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

Part 3Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Pages 191-201 Summary

In Part 3 of Cereus Blooms at Night, the narrative moves in time again, to the point when Ambrose and Mala reignited their relationships as young adults. Ambrose had been studying in the Shivering Northern Wetlands for some time and finally returned to Lantanacamara. Upon hearing this news, Mala was filled with excitement and hope. It had been years now since she saw Ambrose (“Boyie”), and she wondered if he was returning with a family. She also wondered if, in his time abroad, he ever encountered her mother, Aunt Lavinia, or Asha. She longed for him to visit her and tell him if he had any news of her family. Mala was so consumed with anticipation to see Ambrose, that she did not resist when her father demanded to have sex with her that evening. She could only think about his impending visit, though the next morning, she grew doubtful that he would actually make an appearance.

Ambrose did indeed arrive, greeting Mala as “Pohpoh,” her childhood nickname. Mala didn’t have the heart to correct him and happily but cautiously invited him inside. Ambrose came bearing gifts, specifically, a gramophone and two records. Mala was overcome with excitement as well as embarrassment, insisting that she could accept such a gift from a man as an unmarried woman. Ambrose insisted, and the two continued to talk about his time studying abroad. Ambrose did most of the talking, with Mala remarking that she “never knew [him] to talk so much” (198).

Ambrose shared that he abandoned his original studies in the Shivering Northern Wetlands to pursue entomology, the study of insects; the reverend, from whom he received a scholarship, allowed him to switch his course of study. He also agreed to let Ambrose work not in the ministry but in tourism. Ambrose, however, had grander dreams. He told Mala that he wanted to harvest spider silk and lead foreign visitors on tours to take in the natural wonders of Lantanacamara. He wanted Mala to help him in these endeavors, which pleased her but also provoked awkward tension between the two. Ambrose eventually left for the day, leaving behind the gramophone.

Pages 201-216 Summary

Ambrose continued to visit Mala each day after her father left, a clear act of courtship. One day, as Chandin left the house, he told Mala that for dinner he wanted her to make a curry from a brown chicken. This would require Mala to go to the market for supplies, which she planned to do after her visit with Ambrose. Unfortunately, because her time spent with Ambrose caused her to get a later start than usual, she arrived after the main store had closed and the other vendors had run out most of their meat. She was only able to buy a shark, which she decided to use to make a delicious fish stew for her father instead—leaving enough to feed Ambrose the next day.

When Chandin returned to the house that evening, he was stunned that there was not a curried fowl waiting for him. He made a point to identify all of the various tasks that Mala did not accomplish that day, adding to her growing nervousness. When he finally sat down to dinner and was presented with the fish stew, he demanded to know what prevented Mala from getting a chicken to use for his meal. Unable to provide a satisfactory answer, Chandin violently shoved the bowl of stew into Mala’s face. He demanded that she go out to find a chicken for his dinner immediately. Mala knew that the only way to get a chicken at this hour would be to steal one, which she was reluctant to do. She entered the yard and happened upon a dead pigeon. Its size and shape prompted Mala to use it for Chandin’s curried fowl instead. After she dressed and seasoned the bird, it was impossible to tell the difference between it and a chicken, except that it had already started to decay, which gave Chandin a stomachache.

Going forward, Mala aimed to wake up Chandin and get him to leave the house earlier than usual, allowing her ample time for her almost daily visits from Ambrose. During every visit, Mala fed Ambrose, and the two of them danced to the records played on the gramophone. During one visit, Ambrose brought an aquarium, explaining to Mala that they could use it to keep the spiders they collected for spinning and harvesting spider silk. They gathered a large number of spiders from Mala’s yard and added flies to the aquarium to feed them. Ambrose started to daydream and lay out his plan for the spider silk business, listing “Pohpoh Ramchandin” as his partner on the draft business plan. Mala finally asked that Ambrose no longer call her Pohpoh and use her real name instead. Ambrose quickly agreed, admitting that Mala is a much more adult name. Mala appreciated how it sounded when Ambrose used her real name, and the two tenderly embraced. Elsewhere on the island, Chandin experienced a sharp pain in his chest at the moment that their bodies touched, though he had no idea of the pain’s origin.

Pages 216-230 Summary

With their bodies still intertwined, the desire between Mala and Ambrose grew until it was almost unbearable. Mala drew back, thinking anxiously of what her father would think, and Ambrose was secretly relieved that Mala hesitated, giving him a moment to process his feelings. At the same time, Mala viewed Ambrose’s own hesitation as a gentlemanly and protective gesture and grew even more attracted to him. She kissed him, and the two made love on the floor of Mala’s kitchen. This moment was significant for both of them because “it was his first time and her first time with someone of her own choice” (218). Afterward, as they lay on the floor holding one another, Ambrose told Mala that he would make sure to dance with her tomorrow since they were unable to dance today. Ambrose departed, but due to the length of his stay and Chandin’s sudden physical ailment causing him to return home, Chandin spotted Ambrose as he left.

Chandin quickly understood the nature of what was going on between his daughter and this man, and he grew outraged. Entering the house, he made no effort to conceal his anger, and Mala immediately recognized that her relationship with Ambrose was no longer a secret. Chandin sexually assaulted her in the kitchen while threatening to kill her. He beat her repeatedly and dragged her to her room, where he destroyed furniture and objects in the same manner as when Mala’s mother left. He discovered the gramophone and smashed it, despite Mala’s protestations that it was meant to be a gift for her and him. He then brought Mala to his bedroom, where he repeatedly raped her over the course of the evening.

The next day, Chandin prepared his own breakfast and exited the house without a word, leaving behind a bruised and broken Mala. Unbeknownst to her and Ambrose, he was actually going to lie in wait nearby for Mala’s suitor to return to the house. He brought a cleaver with him. Ambrose entered the yard as usual, but when he got to the house, he was met with locked doors and shuttered windows. Moving to the front of the house, he could see through the window the heavy destruction that Chandin left in his wake, and he feared the worst. Ambrose entered the house through the unlocked front door and found Mala hiding behind the door of her room. She insisted that he “Go! Get away. Leave me, leave me” (226), and it suddenly dawned on him the level of torture and agony Mala had been experiencing at her father’s hands. As if on cue, Chandin appeared in the doorway holding the cleaver, asking Ambrose: “So what you going to do about it?” (226).

In the fight that ensued, Ambrose escaped to the kitchen while Mala attacked her father in an animal-like rage. The door of Mala's room slammed shut on Chandin’s head as Ambrose moved by, knocking him unconscious. Ambrose initially intended to run for help and descended the stairs from the back door, but Mala called him back. After returning to the kitchen, he saw Mala whirling about in a violent rage and was taken aback by her “wild” nature. He fearfully ran out of the house while Mala cried out for him not to leave her. Ambrose’s departure triggered all of Mala’s anguish surrounding abandonment. She cried for her mother, Aunt Lavinia, and Asha, asking where they were. Realizing that she was alone with her unconscious father, she slammed the door shut on his head several more times before dragging him to the sewing room downstairs, where he remained until he was discovered by Otoh many years later. Mala went out to sit on the veranda, and it is revealed that she never passed another night in her house ever again.

Part 3 Analysis

Part 3 provides helpful context for the reader surrounding Mala and Ambrose’s relationship, as well as what exactly happened to Mala’s father. It also becomes more evident why insects are so significant to her. While part of her fascination with them stems from Aunt Lavinia’s story about snails and good fortune, Ambrose’s position as an entomologist reinforces Mala’s connection to insects throughout much of the novel. She and Ambrose planned to start a business harvesting spider silk and showcasing the natural wonders of Lantanacamara more broadly. In the devastation that results from her final abandonment by Ambrose, Mala clings to this vestige of the past and the promise of a future.

The gramophone that Ambrose gives to Mala is also an important symbol in this portion of the novel. The reader comes to understand its significance to Mala and why Otoh was able to connect with her through its music. It is the object at the center of Mala and Ambrose’s relationship, representing their time together each day, as well as the possibilities of life beyond Mala’s father’s house and even beyond Lantanacamara. The records that Ambrose plays are ones that he acquired abroad, so they evoke the sounds and atmosphere of the Shivering Northern Wetlands and beyond. The music produced by the gramophone also pushes Ambrose and Mala together in a literal sense. Their daily dances grow from tentative to more intimate, their bodies touching and moving in time. The gramophone’s melodies allow Mala to let down her guard and let Ambrose in. This fact amplifies the tragedy of Chandin destroying the gramophone, an attempt to destroy their connection. The event foretells the outcome of Ambrose and Mala’s relationship. Without music, Mala and Ambrose will never dance together again, and will therefore never be together again.

Equally significant is Mala’s “name change.” Although her name has always been Mala, she has until this point in her life always been called Pohpoh by those closest to her. As she and Ambrose talk about their future, she says to him: “Please don’t call me that. [...] Don’t call me by that name. You remember my real name?” (215). Mala’s insistence on the use of her “real name” signifies her growth from childhood to adulthood. It also creates a distance between her father and Ambrose, the only two men who she has ever been with. If Ambrose calls her “Mala,” he will stand in stark contrast to her father and abuser, someone who views her not as a child to be used but as an adult woman to be loved. This moment of separating Pohpoh and Mala leads to their actual separation in Mala’s psyche. By disavowing her childhood nickname, Mala marks herself as a different person from the child who once bore that name. Mala is now someone else entirely.

This section provides further insight into Ambrose’s character, especially why he is often framed as conflict-avoidant or even a coward. After Ambrose is confronted by the horrors that Mala has experienced and given the opportunity to help protect her from her abuser, he panics and runs away. His flight in the scene with Mala’s father mirrors a similar moment from his childhood when Mala and Asha were bullied by Walter Bissey during the game of Blindman’s Bluff. Rather than stay and stand up for Mala, he runs, much to the delight of the other children. In his final moment of cowardice, Ambrose fears not only Chandin but Mala herself, “[t]hinking she had gone crazy and fearing once more for his life, he turned and bolted from the house” (228). Ambrose’s escape is devastating for Mala, not only because their romance finally blossomed—paralleling the cereus’s single night in bloom before it wilts—but because it echoes the many abandonments she has already encountered in her life. It is a breaking point for Mala, as she loses her sense of time and herself: “She looked, not for Ambrose but for Boyie, for Asha, for her mother and for Aunt Lavinia” (229). Mala realizes that with her father locked away, she is safe but also completely alone. This precipitates her mental health crisis, as she retreats inward in a last attempt at self-preservation.