Cereus Blooms At Night

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1996

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Parts 4 and 5

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Symbols & Motifs

Cereus

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses sexual abuse, incest, and family violence.

Appearing in the novel’s title, cereus, a flowering, cactus-like succulent, becomes a symbol that connects the characters. The reader first learns of their significance when clippings from cereus plants are brought to Mala at Paradise Alms House by two unknown visitors. Tyler realizes that cereus must hold some personal meaning for Mala, and it is revealed that cereus are plants that her Aunt Lavinia admired. As a child, Aunt Lavinia told Mala about how they only bloom at night once a year. Lavinia was a pivotal figure in Mala’s life in positive and traumatic ways, and after losing her, cereus plants become one way that she clings to her memory.

The rare qualities of the cereus plant also represent the unique and mysterious aspects of the main characters, especially Tyler, Mala, and Otoh. Cereus is described as ragged or even ugly before it blooms, but when its flowers open, it has an almost magical beauty. Tyler and Mala in particular, and Otoh to a somewhat lesser degree, are ostracized and misunderstood. However, given time and patience, they transform into something awe-inspiring and unexpected. The blooming cereus plants also symbolize sexuality and sexual awakening. On the moon-filled night when they bloom all over Mala’s yard, “[t]he smell […] drenched the air and flowed across town. Neighbours in deep sleep stirred, suddenly restless. Some were pried awake but were soon pleasantly besotted by the perfume and swept back into a deep sleep” (138). Her yard is also full of creatures hungrily and excitedly drinking in the sweet nectar and brushing against the new blooms, a scene with clear sexual undertones.

The Gramophone

Ambrose presents Mala with the gramophone as a gift, a souvenir from his time abroad in the Shivering Northern Wetlands. Every day when he visits, they dance together to one of the records that accompanied it. In these moments, the gramophone symbolizes their initial relationship—tender and melodic. It is also the object that represents the secret that Mala must keep from her father, and tellingly, she hides it under her bed. When Chandin discovers Mala’s relationship with Ambrose, he also discovers the gramophone, and the object fills him with rage. After he opens the box that holds it, “he put his face in both hands and cried. For several minutes he contemplated the gramophone and what it seemed to signify” (222). For Chandin, it symbolizes Mala’s connection to someone else rather than him and his loss of control over her. He then destroys the gramophone, though not before it damages him in return, as he “thundered his bare foot onto the horn” (223).

Although the gramophone appears irreparably damaged, it is recovered by Ambrose on one of his ill-fated return visits and is eventually repaired by Otoh. The revival of the gramophone represents Mala’s survival and, in many ways, the renewed possibilities she has with Ambrose. When her father initially damages the gramophone, he realizes it is too “resistant” to destroy with bare hands. In much the same way, Mala may be forever affected, but she is still able to resist. In the end, she is not broken beyond repair.

Insects

Insects of all varieties populate every section of this novel. In the 1996 edition published by Grove Press, small illustrations of various insects are included at the bottom of certain pages and at the beginning of new narrative sections, making their significance to the story visible. The reader is first introduced to bugs as a symbol when Mala is a child. While hiding from a group of bullies, Mala and Asha witness a line of bachacs, or leaf-cutter ants, marching past them. Mala interrupts their steady line of progress by isolating one ant from the rest and surrounding it with a circle of chalk. The rest of the ants abandon it, not knowing how to cross the chalk line, and the isolated ant freezes up, unsure of what to do next. Mala tells Asha that she has done this just “because” and exclaims that she hates everyone, especially their father. This singular ant represents Mala’s solitary anger and loneliness. Mala does, however, recognize the cruelty of her act, and in future scenes, she does not torment bugs but rather provides them with safety and protection.

The insects that she gives particular freedom are the moths that fill her yard and, chillingly, the room where her father’s body is hidden. These moths in some ways represent the freedom that Mala has never fully experienced, as they can move about the yard with ease and eagerly pollinate the night-blooming cereus. At the same time, moths represent death and decay. In their act of pollination, they consume the cereus flowers, nearly destroying them. The moths also feast on Mala’s father, breaking him down until his corpse is nearly unrecognizable. In this way insects represent a dichotomy—they are simultaneously small, vulnerable creatures that must be protected and capable of great power and resilience.