into a room where the door automatically shuts behind her. Gasper couldn’t open this door; he was out matched. He managed to usher Pedro and Vicky to the door, and they ran out of the house. They knew they had to get help if they were going to get Adela out, but how? Gasper wished his dad would wake up from his coma. He could tell Jasper, where Adela was who took her? Why could Jasper not open the door?

My Thoughts…

These chapters continue to dive into the elements and themes of magical realism within Latinx culture. The magical events alongside the mundane day-to-day task seem to be a burden, a larger priority than even their own well-being. For instance, Juan’s health is prioritized within the means of The Order. To the leaders, he is he has looked at as nothing more than a fragile talisman, needed for rituals, invocations and ceremonials, versus a living human being. After ceremonials, he is nursed back to health so he could continue to summon The Darkness. Juan having health problems, doesn’t matter to Order; medium retirement doesn’t exist. The order will continue to use their mediums until it kills them. The mundane task that should be Juan‘s priority are his health conditions and the trials and tribulations of being a widowed father. Unfortunately, Juan’s very real and normal struggles get pushed aside to focus on the magical elements in the story. Gasper also having to accept losing another parent while still young; a very normal mundane task that gets accompanied with magical realism.

“Ghosts are real. And the ones who come, aren’t always the ones you have called”

Juan

The spectrum of magical realism is displayed with events such as when Juan took Jasper to release the ashes of Rosario. Horrific events displayed through the experience of the home on Villareal, Ceremonials, invocations, rituals, and cult practices. Fantastical, and magical events are displayed throughout with the use of magic and powers such as clairvoyance.

Themes from Latinx literature, such as isolation has not only heavily affected Juan, but at this point in this novel has attached itself onto Gasper as well Juan isolated himself from his son so he could protect him, imagine the draining and hassle of keeping such a secret for years. In doing so, Juan drove a wedge of secrecy and misunderstandings between them, only further hindering their relationship. Gasper feels isolated because unbeknownst to him, he’s missing a very large piece of the puzzle and struggles to keep his father’s odd behavior, a secret from his friends, and even their parents. Cultural and historical contexts continues to be brought to light through the development of characters in Rosario‘s family history in chapter 4. With being told from Rosario‘s adolescence perspective, Mariana’s Enriquez highlights their families process of Acculturation and adaptations of their assets overtime. Very real historical events and wars are referenced alongside the magical realism of the story.

How did Rosario‘s family get rich? “the usual“, says Rosario, “looting, partnerships with other powerful people, understanding what side to take during the Civil War”.

To expand on cultural context, prior to reading this book, I had not heard of yerba mate or mate, which continues to be referenced throughout this book. After a few clicks around google I discovered that yerba mate tea is a traditional South American drink made from the leaves and stems of llex paraguariensis plant, the leaves are dried over fire, then steeped in hot water to make the tea. Yerba mate naturally contains as much caffeine as coffee, along with the health benefits of antioxidants and several nutrients. The name yerba mate and the similarities it has to coffee, makes me wonder if the brand, Coffee Mate is play on words, I didn’t fully understand until now. Mariana Enriquez includes the richness of cultural context by expanding on yerba mates roots in indigenous Guaraní culture.