Mexican Gothic

by

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Mexican Gothic: Chapter 15 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Noemí knocks repeatedly at Marta’s door, but the woman never answers. She rejoins Francis and the two walk back toward the town square. They meet Dr. Camarillo at the clinic, who introduces himself to Francis, saying that he used to play cards with Francis’s father. Dr. Camarillo invites them in, and Noemí asks to speak with him privately. Francis obliges, waiting patiently in the sitting area.
That Francis’s father used to play cards with some of the locals suggests that he was free of the bigotry that characterizes many of the Doyles. Additionally, though Francis has been tasked by his family to keep an eye on Noemí, he still gives her this private moment with Dr. Camarillo, proving his allegiance to her.
Themes
Nature vs. Love Theme Icon
Colonialism Theme Icon
Noemí tells Dr. Camarillo about Catalina’s seizure and asks him if he has heard of Marta’s medicine ever causing someone to have a seizure. First, he explains that Marta often goes to Pachuca to see her daughter, and second, he answers that no, he’s never heard of Marta’s tonics causing such a reaction. He asks if Dr. Cummins examined Catalina, and Noemí tells him that he has—he said that an opium tincture caused the seizure, and that Marta’s a quack. Dr. Camarillo shakes his head. Marta is no quack, there are many people who go to her for recipes. Furthermore, he says that it’s impossible for Marta to have procured an opium tincture because the herbs required don’t grow here. 
Dr. Camarillo not only clears Marta of suspicion, he also throws suspicion back at Dr. Cummins by implying that he lied about the opium. Furthermore, while Dr. Cummins has been critical of local physicians and healers, Dr. Camarillo’s defense of Marta demonstrates that traditional herbal remedies can coexist with modern medical science—the two don’t have to be in competition with each other.
Themes
Colonialism Theme Icon
Quotes
Noemí can’t make heads or tails of this information. If it were true, that means the tincture isn’t what caused Catalina to be sick, and Dr. Cummins lied about it. Dr. Camarillo apologizes for not being more helpful but offers to change the bandage on Noemí’s wrist. When he removes the bandage, however, he sees that Noemí’s skin has completely healed. The doctor is quite surprised—it should have taken a week for that rash to heal. Noemí thinks about mentioning her second episode of sleepwalking, but ultimately decides against it.
Noemí’s rash has healed unnaturally quickly, which is an alarming sign when paired with her deteriorating mental state. Whatever is making Noemí sick now seems to be affecting more than just her sleep.
Themes
Life, Death, and Rebirth Theme Icon
An hour after returning from town, Noemí is summoned to Virgil’s bedroom. The first thing she notices upon entering is the large, imposing painting of Howard hanging in the room. Virgil is getting dressed behind a three-fold when Noemí walks in. He tells her that the rains will soon become torrential, making the roads extremely dangerous. She should check with him before she decides to go to town. He tells her to fetch him the robe hanging on his chair, and as Noemí hands it to Virgil, she sees that he has his shirt off. She blushes in shame, thinking that this is much too casual and immodest.
It's telling that a portrait of Howard hangs in Virgil’s bedroom; even in Virgil’s most personal space, Howard looms large, watching. Virgil’s immodesty seems to be a calculated move, meant to unsettle Noemí for the coming conversation.
Themes
Sexism, Female Independence, and Power Theme Icon
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After putting the robe on, Virgil gestures toward a chair and tells Noemí to sit. She ignores the gesture and tells Virgil that she knows this is not the first time that Catalina drank the tincture and had a bad reaction. He tells her that Dr. Cummins already told her that Catalina was depressed, and Noemí didn’t believe him. So why would Virgil bother telling her that her cousin is suicidal? This upsets Noemí, and she tells him that if Catalina is suicidal, then it’s Virgil’s fault.
By refusing to sit, Noemí demonstrates that she is still resistant to Virgil’s authority—this will be a battle fought by small gestures.
Themes
Sexism, Female Independence, and Power Theme Icon
Noemí regrets her words and tries to apologize, but Virgil acquiesces: Noemí’s right, it is his fault. Catalina fell in love with him for the wrong reasons. He thinks that Catalina saw in him a tragic, romantic figure—a boy who lost his mother and whose fortune was evaporating. No doubt she pictured High Place as a rustic mansion that could be changed, rescued from its decay. But of course, Virgil explains, Howard would never allow anything to be changed. They all exist at his pleasure.
Virgil recognizes that Catalina had certain delusions during their courtship. While he’s telling this to Noemí seemingly to alleviate some of his guilt, the fact remains that Virgil did nothing during the courtship to dispel Catalina’s false ideas. This theme runs throughout the novel: men appear differently during courtship than they do during marriage.
Themes
Sexism, Female Independence, and Power Theme Icon
Noemí asks Virgil if he would change anything, if he could. Virgil answers that he would make changes of a certain type, but not a change so grand that he’d become something that he’s not. You can’t change the essence of a thing, he says, and that was the problem with Catalina. She wanted him to be something that he wasn’t—what she saw in him was never there, and this made her unhappy immediately after marriage. 
Again Virgil demonstrates his commitment to eugenics. He believes that people have a certain nature, and that it’s impossible for people to act outside of that nature—change is futile. This type of thinking reflects the cyclical nature of the ouroboros (a circle doesn’t allow for change).
Themes
Nature vs. Love Theme Icon
Life, Death, and Rebirth Theme Icon
Noemí wonders why Catalina would not have returned home, but she quickly realizes the answer: her family. Everyone would have been appalled, and the newspapers would have been filled with slander, just as her father now fears. She asks Virgil why he married Catalina, and he explains that it was his father’s wish to see him married. Howard wanted to know that the family line would not die out. Virgil then reveals that he was married once before, to Dr. Cummins’s daughter. The marriage was arranged by Howard and was a disaster. They disliked each other, and after four miscarriages, she divorced him.
The threat of a scandal that would be generated by a divorce entraps Catalina in an unhappy marriage. In this way adherence to convention is more important than the happiness of an individual. Virgil admits that he was forced into a marriage that he didn’t want by Howard, and this perhaps builds some sympathy for the character.
Themes
Sexism, Female Independence, and Power Theme Icon
After the divorce Virgil took a few trips to Guadalajara and then to Mexico City. He met Catalina and liked her softness, her romantic notions. She wanted a fairy tale and he wanted to give her that. Then it all went wrong. Noemí remembers that Catalina loved to read fairy tales; Snow White with the magical kiss and the beauty who transforms the beast. Here was her fairy tale. It amounted to a stilted marriage coupled with sickness and mental tribulations.
Virgil’s story about Catalina is similar to Florence’s account of her own marriage. Both Florence and Catalina thought that marriage would be romantic and charming, and they were primed to think that way by things like novels and fairytales. Yet, when they were actually married, both women were quickly disappointed. Florence became cruel and devious, and Catalina became depressed. 
Themes
Sexism, Female Independence, and Power Theme Icon
Noemí suggests that Virgil could take Catalina somewhere else and make his own life, if it’s the house that Catalina so dislikes. Virgil smirks. He can’t leave High Place, and he’s not allowed to have his own life. His father needs him here. He pauses before changing the topic. He apologizes to Noemí for the way he treated her last time they met. They don’t need to be enemies. He promises that he’ll ask Dr. Cummins to see if there are any psychiatrists in Pachuca. They shake hands amicably, then Noemí excuses herself and leaves.
Virgil, like Francis, seems to feel like he’s trapped in High Place. Howard’s oppression is so great that even his first-born son feels like he can’t have his own life—no one in High Place can.
Themes
Sexism, Female Independence, and Power Theme Icon
Life, Death, and Rebirth Theme Icon
Noemí sees Francis avoid her and wonders if Florence scolded him for driving her to town. She seeks out Florence and finds her in the kitchen. Noemí tells her that it was her fault Francis drove her, and that she shouldn’t be angry with him. Florence explains that it’s important to maintain order in one’s house, and in one’s life. It helps to determine each person’s place in the world. Frances has duties at High Place, and Noemí makes him forget them. He acts silly with Noemí; he completely forgets the person he’s supposed to be. She dismisses Noemí and continues her work.
Florence’s worldview relies on an organizing structure—one where every person is in their proper place, according to their nature (determined by their genetics). Thus, one can imagine that her worldview, like the colonizers she descends from, places white men on top, and indigenous people near the bottom.
Themes
Colonialism Theme Icon