Everyone in life and in Cereus Blooms at Night has secrets. They are masqueraded in different ways and the severity of each is different. The most notable skeletons in the large closet that Shani Mootoo has created are Mala’s childhood that was filled with abuse, different love affairs with Chandin and Lavinia and Sarah and Lavinia, Tyler’s sexual identity and preference, and the disappearance of Mala’s father.
When recounting the event of killing her father, on page 229, it starts as a struggle, She is unsure of what to do and jumps around his body, “did she only imagine the vapor of hot air that passed over the blade? She jumped up and, extremely vigilant, edged her way toward his feet.” But as the recounting continues, Mala becomes determined and has a plan to get Chandin in the sewing room, locked away where nobody could find him and she would be at peace “She locked the door. She leaned up against it with relief and then mounted the stairs.” She was free.
This said, she was never happy with missing Asha so when Judge Bissey came and delivered her letters to Mala I was surprised that she wasn’t upset that they were never delivered because of the Mailman’s fears. Continuing with secrets and my lack of faith in our current legal system, Judge Bissey’s secrets are alluded to on page 243. Anyway, the notes came to Mala as a sigh of relief almost. She wasn’t angry but happy to know she was ok and give her hope of reuniting.
Secrets are powerful, but eventually they become liberating to share once you have the right audience. We talked about confession in class and that to be coerced into confession is not the same as doing it on your own. It took Mala a long time to admit to her father’s disappearance but with the way the book ended, I believe that guilt was gone and there was only hope for Asha and her reuniting
I think you make a really interesting point about secrets. That in Cereus Blooms at Night, secrets are almost a unifying force. Despite all the differences in character and content of secret, everyone is hiding something. This not only speaks to idea’s of confession, but the performative nature of society. It seems to require that there is something private to echo the public.
I also expected Mala to become extremely angry once she was delivered the letters. I also agree with the fact that she saw it as a sigh of relief. I think that she had already come to terms with the fact that she may never see Asha again, so to get those letters was a sort of blessing.