Author: Andy Glass

“Once upon a time Elsie had been enraptured by the silken petals that fell from Ambrose’s Wetlandish-affected lips. Now she wished that he would either shut up or talk simply and plainly with her again” (108).

 

In this passage, strain is shown in the marriage between Elsie and Ambrose. Not unlike the other examples of marriage in Cereus Blooms at Night, both Elsie and Ambrose have grown apart and find each other as merely existing in the same space (for this marriage specifically only once a month). These two sentences accentuate the tension in the marriage. With words and strings of words like “Once upon a time,” “enraptured,” “silken petals that fell from Ambrose’s…lips” a soft legato tone is set. It reflects Elsie’s genuine intrigue in Ambrose’s lexicon in the start of their relationship. The tone immediately changes in the next sentence. The tone shifts to blunt, reflecting the end of Elsie’s patience with Ambrose’s way of speaking. This shift is indicated in the words (i.e. shut up) but is strengthened by a shift in syllables. Standing alone the second sentence would seem simple, not frustrated, for it only holds words that have 1 or 2 syllables. In the first sentence, the legato tone is set with the variation of syllables (the mapping out of the syllables is 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 3 1 1 2 2 1 1 1 3 3-3 2). The first sentence has words with 3 syllables sprinkled in. The sudden removal of these more “complex” words creates the tenser tone. This syllable shift sets the foundation for the tension of Elsie and Ambrose’s marriage that is expressed in the formation of the two sentences above.

When Tyler is talking to Mr. Hector, the gardener, on page 73, Mr. Hector employs an unusual use of repetition. Mr. Hector is speaking about his younger brother who his mother sent away when they were both young due to his father’s reaction to his sexuality. He repeats words twice when speaking about his brother, “his voice was soft-soft… quiet and sing-song sing-song… I could hear it plain-plain… Pappy used to beat him bad-bad…” (pg 73). Previously, Mr. Hector had had conversations with Tyler about other topics, never mentioning his brother, and never using double-wording. The repetition of words could be written off as a nervous tick employed when talking about something personal. But, I believe that this is him reverting to his younger self during the course of the conversation. When teaching first grade I noticed that when children want to emphasize a point, they often repeat one word or a cluster of words in quick succession (Ms. Zoe I want the green pencil: green-green). The last time that the gardener saw his brother was when he was a child. After his brother was sent away he was not allowed to speak of or ask about him to his parents. He was forced to forget about a beloved family member and move on. Because he was not allowed (by his parents) to wrangle with his emotions and was in turn forced to ignore/subdue them, I think that whenever he speaks about his brother, the younger version of him comes out.

In “In A Queer Time and Place” Halberstam notes that, “because we experience time as some form of natural progression we fail to realize or notice its construction” (p 7). We experience time linearly and therefore we extrapolate from our experiences and emotions in a linear context and tell stories in chronological order. It is how we experience our life therefore it is how we make sense of ourselves for other people. Linear time is our norm, making it “invisible” and of no note. Written on the Body rejects this norm as the narrator fails to tell their story in chronological order. The novel starts off with acknowledging of the narrator and Louise’s affair. The narrator then peppers in stories about past lovers and begins to tell the events that took place before/while they and Louise began their affair. All this time the narrator jars the reader by skipping back to previous lovers while giving very little to no chronological context to where these lovers fit in. This “queering” of the storytelling is one of the many deviant/queer facets of the novel.

Another deviation that is present in the novel is the extramarital affair Louise is having with the narrator. Halberstam says, “Queer subcultures produce alternative temporalitites by allowing their particiants to believe that their futures can be imagined according to logics that lie outside of those paradigmatic markers of life experience—namely, birth, marriage, reproduction, and death” (p 2). Each of these facets of life is expected to occur within a specific timespan. They are expected to happen linearly. You are born, you fall in love, you marry, reproduce, raise your offspring, retire, travel, die. Deviating from this formula is queer. Louise disrupts her linear progression by having a marriage with the narrator, “I’m going to leave him because my love for you makes ay other life a lie” (p 98). An affair not only interrupts the progression from marriage to (more if there was any) reproduction, but can completely halt this progression with the correct timing. An affair can leave a cheater without stability to raise a child or without another person to have a child with. One deviant act (cheating) can lead to a complete derailing from the expected path. Halberstam’s analysis of time (and how it is expected to pass) explains the cultural rules pertaining to time that the narrator from Written on the Body breaks.

Salvador Dali 1943

Geopolitical Child Watching the Birth of a New Man 

“You have scored your name into my shoulders, referencing 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)

 

In this passage the narrator is referencing the profound affect that Louise has upon them.

The letter M is repeated frequently in this passage. Especially in the first sentence with words like name, my, me, and mark the soft M begins to surround this passage. The letter M is used to create a soft and gentle foundation to support these words of love that the narrator has for Louise.

Outside of the text the letter M has many comforting connotations. It is the majority of the word “mom and mama”. Mothers are seen by our society as the ultimate form of comfort and therefore their name immediately creates comfort. In the prayer word “Om” the M is always held out until the vibrations fade into the air. Om is believed to be the first syllable/sound that was uttered by a living being in this world in Hinduism. To be in a room full of people praying and saying Om is to be blanketed and supported by a simple vibration.

These connotations of the letter M help to support the narrator’s easily identified care and comfort in Louise. The narrator describes how Louise has, “tap(ped) meaning into my body” and “interfere(d) with my heart beat.” The narrator has acknowledged head-on that their love for Louise and the love she has for them has affected them. This affect is received with open arms, which is shown by the constant use of M. The sound of the words out loud deepens the softness that the narrator feels towards Louise.

“We are friends and I would miss you, do miss you and think of you very often. I don’t want to lose this happy space where I have found someone who is smart and easy and who doesn’t bother to check her diary when we arrange to meet” (pp 38).

 

In this passage the narrator is explaining their initial hesitation in acknowledging the feelings they have towards Louise. They seem to be negotiating with themself. They seem to be trying to navigate their intense feelings towards someone they initially considered a friend. They are trying to rationalize their feelings in a platonic context, which is a desperate attempt.

The desperation of this rationalization is shown in the structure and style of the passage. In the first sentence, the placement of the comma is not for the reader to pause, but for the reader to stumble. Pretend for a second that the first sentence is being read out loud. Taking into account the shift in tense as well, the narrator goes from trying to distance themselves from their feelings by using the future to quickly recovering and using the present. There is a depersonalization in “would miss you” as if the beloved, Louise would figure out the narrator’s feelings. After quickly recognizing that their feelings couldn’t necessarily be discerned from this statement, they change it to the past. This change is a quick stumble showing their desperation to ignore their feelings.

Their desperation continues in the second sentence. While the first sentence was quite short, the second sentence rambles on. It starts with the idea and fear of loss and continues forward, gathering speed and finally resting upon acknowledged adoration.

This passage is the breaking point where they realize that they are in love and want to pursue Louise. The slightly chaotic structure of these two sentences reflects the narrator’s apprehension towards their own feelings.