Cereus Blooms At Night

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1996

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Parts 4 and 5

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Parts 4 and 5Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 4 Summary

Part 4 is significantly shorter than the novel’s earlier sections. It opens with Ambrose and Otoh watching the sunrise, or lack thereof, the morning after the fire at Mala’s house. Ambrose explained to his son why he has been sleeping nearly all the time for all these years: He “couldn’t face” himself. He was ashamed of abandoning Mala and playing a part in the tragedy and trauma that took place in her house. He was upset about losing Mala and asked Otoh: “Did I lose you, too, son?” (234). Ambrose also noted that he attempted to go back to Mala three times, but each time, she was wild and unreachable. She would come at him violently and scream nonsensical noises. Believing Mala’s mind to be completely gone, Ambrose gave up trying to reach her, though not before rescuing the damaged gramophone. Otoh listened silently and with growing aggravation to Ambrose’s explanations, and he finally told his father that he would like to go see Mala as soon as they were able, wherever they placed her. He also wanted to bring her the cuttings that he saved from the cereus plant in her yard. He remarked to Ambrose: “I wonder what it’s called. Pappy, do you know?” (236).

After this exchange, the reader learns that Ambrose’s wife, Elsie, is planning to leave him and Paradise. Ever since he fully awakened from his monthly slumbers, Elsie has grown tired of his eccentric ways and decides she can no longer be with him. As she is preparing to leave, she has a heart-to-heart with her son, whom she believes is preoccupied because he is thinking about marriage. She cautions Otoh to make sure that the person in question, whom she thinks must be Mavis, really knows who Otoh is. Otoh is stunned and somewhat embarrassed, but Elsie tells him that she would naturally remember that her son had once been her daughter. She notes that he is not the only person of his type on the island: “[E]very village in this place have a handful like you” (238). She wants him to make sure that the person he marries knows the truth of his identity. Otoh promises that he will heed her words. Later, Elsie leaves her home and marriage with only one note of explanation for Ambrose, stating that things were easier when he was still sleeping.

Part 5 Summary

Like the previous section, Part 5 is also quite short. In this concluding portion of the novel, Mala is visited by Judge Walter Bissey, who had her placed in Paradise Alms House and who bullied her as a child. Walter has been looking into the case of Mala’s sister Asha, in hopes of determining where she ended up after running away from home. He discovers a box of undelivered letters, all addressed to Mala, which were collecting dust on a shelf because the mail carrier refused to deliver mail to the terrible Ramchandin house. All of the letters in the box are from Asha, starting not long after she first ran away and fled for the northern part of the island. Later, she immigrated to the Shivering Northern Wetlands and eventually to Canada. As time passed, the notes themselves also got shorter, ending with a brief card from Asha’s new home in Canada. The sentiments expressed in the letters, however, never waver. They all express how much Asha misses Mala and how she hopes she is not angry. She has also been sending money, hoping to help Mala escape and reunite with her. Reading each of these letters brings Mala to tears, whether from heartache, joy that her sister is alive, or both.

Part 5 also provides a degree of resolution for Tyler’s narrative. He states that as his relationship with Otoh progresses, it is time to “unabashedly declare” himself (247). The next time Ambrose and Otoh visit, Tyler applies makeup and puts on the nurse’s dress that is still hidden in Mala’s room. He and Otoh walk together across the grounds with Tyler proudly showing off his feminine embodiment. Mr. Hector, the gardener, is taken aback at the sight of Tyler and Otoh, though he does not view them with disdain. Instead, he thinks again of his brother, wondering where he could be after all this time.

Tyler and Otoh enter the garden to plant the cereus clippings, after which they exchange a furtive and knowing glance. Tyler observes that the cereus will bloom in just a few short days and asks if Otoh can wait. Otoh replies, “Yes, yes. Just barely, but I will wait” (248). Tyler and Otoh return to where Ambrose and Mala are sitting together, and they are delighted at the sight of them. Mala is so thrilled, she even speaks out loud in public for the first time: “Poh. Poh” (249). The novel ends with Tyler imploring Asha, if she is still out there and has read Mala’s story, to please reach out to her. She is waiting for news, and even a photograph would do—just enough to let Mala know that the sister she hoped to protect is alive and well.

Part 4 and 5 Analysis

While not quite a conventional happy ending, the final parts of Cereus Blooms at Night provide a degree of closure. The majority of the main characters either gain a connection or confidence in their identity, or they are able to constructively confront their flaws. The latter is especially true for Ambrose, who admits to his son:

I slept because I couldn’t face myself. Whenever I caught sight of my own reflection, what I saw was my own face watching me, mocking me, and shaking its head in disgust with my performance in the entire Ramchandin affair. I slept to avoid the nausea that seemed to sour my insides and the weight of defeat crushing my heart whenever I thought of my inaction (234).

Ambrose, in the wake of the tragedy at Mala’s house and in part thanks to his son’s actions, is finally able to name his inadequacies and how he failed Mala with his indecision. This confession does not generate additional sympathy from his son, but it does prompt Otoh to choose to go see Mala again. As similar as father and son may be, Otoh is more able to quickly become a man of agency and action, thanks in great part to the avoidance and inaction he sees in Ambrose. This represents a resolution to Generational Trauma; although Otoh has inherited his father’s indecisiveness, represented in his name, he acknowledges this flaw and makes a positive change. In return, he is rewarded with love and a genuine connection with Tyler.

Elsie Mohanty, despite being a minor character, also gains a chance at personal contentment at the novel’s conclusion when she chooses to leave Ambrose after all this time. The note she leaves him says merely: “You was simpler when you was sleeping” (239), suggesting that she became so accustomed to his passiveness, that anything else from him becomes impossible to bear. Ambrose, to his credit, gets choked up reading the note, but then corrects her grammar and puts the note away, “just in case she were to return some day and he could explain his errors to her” (239). In this way, Ambrose is depicted as a fool, but it also becomes evident that his feelings toward Elsie were not based in love since he can only think about ways to correct her and impart his knowledge to her.

Cereus, the titular plant that has been referenced throughout the narrative, also has its place in the novel’s final moments. Tyler and Otoh finally take the opportunity to plant the cereus clippings in the garden of Paradise Alms House. This planting signifies new growth, most notably in their own relationship, but the cereus flowers themselves also symbolize passion and patience. As flowers that bloom only once a year, they are rare and must be fully appreciated in the time they are given. Tyler asks Otoh: “The cereus will bloom in just another few nights. Can you wait?” (248). In this moment, he is not simply asking if he can wait for him to view cereus in full bloom but if he can wait just a little longer until they can fully embrace the desire between them. Thus far in their relationship, they have refrained from physicality, but they both recognize they can’t resist each other much longer. Tyler implores Otoh to wait just until the cereus, until their love and affection, is in full bloom.

The happy and wistful reactions to their relationship represent the healing that comes from addressing trauma and moving forward in love, paralleled by Mala finding the box of Asha’s missing letters. While the narrative hopes for the sisters’ reunion, seeing Asha’s persistent care for her over the years resolves some of Mala’s trauma around abandonment. This is clear when Mala speaks for the first time in years, a sign that she’s returning to the present rather than living in a disconnected state to protect herself.