Mexican Gothic: Chapter 6 Summary & Analysis

Noemí needs a car to get to town so she can find Marta Duval. She figures her best bet of finding her is by asking Francis, since Florence won’t listen, and Virgil is irritated with her. It bothers Noemí to be thought of poorly; she wants to be liked. She thinks that, unlike men, women need to be liked or they’re in trouble. A woman who is not liked is a “bitch,” she thinks, and a “bitch” can hardly do anything. Anyway, Francis has been friendly enough, so Noemí sets off in search of him. She finds him in the kitchen, looking more washed out than the previous day. He smiles at her. He doesn’t look bad when he smiles—though he’s definitely not as good-looking as Virgil (few men are).

Noemí tells Francis that she would like to ask him for a favor. She links her arm to his with a fluid, well-practiced motion, and the two walk together. She asks to borrow a car. Francis hesitates; he doesn’t think Virgil would approve of Noemí taking a car into town. Noemí smiles and jokes with him, and finally Francis agrees. He grabs the keys and takes her to the shed, where Noemí gets in the car and drives to town. She finds a small clinic in the town square and walks inside. A very young man with a little mustache that makes him look a bit ridiculous—like a child impersonating a doctor—introduces himself as Dr. Camarillo. 

Noemí and Dr. Camarillo sit and chat inside his office. She tells him that she’s visiting from out of town, because her cousin has tuberculosis. Julio is astonished; tuberculosis in El Triunfo? He hasn’t heard anything about it. Noemí explains that her cousin lives in High Place. She asks if the doctor could come and check on Catalina. Dr. Camarillo hesitates—he doesn’t think he’d be welcome at High Place. The Doyles don’t mingle with the townsfolk. Even during the epidemic, when lots of miners were sick and Dr. Cummins had his hands full, they still didn’t ask the locals for any help. They must not think much of the local physicians.

Noemí asks what sort of epidemic it was that killed all those miners. Dr. Camarillo responds that no one ever really figured it out; patients would develop a high fever, then rant and rave, saying the oddest things. They’d convulse and even attack each other. It was all very odd. Noemí mentions that she’s seen the English cemetery, adding that a lot of people must have died. Julio corrects her: that cemetery has only the English dead—many more locals died from the illness. Rumor has it that the Doyles didn’t even bother to give the corpses a proper burial. They just tossed them into a pit.

Noemí presses Dr. Camarillo to visit High Place and check on Catalina. He explains that the situation is complicated: he gets money for the clinic from a contribution box at the local church, and Dr. Cummins regularly places money in the box. If he upsets Dr. Cummins by visiting Catalina, he could lose those funds. Noemí thinks quickly, trying to find a way to change Dr. Camarillo’s mind. It’s time to use those theatre lessons her father thought were a waste of money. She laments that she has no friends here, not a friend in the world to help her, and she quivers her lip dramatically. She pulls a handkerchief out and dabs her eyes, as if she’s about to cry. Men are always so afraid of tears. Noemí’s act works; Dr. Camarillo agrees to visit Catalina on Monday at noon.

Next, Noemí goes in search of Marta Duval. A lot of the women in town visit Marta, so Noemí doesn’t have too much trouble finding her house. Marta sits on her porch cracking peanuts, and when she sees Noemí she compliments her on her pretty shoes—Marta doesn’t get many customers who can afford shoes like that. She invites Noemí into her house and they take seats in a small kitchen. A picture of the Sacred Heart hangs on the wall and the shelves are lined with plaster figurines of saints. Dried herbs and flowers hang from the ceiling. Noemí knows that Catalina has never been the type to seek out healers, so it’s a little odd that she came here. Noemí, on the other hand, developed an interest in anthropology after reading Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic Among the Azande.

A parrot swoops down and lands on Marta’s shoulder, and she starts feeding it peanuts. Noemí gets down to business. She tells Marta that she needs more of the medicine that she made a few weeks ago for Catalina. Marta sighs, saying that no amount of tea or herbs is going to help that girl—the Doyles are cursed. Yes, there was an epidemic, but that’s not where the stories end. Miss Ruth, Howard’s precious daughter,  shot her own family. It’s a famous story in El Triunfo, but if Noemí wishes to hear it, she has to pay. A woman needs to eat, after all. Noemí agrees, she’ll pay for the medicine and the story. She takes some cigarettes out of her purse and shares two with Marta, who pockets them. Marta gets an ashtray and begins her tale.

Ruth was Howard’s daughter, his darling child who wanted for nothing. She was going to marry her cousin, a man named Michael, and they ordered a beautiful dress from Paris for the occasion. But a week before the wedding, Ruth grabbed a rifle and shot her groom, her mother, her aunt, and her uncle. She shot Howard, but he survived. And she might have shot Virgil, but Florence had hidden him away in a closet during the attack. When she was done shooting, she turned the rifle around and shot herself. Most of the servants left after that. The only ones who stayed were the few that came from England.

Marta continues the story after taking another cigarette from Noemí. One day not long after the murders, Florence finally left El Triunfo, even though she’d never done so before. When she returned a few weeks later she had a new husband—a man named Richard. This new man was unlike the Doyles: he was talkative, liked to come to town and drink, and it was obvious that he didn’t like High Place too much. He spoke about strange things, like ghosts and spirits and the evil eye. Soon he became shabby and thin, then he stopped coming to town at all. Finally he was found dead at the bottom of a ravine. He was only twenty-nine, and he left behind a young son: Francis.

Noemí agrees that this is all very tragic, but she wouldn’t call it a curse. It’s more like coincidence. Marta, for her part, doesn’t care what Noemí calls it. She can make the remedy for Catalina, but it’s going to take a week. The problem, she says, is not an illness, it’s the cursed house. The only real solution is to jump on the next train out and never return. Marta told Catalina the same thing, but she didn’t listen. Noemí pays Marta, and the old woman asks for another cigarette. They’re not for her, they’re for Saint Luke the Evangelist. The women chuckle and shake hands. Just before Noemí leaves, Marta asks if she’s having trouble sleeping. She sees the dark circles under Noemí’s eyes. Noemí assures her that it’s just the cold air that keeps her awake. Nothing to worry about.