Author: dwight

In Shani Mootoo’s novel, Cereus Blooms at Night memory becomes a concept that not only affects Mala emotionally, but also physically as Mootoo links Mala’s childhood to her adulthood as if they were lived by two separate people. As Miss Ramchandin’s house is being invaded by police officers and watchdogs, destroyed by machinery and large vehicles, she remembers running away as Pohpoh beginning to “feel what she was normally oblivious to: her face and neck, wet with sweat and tears, bruises on her legs, skin that felt as though it had been torn off her back in thick chunks…fear was breaking her, was unprying her memory”(174). Miss Ramchandin’s home reflects nature at its finest; free to expand, grow and develop without external influences. While it is being destroyed and invaded, Miss Ramchandin’s memory is directly related in that she remembers herself, her own natural body as a child being forcefully invaded by her father. “She  was reminded of what she usually ignored or commanded herself to forget: her legs being ripped apart, something entering her from down there, entering and then scooping her insides out. Her body remembered” (175). The physicality of this text, mentioning her body parts – face, neck, legs, skin, allows the reader to understand that the pain from the memory affects her entire being. After being raped by her father, every limb of her body has been contaminated or destroyed. The action in this text – torn off, breaking her, ripped apart, entering her, scooping her insides out, is rough, vulgar, and violent. The word choice not only reflects the ways in which the police officers are treating her sanctuary of a home but also the way in which her father treated her. She had become so accustomed to not feeling or doing her best to forget, that the rush of memory was painful and physical – she felt the physical abuse that she had done her best to ignore.

” ‘There were plenty of screwballs like you in Atlanta, but me, I don’t swing that way – you got it? This  might be your ‘thing’ or whatever, but you can definitely count me out.’ He reached for his conch shell and stubbed out his cigarette. ‘I mean, come on now. For God’s sake, kid, pull yourself together'” (17).

In Judith Halberstam’s In a Queer Time and Place, she writes “consider the fact that we have become adept within postmodernism at talking about ‘normativity,’ but far less adept at describing in rich detail the practices and structures that both oppose and sustain conventional forms of association, belonging, and identification” (Halberstam, 4). In this sense, Halberstam is saying that there are cultural assumptions within society that create “normativity” – a standardized way of being. People who identify themselves as queer, therefore are opposing the conventional forms of association, belonging and identification which Halberstam mentions.

In the passage above, Sedaris is recounting his experience with his music teacher, in which he scrutinizes Sedaris for resisting the heteronormative ideals by performing a musical number and being proud of it. Earlier in the chapter, Mister Mancini had questioned David’s sexuality when he chose to name his guitar “Oliver,” after his hamster. Mister Mancini wanted Sedaris to give a feminine name to his guitar, render it a female, and sexualize the guitar so that he could physically dominate the instrument – become powerful and confident in his artistry or lack thereof. Although there are more representations of gays and lesbians in literature, movies, and television than there were fifteen years ago, society rejects the opposition of gays and lesbians to conform within the patriarchal, heteronormative culture in which we live. Instead, associating, belonging, and identifying conventionally within society, considers you to be significant as a person. This is what Sedaris attempts to resist – but in this scene, he succumbs to the influence and pressure of Mister Mancini and hides his lack of interest in women’s breasts and physical stature and drops his dream of becoming a singer.

 

“You have scored your name into my shoulders, referenced me with your mark. The pads of your fingers have become printing blocks, you tap a message on to my skin, tap meaning into my body. Your morse code interferes with my heart beat” (89).

Within this passage exists a repetition of the words “you,” “my,” “your,” and body parts – shoulders, fingers, skin, body, heart beat. This possessive language indicates that the narrator feels as if these actions have been done to him/her. From this repetition of “you” and “my,”the narrator is indirectly stating that Louise has left a physical impact on his/her body. She has metaphorically branded the narrator – written on his/her body. The repetition of the body parts displays the physicality of the relationship. The narrator is acknowledging that fact that their relationship was confined to the bedroom. They were bound by lust and promiscuity and were unable to act normally within society.

The narrator expresses these thoughts after he/she fights with Jacqueline and strikes her in the face. “I had a steady heart beat before I met you, I relied upon it, it had seen active service and grown strong. Now you alter its pace with your own rhythm, you play upon me, drumming me taut” (89). After the dramatic episode in the flat with Jacqueline, the narrator is beginning to understand the impact that his/her relationship with Louise has had on him/her. This is just yet another example in which the narrator places the blame on Louise. He/she is unable to take responsibility for any part of the relationship. On the other hand, the narrator is also not used to feeling so vulnerable; he/she has never experienced the passion, chaos, and responsibility of true love. The active verbs in this passage demonstrate this continuation of the narrator moving everything on to Louise, as he/she has done throughout the novel.

Another element to this passage that resonates with me is the element of marking, branding, or writing. The title of the book, Written on the Body, helps me to conclude that the narrator is implying that Louise has written all over him/her. Right after he/she states the passage indicated above, the narrator thinks about Louise’s reading hands and how she has written on his/her body and translated him/her into her own book. The narrator, at this point in time, is unable to accept responsibility for the relationship. Despite how unhealthy and destructive this relationship is, he/she has never felt so loved by anyone in his/her entire life. This passage is an example of the overarching theme of the novel – the narrator feeling victimized by Louise.

“Don’t move. We can’t move, caught like lobster in a restaurant aquarium. These are the confines of our life together, this room, this bed. This is the voluptuous exile freely chosen” (72).

This passage occurs just after the narrator has returned to his flat to find it utterly destroyed, courtesy of Jacqueline. It is perhaps the first moment in which the narrator acknowledges the “confines” of his/her relationship with Louise. It is important in that he/she understands that being with Louise publicly under these circumstances will never be accepted within society because of its adulterous and illicit characteristics. Their relationship is no longer amicable or pure. Instead, it has become destructive and invasive, chaotic and uneven. The narrator and Louise are permitted from living a life of spontaneity or freedom. They are in turn, bound to the bedroom – the only safe place where they can express themselves freely.

The reference to lobsters in “a restaurant aquarium” infers that one is at a seafood restaurant, where he/she can view the lobsters from a tank. It is implied, then, that the lobster dishes served on the menu will be fresh and local (from the tank). The narrator compares Louise and him/herself to the lobsters because not only does he/she feel trapped and watched by everybody, but is also expecting to be eaten – for his relationship to be ruined or ended by a greater force. The “confines of our life together” indicates that the narrator acknowledges that there are limitations to his/her relationship with Louise. The only place in society in which the two characters are exempt from judgement or hostility is in their “voluptuous” or sexual bedroom.

This passage seems grim and desperate. In a sense, it feels as if the narrator is hostile that Louise hasn’t yet left Elgin. It  seems that he/she wishes that their relationship could be free and expressive rather than bound to the bedroom.