Previous
Chapter 9
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in If on a winter’s night a traveler, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Act of Reading
Academia and Publishing
Censorship and Government Oppression
Love, Lust, and Anxiety
Summary
Analysis
The narrator, who is called Nacho in this story, sees vultures rise and believes that means the night is almost over. His father, Don Anastasio Zamora, gave the narrator instructions that when he died, the narrator was supposed to go to a place called Oquedal. As the father dies, he tells the narrator that his mother, whom the narrator has never met, is at Oquedal. But the father dies before he can give the mother’s name.
Fittingly, after the previous chapter, this story fragment involves a narrator who is trying to find the truth but struggles to do so. The story revolves around the seemingly simple question of who the narrator’s mother is, but as it goes on, it becomes clear that just as it was difficult to pin down Corinna’s true name and identity, it is also difficult to determine who is the narrator’s mother.
Themes
The narrator begins his journey to Oquedal. When he arrives, he tells an old American Indian man there that he’s the son of Don Anastasio Zamora. The old man points him toward the nicest house in the village. At the lavish house, he meets Anacleta Higueras, an American Indian woman who seems to be his mother (although she won’t admit it directly) and offers him a big meal. She has a daughter named Amaranta and a dead brother named Faustino Higueras.
The narrator’s quest to find his mother begins simply enough, with him easily finding the village where she lives. But although Anacleta acts in a motherly way, offering the narrator food, she won’t admit that she is actually his mother.
Themes
The narrator compares his features against Amaranta’s, since she seems to be his sister. In the process, he grabs Amaranta tightly. She squirms away, insulting him. Anacleta comes over and accuses the narrator of being just like Don Anastasio Zamora. The narrator asks what’s wrong. He asks if Amaranta is just a random woman, trying to make Anacleta finally say definitively that Amaranta is his sister (and so Anacleta is his mother). Anacleta refuses to confirm anything. Instead, she says the narrator should go to see a woman named Doña Jazmina. She also reveals that the narrator’s full name is Nacho Zamora y Alvarado.
While other characters in the novel use sex to metaphorically search for the truth, Nacho tries to use sex in a much more literal attempt to find the truth (presumably hoping that Anacleta is his real mother and that she’ll stop Nacho from having sex with Amaranta to prevent incest). Interestingly, Nacho’s attempts to find his mother cause the other characters to see him like his father, providing an early hint of how Nacho will struggle to escape his father’s shadow
Themes
The narrator goes to see the Alvarados and finds Doña Jazmina, who is also American Indian. Jazmina tells the narrator about how his father, Don Anastasio Zamora, used to be a big gambler and have affairs with many women. The narrator happens to notice a young woman named Jacinta who is Jazmina’s daughter and who looks a lot like Amaranta.
The situation with Doña Jazmina and Jacinta recalls the earlier one with Anacleta and Amaranta (another mother–daughter pair with similar names). It’s implied that Don Anastasio Zamora may be the father of both daughters. This means that Nacho’s own resemblance to Amaranta doesn’t tell him anything about his mother, since he also resembles Jacinta, and so either of their mothers could be his.
Themes
Get the entire If on a winter’s night a traveler LitChart as a printable PDF.
Shortly after the narrator and Jacinta are alone, they start trying to have sex. But Doña Jazmina interrupts, telling the narrator that what he’s doing is wrong. The narrator again tries ask if that’s because Jazmina is his mother, but Jazmina claims his mother is Anacleta. Then she kicks him out of her house.
Nacho seems to be caught in an impossible situation, where Anacleta claims his mother is Doña Jazmina, and Doña Jazmina claims his mother is Anacleta. This is yet another example in the story of an argument between opposite but equivalent forces, like the revolutionaries and counterrevolutionaries.
Themes
The narrator goes back to Anacleta. She admits that Don Anastasio Zamora and a man named Faustino Higueras had a competition over her, and it ended up with Faustino dead. But the narrator’s father (who was also called Nacho back then), had to leave town shortly afterward. Although Faustino was buried, his grave later appeared empty, sparking rumors that somehow Faustino was still riding around.
The fact that Nacho and his father even went by the same name suggest how Nacho is fated to repeat his father’s mistakes. Don Anastasio’s lust and impulsiveness led him to father Nacho in the first place, and this seemingly dooms Nacho to continue the cycle and live a life similar to his father.
Themes
The narrator goes to see the empty grave. As he’s walking, a man wearing a poncho and carrying a blade comes up behind him. He says that he’s Faustino Higueras and that he doesn’t like the way that the narrator touched his sister. The narrator grabs Faustino’s knife and prepares to fight back.
Like most story fragments in the novel, this one raises more questions than it answers. It’s possible that “Faustino Higueras” is a son of Anacleta’s with the same name as her brother—the man references Nacho touching his sister, and Nacho touched Amaranta, not Anacleta (the sister of the original Faustino Higueras). Alternatively, it’s possible that Faustino Higueras did indeed rise from the grave, but he has mistaken Nacho for his father (since Nacho resembles his father, Don Anastasio Zamora, who did indeed touch Anacleta). The ending of this story further illustrates how difficult it is to discover the truth.
Themes
