The Palace of the White Skunks: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Palace of the White Skunks: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the lives of several complex characters, each grappling with the harsh realities of their environment and personal struggles. Central to the narrative is Fortunato, an adolescent who feels suffocated by his family and societal expectations. He aspires to escape his circumstances through writing, ultimately facing tragedy in his quest for freedom. His grandfather, Polo, embodies the frustration of an impotent patriarch, burdened by regret and silence, while his wife, Jacinta, represents the resilience of a peasant woman relying on faith amid overwhelming adversity.
The character of Adolfina serves as a poignant reflection of Fortunato's spirit, yet she is constrained by familial duties and societal norms, leading to her tragic end. The narrative also introduces Celia, who descends into madness after losing her daughter, and Digna, who navigates the challenges of single motherhood. Lastly, Onerica, Fortunato's mother, symbolizes the theme of abandonment in her pursuit of opportunity in the United States. Collectively, these characters illuminate themes of despair, longing, and the struggle for identity within a context marked by economic hardship and familial obligation.
The Palace of the White Skunks: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Reinaldo Arenas
First published: Le palais des très blanches mouffettes, 1975 (English translation, 1990)
Genre: Novel
Locale: Holguín, a small town in Oriente province, Cuba
Plot: Family
Time: The late 1950's
Fortunato (fohr-tew-NAH-toh), a sensitive and restless adolescent desperate to escape from a closed social and familial circle in which he feels trapped. He is the most complex character in the novel, fragmenting himself to give voice to the suffering of the other family members. As a writer, he creates and imagines other levels of reality to escape the poverty, hunger, war, intolerance, and prejudice around him. His failed attempt to join the rebel forces leads to his death at the hands of the government police.
Polo, Fortunato's grandfather, an impotent patriarchal figure. A Spaniard who immigrated to Cuba from the Canary Islands looking for a better life, he is a frustrated and embittered old man disillusioned by the poverty and misery of the Cuban countryside. Moreover, wishing to have had boys to help him with his struggles, he considers himself cursed for having engendered only daughters. As an act of defiance, he resorts to silence, refusing to talk to anyone except Tomasico, the owner of the only factory in town. Through Polo's chats with Tomasico and his interior monologues about the ups and downs of his fruit and vegetable stand, the reader becomes aware of the collective misery of the local economy.
Jacinta (hah-SEEN-tah), Polo's wife, a Cuban peasant woman who must cope with the stresses and misfortunes of a harsh rural lifestyle without the help of her uncaring and selfish husband. Uneducated and superstitious, she places her hope on some miraculous intervention that will change her life and that of her family. There is no escape from the misery that surrounds her, from the problems facing her daughters and fatherless grandchildren. Throughout the novel, she alternates between prayers begging for God's help and blasphemies insulting God for his indifference.
Adolfina (ah-dol-FEE-nah), “the spinster daughter,” Fortunato's feminine double. She and Fortunato share sensibilities, experiencing feelings of extreme loneliness, dissatisfaction, and helplessness. Adolfina identifies with Fortunato's liberating spirit and his ability to express himself freely. Fortunato expresses himself openly; Adolfina, by contrast, must bury her emotions. As the oldest daughter in a traditional Hispanic family, she takes on the role of the responsible caretaker who must abandon her dreams and hopes and sacrifice herself for her family. Adolfina makes one last attempt to find a man, but she returns home defeated, still a virgin, and sets herself afire.
Celia (SEH-lee-ah), “the half-mad daughter,” driven to madness after her only daughter, Esther, commits suicide.
Digna (DEEG-nah), “the abandoned daughter,” abandoned by her husband Moisés and left to rear her two children, Tico and Anisia.
Onerica (ohn-EHR-ee-kah), “the banished daughter,” Fortunato's mother, who abandons him and goes to the United States in search of her own “fortune.”