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Symbols
The ouroboros is a circular symbol meant to represent the cycle of death and rebirth, but the novel complicates this simple meaning by depicting how old, recycled ideas can be harmful to societal progress. Howard Doyle chose the ouroboros as his family’s crest, and the image of a serpent eating its own tail can be found throughout High Place. It’s obvious that Howard chose the symbol because his own immortality relies on cycles of death and rebirth, where infants are consumed in order to fuel the rebirth of Howard’s consciousness in a new body after his current one dies. But Howard’s continuous revival means that his antiquated ideology also persists. He believes in a pseudoscience known as eugenics, which concludes that certain races have superior genetic traits when compared to other races. He also believes that a woman’s duty lies solely in marriage and childbirth. Howard’s immortality ensures the survival of these racist, sexist, and hateful beliefs, and numerous characters in the novel suffer or die because of them. Thus, though immortality can seem desirable, the ouroboros comes to symbolize something darker: a cyclical invulnerability to change and progress that stunts new ideas and preserves old prejudices.
The Ouroboros Quotes in Mexican Gothic
The Mexican Gothic quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Ouroboros. 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:
).
Chapter 23 Quotes
It wasn’t ugly. That wasn’t what repulsed her. But it seemed to her it represented the youthful fancies of another girl, of a dead girl. Perhaps two girls. Had Virgil’s first wife worn this too?
It reminded her of an abandoned snake’s skin. Howard would slough off his own skin, would sink into a new body, like a blade entering warm flesh. Ouroboros.
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Florence brings Noemí an old family wedding dress shortly before Noemí is supposed to marry Francis. Though Noemí has witnessed many horrific visions, what has always inspired terror in her is seeing the effects of female oppression (like when she was horrified that the golden woman couldn’t speak, for example). Thus, it’s consistent with her character that when she sees this dress, which has long been used in the marriages of Doyle women, she is repulsed not by its appearance but by the history of oppression that’s associated with the dress. She knows that young women have been forced to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur la
Chapter 25 Quotes
He would die, he would slide into a new body, and Francis would cease to exist. A demented cycle. Children devoured as babes, children devoured as adults. Children are but food. Food for a cruel god.
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Noemí watches in horror as Howard recites the ritual for his transmigration into Francis’s body. This passage presents Howard’s immortality in explicitly heinous terms. His long life is fueled by the consumption of children, and a consequence of his immortality is a lack of progress or change. High Place and its inhabitants are full of racist, sexist, and other bigoted ideas from the colonial era. Howard himself is a colonizer, and his immortal presence in High Place keeps these ideas alive and thriving. Progress necessitates the acceptance of new ideas, but Howard eats the young and doesn’t allow his family Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis
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The Ouroboros Symbol Timeline in Mexican Gothic
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Ouroboros appears in Mexican Gothic. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 8
...few flowers flourish. Noemí looks up and sees a stunning piece of stained-glass art: the ouroboros—a serpent eating its own tail. Virgil tells her that the ouroboros is the Doyle family...
(full context)
...try to get Francis on her side. As Noemí leaves the greenhouse, she notices another ouroboros pattern in the tile on the floor. The infinite, above and below, just as Virgil...
(full context)
Chapter 23
...dead girl. Perhaps two. It reminds her of a dead snake’s skin and of an ouroboros. Florence forces her to put on the dress so that alterations can be made before...
(full context)
