Anita de Monte Laughs Last

“But a thread existed between them, each knowing that no matter where they chose to socialize, they were an Other in this space.”

This passage elaborates upon Raquel’s characterization and signals the novel’s focus on eurocentrism and racist attitudes in the world of art. Both Raquel and Mavette are students of color at a majority-white, Ivy League school, and they both remain aware of their outsider status, even as they successfully move through their new social settings. Because they are not white, they will always be seen as “different” from their professors and peers.

“‘What are you working on, Anita?’ And my answer would be…what? Supporting Jack emotionally? A feminine performance piece about retrograde relationships?”

These lines highlight the gender politics of both heterosexual romantic relationships within the art world and articulate the increasing sense of inequality that Raquel observes in her relationship with Nick. The novel features multiple male characters who monopolize the time of the women in their lives and overestimate the value of their own work. The author uses this passage to show that the same sexist norms that relegate women to hierarchically lower positions in traditional relationships also impact them as artists in a male-dominated field.

“You can’t handle me rising, Jack, it just kills you inside.”

Anita’s perceptively cutting comment draws attention to Jack’s narcissistic tendences and deeper character flaws, and Gonzalez also uses this moment to promote the novel’s focus on the problematic politics of gender. Jack, like several of the other white, male characters, prefers to remain the center of attention and sees his romantic partner as ancillary, not as a prominent figure in her own right. Because he is so focused on his own success, he resents any evidence of success in Anita’s career. The relationship thus exhibits a powerful gender imbalance which is demonstrated in the misogynistic attitude that Jack brings to his views on both art and romance.

“Just admit that you are a talentless nobody who rode affirmative action into that spot.”

This passage is part of a scene in which the Art History Girls accuse Raquel of hating white people and using her status as a “minority” to advance her career. Although Raquel tries to explain that she does actually work for her own successes and that she was awarded her summer fellowship on merit and not because of her ethnicity, the girls continue to berate and shame her, demonstrating their prejudiced certainty that she was only given the coveted position because she is not white.

“There should be no women’s art or men’s art. There should simply be art, genderless, makerless, left to stand on its own and be whatever the viewer thinks it is.”

This idea represents Jack, Dr. Temple, and many of the white, male artists in the narrative who espouse the idea that art should not address politics or express the identity of the artist. Figures like Anita and Raquel know otherwise, and their values reflect their deep appreciation for the ways in which personal identity and culture inevitably influences the creation of art.

“And, the shrinkage. A visual marker of the success in this one area of her life. But also, she realized, it meant she began, at least in her physical shape, if not in her inner self, to more closely mirror the bodies of those around her.”

An interest in beauty standards is part of this novel’s broader conversation about the “first world” versus the “third world.” Although Raquel finds the term “third world” to be offensive and dated, there is a definite sense in which the people around her unconsciously divide everything—people, art, culture, and trends—into these problematic categories. In an attempt to embrace the majority-white beauty standards that surround her, Raquel begins to deny herself food in order to achieve a slimmer appearance, even though her curves are considered beautiful in her own community.

“She stifled a giggle because, in that moment, he looked like a gray-haired version of Nick, or countless other boys on campus. She wondered if perhaps the difference between youth and middle age was not simply having gray hair or stubble, but having the pretense of having it together.”

In this passage, Raquel sees Professor Temple in a new, less flattering light, and her astute observation highlights Gonzalez’s broader position on gender politics. Although the scene involves a seemingly a casual comparison between her professor and her boyfriend, this description implies that many of the male characters are starkly similar in the way that they dismiss, belittle, stereotype, and bully women. By creating a cast of similar male characters, the author criticizes the structural nature of gender-based discrimination and oppression. Rather than being an isolated problem, gender-based discrimination is the result of damaging, unequal societal norms that perpetuate harmful patriarchal standards.

“In Spanish I might tell you about Yemayá, my orisha, the mother of all orishas."

This passage enhances Anita’s characterization. Despite the dominant and limiting views that Jack and other white, male artists hold about art, Anita’s art comes from a deep sense of her Cuban identity. Yemayá is an important figure within the Yoruba religion that is practiced by many in Cuba; she represents the divine mother, a powerful female spirit who is especially associated with women, mothers, and the sea.

“You’re the one who asked if you looked okay when we were on the boat, and you did, you looked great. But if you’re nervous about your weight why get the burger and overthink it later?”

Although Raquel loves food and is comfortable with her curves before she attends Brown, she soon feels pressure to conform to white beauty standards, wanting to become as slender as her classmates. Although she makes strides in self-acceptance prior to meeting Nick, he clearly wants her to be skinnier as well. When he cavalierly orders her a salad when she states her preference for a burger, his behavior highlights his patriarchal attitude towards gender and the white supremacist views that shape his own conception of beauty.

“There was a big trial. They tried to make her sound like a lunatic, like she was into voodoo or something, barred her sister and her family from testifying. A judge let her off.”

This passage, a description of Jack Martin’s trial, emphasizes the novel’s critique of gender politics, for Gonzalez uses the scene to stress that even after Anita’s death, Jack continued to disrespect and discredit her. The author therefore draws a parallel between gender-based discrimination in intimate relationships and in the art world. Th novel also makes it clear that for men like Jack, misogyny manifests in multiple areas of their relationships.

“‘I knew her,’ Mrs. Fitzsimmons said testily. ‘She was a horrid woman. Loud, pushy Cuban thing and not a lot of talent. People only took her seriously because of Jack.’”

This passage demonstrates the presence of racism within the art world, for Nick’s mother describes Anita using language that is both racist and dehumanizing. She even goes so far as to characterize her as a “thing” rather than a person, and her contemptuous emphasis on Anita’s loud tone suggests that her son gets his own dislike of loud women from his parents. This scene therefore stands as a red flag that the Fitsimmonses’ prejudicial views of Latinx people will also extend to Raquel herself.

“When it was time for Mr. and Mrs. Fitzsimmons to leave, Linda again complimented Raquel on being ‘slim and chic.’”

Here, it is apparent that Raquel is more appealing to Nick’s parents after she has lost weight and tamed her “wild” hair. They, like Nick, conform to white standards of beauty, and they show greater approval of Raquel as she tries to erase her “ethnic” identity and conform to white beauty standards. While Raquel will continue in her efforts for quite some time, she will eventually realize that suffering erasure for the sake of conformity is not a price that she is willing to pay.

“Jack was frightened that the true curse of Anita’s death, the real witchcraft of it all, was that her most evil (her truly fucking evil) desire for him might come to pass: irrelevance.”

Even after murdering his wife, Jack thinks only of himself, and he still fears Anita’s success just as much as he did when she was alive. His fear that her genius will surpass his own reputation for artistic excellence consumes him in the months after her death, and this reaction reveals how truly selfish, arrogant, and unfeeling he is. Thus, his behavior stands as the novel’s most prominent example of The Damaging Impact of Toxic Masculinity.

“Thrown out of a thirty-third-story window by the man she loved. The man she’d married, and that same person took what little she had, what little she’d been able to accomplish relative to him, and took it from her.”

The bitter tone of this passage and its description of Anita’s violent death highlights The Damaging Impact of Toxic Masculinity that permeate the novel. Jack cannot handle Anita’s success and subjects her to various forms of mistreatment, and ultimately, his toxic masculinity manifests as murderous violence. Upon killing Anita, he refuses to take responsibility for his crime, and this dynamic cements his characterization as a narcissistic antagonist with an infinitely fragile ego. His callous behavior and attempts to erase her art from the world after her death further support this impression.

“Anita came across as strong, and strong-willed. And yet, Raquel wondered, did she ever even stand a chance?”

Both Anita and Raquel are encouraged to diminish themselves in order to better fit in with the conventions of white society. Each woman experiences discrimination because of her identity, and each is seen through the lens of stereotype and treated with disrespect by her white partner. In this passage, Raquel begins to understand the broader politics of race, ethnicity, and class and realizes that she and Anita have much in common.

“Let me say this. My friends know how to throw a fucking party!”

The triumphant exuberance of this quote demonstrates the vitality and strength of Anita’s character. Although many of the white people in her social circles see her as being “too much,” the reality is that Anita is vivacious, talented, outgoing, and extraverted. Although she dies during the course of the novel, her voice and presence remain, and she is Gonzalez’s most lively character.

“I am angry, Jack thought, that the ghost of my dead wife fucks by inserting vagina shapes and areolas and women’s silhouettes and I am pissed that the pieces she fucked with got better reviews than I’ve gotten in ten years.”

This passage reveals the deep levels of contempt that Jack holds for his wife even after he has murdered her. His profanity in this statement also reveals a deep inner arrogance. Ironically, although Jack is a famous artist, his “best” work will always be the work that he knows his late wife altered, and he struggles to accept that reality. Jack, more so than any other character in the novel, embodies The Damaging Impact of Toxic Masculinity.

“‘She could never get enough attention, could she?’ Tilly said.”

In this passage, Tilly’s offhand, dismissive comment contributes to the novel’s complex politics of race and gender. Although toxic masculinity is the most damaging force on display in the narrative, Tilly’s willingness to abet Jack’s attempts at erasure illustrate the fact that white women also aid in the discriminatory practices that impact women of color. Although Tilly is fully aware of Jack’s guilt, she comes to his aid again and again, proving that her loyalty is to other white individuals, not to all other women.

“Nick often told her that she was special or important, but there was always an “almost,” if not spoken, then clearly implied.”

Nick, like Jack, embodies The Damaging Impact of Toxic Masculinity, for he  is motivated by a problematic combination of self-interest and insecurity. Thus, he shames Raquel in subtle ways in order to make himself feel better. He understands that if he can convince Raquel that she is not quite good enough, she will have more gratitude for his interest in her.

“Whatever her mother might lack in polish, she made up for in integrity. In being loving. In supporting her daughters moving forward even if that meant moving away from her.”

This passage highlights the novel’s politics of race and enhances Raquel’s characterization. Although she is implicitly taught to seek success in the white, mainstream world, her family, her community, and other people of color ultimately give her the best treatment and the most acceptance. She realizes at the end of the novel that although Nick’s parents are more influential and powerful than her own family, her mother is a much better person than they are.

“She realized that so much of what she thought was good art was simply that which had been elevated by John Temple, because it was understood by and spoke to and created by men just like him.”

This passage highlights the theme of Eurocentrism in the Art World. Although Raquel initially developed an interest in Jack Martin, she realizes that this interest was nurtured by white, male professors and an entire system that values white artists more than artists of color.

“Once Raquel discovered Anita de Monte, or rather after Belinda put her on Raquel’s radar, a new bond formed between the two women.”

This passage examines the ways in which Raquel finds community and belonging through shared interests in the work of artists of color. Both in the world of visual art and music, Raquel is inspired by figures of color. When she finally finds community by actively embracing her authentic interests and identity rather than seeking to suppress and erase them, this shift becomes a powerful endorsement of diversity in the arts. Thus, Raquel’s evolution is meant to affirm identities of color in any social sphere.

“‘Be angry at the system, Raquel.’ Belinda told her. ‘And then see how you can fix it.’”

Raquel and Belinda develop a deep bond during Raquel’s internship, and it is important to note that Belinda encourages Raquel to use her voice to effect greater social change. Raquel does not merely observe the problems of the art world; she exposes them. As a character, she is defined in part by this willingness to take direct action, and her motivations render her as a strong, intelligent figure and a force to be reckoned with.