50 pages • 1 hour read
Carla TrujilloWhat Night Brings
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2003A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Sections 47-52Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Section 47 Summary
While walking home from the library with Corin, Marci spots Eddie’s car at a bar. When he eventually walks out, he is with Wanda. Marci and Corin know that Delia won’t believe them, so they ask to borrow Tommy’s camera. The girls pool their money together for film, with Marci’s money coming from what she has “saved ever since I stopped putting nickels in the candles to pray to the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus” (195).
After collecting soda bottles from neighbors, the girls have enough money. Corin is afraid of Eddie catching them. They decide that she will wait at the library while Marci stakes out the bar.
Section 48 Summary
Marci tries to catch Eddie with Wanda for a week. As she waits for him on a Friday, an old man asks her about the camera. She tells him it’s for a school project, and he warns her not to take pictures of anyone without permission.
Marci is successful: she snaps a photo of Eddie leaving the bar with Wanda and another of him kissing her. She becomes more curious about the bar itself and returns the next day to look inside. Marci decides to take a picture of Eddie inside the bar.
Section 49 Summary
Marci continues to spy on Eddie until Leti catches her. When Eddie and Wanda step out of the bar, Marci convinces Leti to hide with her. When Eddie is gone, she explains her plan.
Marci and Corin go to Leti’s house. She offers them a different solution: a white powder that is meant to make Eddie nicer if they put it in his food. The girls successfully mix it into Eddie’s food several times.
Section 50 Summary
After a Sunday Mass, Marci asks the Virgin Mary to “stick some sense into Mom’s head” (208). She also prays directly to God, asking him to make Eddie leave. She tells God about the powder and says that she only wants Eddie to stop hitting her and Corin.
Marci prays to Jesus to turn her into a boy. “I know you’ve probably heard me ask you this […] but I haven’t stopped liking girls. In fact, I can almost say I love them” (209). She is frustrated that her prayers have not been answered and asks for a sign.
Section 51 Summary
Marci believes she has her sign when Eddie brings home a kitten. The girls wonder if the powder is making Eddie nicer, though they still see him with Wanda at the bar on Fridays.
They return to Leti’s to update her. She tells them she will get a stronger powder to use on Eddie, but the girls decide to get their camera film developed.
Section 52 Summary
Marci and Corin agree that Eddie is nicer when he’s with Wanda, so they will only use their secret photos as a backup plan. Using money from Tommy, they develop the photos. Eddie and Wanda are in several, including one of them kissing. The girls are worried the images aren’t clear, so they take the photos to Tommy.
Tommy recognizes Eddie. He suggests keeping the photos, so Eddie won’t find them: “People don’t like having other people know their secrets” (218). When Corin excuses herself to the bathroom, Marci acknowledges that even Tommy has secrets. He grabs her and demands to know what secret she knows. She tells him that she saw him and Chacón in the church together. Tommy is upset and takes the photos, but Marci promises to keep his secret. She confesses that she has one, too.
Sections 47-52 Analysis
Marci continues to move away from religion and toward science. The library becomes more prevalent than the church, showing that knowledge and practicality hold more weight for Marci. Despite Eddie becoming less violent, her prayers become more desperate—moving away from faith is not easy. The conflict is further confused by Leti, who puts her belief in a mystical remedy.
Again, the girls’ happiness is at direct odds with Delia’s. Now, however, Delia is the victim of Eddie’s adultery, and the girls are conspiring with Eddie to cover up his actions. This reversal shows the shifting power in the family.
When Marci finally confesses to Tommy that she saw him with Chacón in the confession booth, his decision to keep the photos could be read as possible blackmail against Marci. More likely, it demonstrates a trust that comes from their mutual secrets. When Marci promises to keep Tommy’s relationship a secret, “For the first time, his eyes had a sliver of a light in them” (220). This quote suggests that Tommy feels acceptance with Marci and foreshadows her later acceptance of herself.
