What Night Brings

Food is representative of tradition throughout the novel. In the earliest parts of the story, Delia is often cooking for Eddie. Her subservience illustrates the traditional roles of men and women in families at the time. It works to limit Delia’s freedom, and it gives Eddie further control. When he complains about her food, she perceives herself as being at fault.

This pattern continues with Marci, who begins to prepare more meals for her family when Delia gets a job. At first, she falls into this same tradition. However, she breaks from it when she starts to prepare food that she knows Eddie won’t like. This break in tradition is twofold. Not only does this take away Eddie’s control of one aspect of his home, but her insistence on cooking spaghetti breaks away from their traditionally Mexican meals. Marci and Corin face punishment for the break from tradition. This also happens when Corin refuses to eat the entirety of her Easter eggs, despite Eddie insisting she do so.

Marci’s garden reflects the state of her happiness. When she first plants her vegetables, Eddie is living at the house. Many of her crops take a long time to grow, especially in comparison to Raquel’s flourishing garden. Raquel’s independence, like her garden, is a few steps ahead of Marci’s. When Eddie leaves, Marci has more time to devote to her garden and finds a sense of pride in its growth. While cooking represents tradition, Marci’s ownership over her own food signifies control.

Marci’s story is filled with Catholic imagery. Many of the novel’s sections take place in or on church grounds, tying directly into Marci’s changing relationship with religion. Most profound, however, is the confession booth where she makes her first confession to Father Chacón.

The confession booth is a place of intimacy and vulnerability. For Marci, it is also a place of great discomfort. She describes the unpleasant smell and “a little wooden platform. The bones in my knees hurt the second they touched it” (68). In her reality, vulnerable interactions with adults are typically painful. After a moment of panic, Marci confesses that she is attracted to other girls; when Chacón reacts supportively, Marci finds self-confidence through action. While the confession booth is built for the expression of secrets, it is also a place of safety.

Tommy and Chacón find the same solace in the booth. It is here they are free to express their love for one another. Their truth, like Marci’s, is only safe in the small confines of an uncomfortable place, relating directly to the inability of these characters to express their sexuality outside of the proverbial closet.

Sports play a role in Marci’s story in three distinct ways. First, Tommy’s masculinity is tied directly to his weightlifting. It makes him handsome and capable as a protector. Marci briefly adopts the sport in her first steps toward action against Eddie. Weightlifting, she believes, will make her more boy-like. This is true later as she learns karate, as well; her ability to easily beat Randy, a boy, serves as proof (for a brief time) that she can also beat Eddie.

As a representation of masculinity, sport also works to capture attention from girls. Marci spends many hours playing football alone outside in the hopes of catching Raquel’s attention. Again, a typically masculine activity serves as Marci’s attempt at fulfilling her own prayers.