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Dr. Cummins
Noemí’s father is the one who sends Noemí on her quest to rescue Catalina—though he’s initially dismissive of Catalina’s claims, calling her melodramatic. He clearly cares for his daughter and is more modern-minded than someone like Howard Doyle, yet his worldview still relies on a great gender divide. It’s with reluctance that he agrees to send Noemí to graduate school, and he’s not shy about criticizing Noemí for her unconventional personality.
Noemí’s Father Quotes in Mexican Gothic
The Mexican Gothic quotes below are all either spoken by Noemí’s Father or refer to Noemí’s Father. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 1 Quotes
Noemí, like any good socialite, shopped at the Palacio de Hierro, painted her lips with Elizabeth Arden lipstick, owned a couple of very fine furs, spoke English with remarkable ease, courtesy of the nuns at Monserrat—a private school, of course—and was expected to devote her time to the twin pursuits of leisure and husband hunting. Therefore, to her father, any pleasant activity must also involve the acquisition of a spouse. That is, she should never have fun for the sake of having fun, but only as a way to obtain a husband.
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Chapter 4 Quotes
“It’s more fun driving without the hood on. It makes your hair look movie-star perfect. Also, it gives you ideas, you think better,” she said, running a hand through her wavy hair jokingly. Noemi’s father said she cared too much about her looks and parties to take school seriously, as if a woman could not do two things at once.
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Noemí’s Father Character Timeline in Mexican Gothic
The timeline below shows where the character Noemí’s Father appears in Mexican Gothic. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...before the taxi pulls away, but Noemí refuses him. She goes inside, directly to her father’s office, and enters without knocking. Her father sits at his desk, and Noemí throws herself...
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Noemí assumes that her father summoned her back from the party because he found out that she was with Hugo....
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Noemí’s father admits that he didn’t summon her because of Hugo. Before he tells her the truth,...
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Virgil and Noemí’s father write back and forth. Virgil claims that Catalina has been behaving oddly, but she has...
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Noemí’s father hands her the latest telegram from Virgil. In it, Virgil invites Noemí to visit Catalina....
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Noemí doesn’t think it’s fair for her father to label Catalina as melodramatic. She asks to see the letter that Catalina wrote. In...
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After Noemí finishes the letter, her father confesses that he doesn’t trust Virgil. He thinks that they married too quickly, without proper...
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Noemí pleads with her father to believe Catalina. She met Virgil briefly, and remembers that he was handsome and polite,...
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Noemí’s father reveals that Virgil’s family had run out of money by the time he married Catalina....
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Noemí’s father asks her to visit her cousin, assess the situation, and attempt to convince Virgil to...
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In disbelief, Noemí asks her father if he is serious. He affirms, explaining that he doesn’t want a divorce to stain...
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Chapter 3
...seriously. He has authority here, but Noemí has authority, too—she is an envoy for her father, after all.
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The two begin conversing. Noemí explains that her father is very concerned about Catalina, which is why she came to visit. She tells Virgil...
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Chapter 4
...convertible. Driving with the hood down makes your hair look movie-star perfect, she jokes. Noemí’s father has always said that she cares too much about her looks to take school seriously,...
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...paper and form arsenic gas. The most civilized Victorians killed themselves in this way. Noemí’s grandfather was a chemist, and her father’s business is the production of pigments and dyes, so...
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Chapter 14
...go, and Noemí’s unwilling to leave without her. She would be a failure in her father’s eyes, and their deal would be off the table. And she wouldn’t dare leave Catalina...
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Chapter 15
...have been appalled, and the newspapers would have been filled with slander, just as her father now fears. She asks Virgil why he married Catalina, and he explains that it was...
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Chapter 16
...quickly changes the subject. He asks her if she plans to be involved with her father’s business. Noemí responds that she sees no reason why she should be involved in the...
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Chapter 22
Virgil explains that Noemí must write a letter to her father. She will say that she plans to stay at High Place until Christmas, in order...
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Chapter 27
...two police officers and a magistrate from Pachuca will be arriving tomorrow, along with her father. Noemí assures Catalina that her father will help smooth things out. They haven’t had a...
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...This seems to relax him, and he asks Noemí what’s going to happen when her father gets here. She promises him that she’s going to take him to Mexico City with...
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