57 pages • 1 hour read
Ingrid Rojas ContrerasFruit of the Drunken Tree
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2018A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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Muteness as a Response to Trauma
The nature of trauma and the consequences of trauma constitute an important theme that runs from the beginning to the end of the novel. Petrona and Chula experience trauma that robs them of their ability to express themselves verbally. When Petrona first appears at the beginning of the novel, her extreme economy of speech is noticeable. Chula’s habit of counting the syllables that Petrona utters highlights the significance of Petrona’s taciturn nature. Though Chula cannot understand the specific reasons for Petrona’s silence at this point, she intuits that the silence is troubling.
When Chula experiences trauma, she comes to understand why Petrona avoids speech. Eventually, Chula finds herself responding to trauma with silence. During the Santiagos’ sojourn in El Salado, Abuela survives the near-death experience of getting caught in guerrilla crossfire; later, Chula witnesses the silencing power of trauma take hold in Abuela, who also falls silent after the violent incident. Around the same time, Chula deliberately elects to restrict her own expression in order to avoid being sent to a psychologist because her parents fear she is traumatized.
By the end of the novel, Chula’s voluntary muteness becomes involuntary. After the attempted kidnapping of Chula and Cassandra and the actual kidnapping of Papá, Chula endures life-altering trauma. After fleeing Colombia and arriving in the United States, Chula cannot “find [her] voice” (271). She copes with the trauma by only saying “what [is] strictly necessary” (279). Chula realizes at this point that she is experiencing the same post-traumatic muteness that afflicted Petrona when they first met; she recognizes the true suffering that Petrona must have been enduring in the earliest days of their acquaintance. The mirror images of the silent Petrona at the beginning of the story and the silent Chula at the end emphasizes the power of trauma and its power to silence individuals.
The Perils of Knowing Too Much
At various points in the novel, knowledge is a liability. For example, Petrona’s mysterious silence may be the result of her inability to speak due to her trauma, but she may also be unwilling to speak due to a conditioned fear of saying something she should not. Petrona distills this concept most clearly in her final reflections at the end of the novel. She recalls that “Mami instructed us to not see, to not hear. If we did it right, we would come out of it alive” (300).
Petrona’s avoidance of knowledge stands in stark contrast to Chula’s insatiable curiosity, which is a foundational element of her character. Chula gradually discovers, however, that knowledge can burden her and put her at risk. Chula first experiences the burden of knowledge when she keeps Petrona’s secret. While Petrona stays uninvited at the Santiagos’ home while they are away in El Salado, Chula feels “the weight” of the secret “sinking into [her] like an anchor” (100). Still more onerous is Chula’s knowledge of Gorrión, whom she instantly fears.
At the same time, keeping secrets gives Chula a thrill of self-importance until her pursuit of answers leads her into mortal danger. When she and Cassandra secretly go looking for Petrona and are nearly kidnapped, Chula begins to realize the grave risk that knowledge can pose. Though Chula is never truly able to stifle her curiosity, she does eventually understand that ignorance can be a blessing. She memorably concludes her narration with the reflection that “even oblivion is a kindness” (293). Petrona’s final statements, however, add a disturbing layer to this issue when she notes that for those least fortunate, including herself and her family, even the most scrupulous avoidance of knowledge cannot protect them from danger. Petrona reflects: “We made ourselves deaf and dumb, but we still lost” (300). Delivering the final word on the peril of knowledge, Petrona concludes that “[s]ometimes the less you know the more you live” (300).
Empathy and Its Limitations
Capacious empathy is one of the most distinctive attributes of Chula’s character. Even when the object of her empathy is remote or even despicable, as in the case of Pablo Escobar’s family, Chula finds herself deeply moved by the suffering of others. The novel lays bare, however, the limitations on true empathy that even Chula’s extraordinary empathy cannot overcome.
Chula pities Petrona, and she feels moved by the fearful timidity she perceives in Petrona’s demeanor. Her compassion manifests problematically, however, in the way she romanticizes Petrona’s reticence and even attempts to emulate Petrona’s timorous mien. These characteristics of Petrona’s character, which Chula admires and imitates, are in actuality the results of suffering and trauma unimaginable to Chula. Chula’s inability to grasp the gravity of Petrona’s experience shows what an insurmountable imbalance of privilege exists between the two girls. Although they manage to forge a kind of friendship, this imbalance stands in the way of true intimacy.
As Chula learns more about Petrona’s life, she realizes she cannot truly understand Petrona’s experience, and the limits of her empathy become apparent. Chula cannot understand, for example, Petrona’s protectiveness regarding Gorrión nor can she grasp the possible reasons behind Petrona’s betrayal of the Santiagos. Chula is unable to imagine that Petrona could harbor resentment toward the Santiagos because of their socioeconomic privilege. Empathy is easy for Chula when it stems from a romantic impulse to feel pity for a less fortunate person, but less easy when difficult truths about Chula’s own society and privilege come into play.
Empathy fails to extend across socioeconomic barriers, as evidenced by Mamá’s ruthless abandonment of Petrona. Unlike Chula, Mamá has firsthand experience of the challenges of an impoverished life. Even this direct understanding cannot inspire enough empathy in Mamá to forgive and help Petrona. Mamá’s socioeconomic privilege gives her options when she is in desperation. She can enlist help from the police, she can seek asylum in the U.S., and she can pretend that she never knew Petrona. When Mamá’s empathy for Petrona runs out, however, Petrona’s lack of privilege leaves her without any lifelines at all, and she must fend for herself as best as she can.
