I'm going to be honest: I'm not sure what to make of Mexican Gothic. Maybe it's because I haven't read enough of it to feel like I can form a concrete opinion. I won't try to in this post. Instead, I'd like to bring attention to a specific detail in Noemí's character. I don't know if this will end up being important later but nevertheless, I'm really intrigued.
I noticed that a lot of things about Noemí are rehearsed. For example, on page 6, her voice changes tone and it is different "than the modulated tone she had in recent years perfected." So, has she changed her voice for a particular reason? It seems like Noemí is trying to present herself in a very specific way, but I'm not entirely sure how to pinpoint it yet. All I can say is that in some ways, she seems very...manufactured. When she meets Francis, she "[speaks] in that droll way she liked, the one she used at cocktail parties, and that always seemed to get her very far with people" (19). Noemí's rehearsed way of speaking with people really strikes me; Why does she do this? She's in an entirely different environment than she is used to. She's very accustomed to a certain way of behaving, and knows all the right buttons to push. At least, up until now. It's interesting to see how her behaviour and personality clash with the new people she's surrounded by and the environment that she finds herself in. Will her behaviour change over the course of her stay at High Place?
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