What Night Brings

Eddie functions as Marci’s antagonist, his actions pushing her toward change. Unlike Marci, Eddie is far from passive. His physical violence and bigoted opinions are relentless, and his constant presence stands in direct opposition to one of Marci’s prayers. Eddie is a short man, but he has a solid body. Marci compares his eyes to those of a cat: “you can always see him watching you” (2). This is relevant to his physicality, as well. Eddie is often lazy while at home, but he changes drastically with little warning.

Eddie’s womanizing also creates friction with Marci. His attraction to women is generally physical, and he is not subtle with his observations. Marci is physically attracted to women, but she also longs for an emotional relationship. Eddie treats women as objects to collect and abuse, but he is also more successful with women than Marci, another adult contradiction.

Eddie is an intelligent villain in many ways. He knows that Tommy is attracted to men, and it is often hinted that he also knows Marci has same-sex desires. However, he only teases this information when it is necessary to win an argument. There is a shrewdness about him, and he is also adaptable. In the latter half of the novel, he begins to hit Marci and Corin in ways that will not leave visible bruises. This makes him more dangerous than any other adult.

There are correlations between Eddie and religion. Eddie seems to know the secrets of most other characters, and he portrays his destructive actions as lessons for the women in his life. He is generally hands-off with his children unless he is being violent, something that mirrors God’s unwillingness to answer Marci’s prayers while permitting larger violence such as the Vietnam War.

Marci’s narrative rarely humanizes Eddie, excepting his emotional outburst at Danny’s funeral. Even his suicide attempt toward the beginning of the story is undercut by Marci and Corin with humor. He is not meant to be a sympathetic character. There is usually no motivation behind his violence, which makes him almost animal-like.

Delia is Marci’s mother, whose role in the story changes with time. As with Eddie, Marci provides a description of Delia’s eyes: because one of her eyes is blue and the other is brown, “You can’t look at [them] at the same time because your head gets mixed up” (3). This indicates the emotional distance between Delia and her daughters, and it is also symbolic of her duality. Delia is at times completely passive, but her brief strides of action have huge impacts.

Delia is an enabler, and because of that, Marci struggles to sympathize with her. Marci wants to have a closer relationship with her mother, but Delia remains distant. In this way, Delia fulfils the role of a traditional teen, while Marci becomes increasingly motherly.

Delia is characterized by her passive faith. She is a Catholic and scolds her daughters for considering other religions, but she does not attend church often herself. Similarly, because Eddie rescued her from a life she hated at a young age, his role in her life is that of a savior. She is eager to forgive his violence and has perpetual faith that his behavior will change.

In some ways, this makes her a foil to Marci. Marci observes and questions the world around her, and Delia’s unwillingness to do so gets in the way of Marci’s safety. However, Delia is also an accidental mentor. Directly, she gives her daughters the knowledge they need to escape when she uses the bus to leave Eddie. More indirectly, though, her inability to stay away from Eddie pushes Marci toward action. It is Delia’s inaction that fuels Marci’s eventual strength. 

Corin is Marci’s younger sister. Due to her trauma, Corin is more stoic and cynical than the other members of her family despite being the youngest. While she still has a spark of youth, playing with other kids and making jokes throughout the story, she is also wise for her age.

Marci compares Corin to Eddie early on: “she’s sneaky and sad like him” (4). Corin is often the first target of Eddie’s ire, and she is the victim of his most brutal violence. There is a difficult bond between them, and it comes full circle when she shoots Eddie with the rifle, something he couldn’t do himself.

The novel doesn’t fully explore Corin’s relationship to religion, but she rarely puts her faith in anything outside of herself and Marci. When Delia threatens to leave Eddie, Corin is the first to express skepticism. Her cynicism is deep, too; she has no faith that Eddie will ever stop his violence: “you always think things are gonna get better. But they won’t” (105).

When Marci begins to scheme against Eddie, Corin fulfills the role of her sidekick. She is often in the background asking questions that push Marci toward action. Corin chooses not to take the photos with Marci because of her fear, yet she is often a source of wisdom. This dichotomy keeps her inactive until she turns the rifle on Eddie; it is her cynicism that pushes her toward the violent act.

Tommy is a handsome, muscular man who serves as Delia’s role model for masculinity. He is also a representation of her possible future. Tommy hides his homosexuality and his relationship with Father Chacón. Eddie often exploits the secret of his orientation as a weakness, hindering Tommy’s ability to help the girls. He is also in an unhappy heterosexual marriage. If Marci continues to be passive, these are all possibilities for her future.

Despite being teased as the family member that could ultimately save the girls, Tommy becomes a liability. The novel rejects masculinity as a saving trait, insisting instead that self-value and action are more important.

Randy acts as a further interrogation of gender norms. Marci instinctively knows that she and Randy do not conform to the expectations of their genders. Randy is more feminine than Marci and doesn’t play sports. He is frail and has a close relationship to his mother. Like Marci, Randy is an outsider. She sees him as weak, though, and his femininity is part of that.

Marci views masculinity as strength, and when she easily hurts Randy while practicing karate, it illustrates his inherent weakness.