110 pages • 3 hours read
Silvia Moreno-GarciaGods of Jade and Shadow
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Themes
The Power of Belief and Self-Determination
Gods of Jade and Shadow explores the conflicts between gods, and the influence mortals have on the existence of immortal beings. In Chapter 23, Hun-Kamé tells Casiopea that “words are seeds” and that saying things, either verbally or in belief alone, gives something power (231). As seen through the gods that exist in the story’s world, the beliefs characters hold about themselves, and the power of the spoken word, Gods of Jade and Shadow illustrates how belief is strength.
Throughout the book, Hun-Kamé explains that gods and religions exist due to the beliefs people choose to hold. Hun-Kamé and Vucub-Kamé’s confrontation was born of mortals gradually moving toward newer religions and leaving the Mayan gods to fade into myth. As a result, their power diminished, something Vucub-Kamé believes can be changed through forcing people to remember him. Truthfully, he has no proof that reemerging as a godly force would cause people to return to him. It may be that he could not win against the power of more modern religions, but he is willing to take the chance.
Vucub-Kamé’s belief that people would return to the old ways is one of several instances where characters believe things that become reality. Vucub-Kamé wants to hold power over both the Underworld and Earth. His reliance on prophesy shows him his victory and so he believes it, but the slightest change to his visions causes him to fear his beliefs will not bring about what he wants. Casiopea believes in a better future and the freedom she could have away from her grandfather’s house. With the entrance of Hun-Kamé into her life, she sees a chance to make her beliefs reality and takes it. Martín offers an opposing viewpoint. He doesn’t have enough belief in himself to envision anything beyond his narrow view of the world and his place in it. While Casiopea forges her way by self-determination based on her belief in herself, Martín clings to his old life because he does not have enough self-belief.
Words have power in the world of Gods of Jade and Shadow. In Chapter 5, Vucub-Kamé hears his name in the Underworld when Casiopea speaks it on Earth. While Vucub-Kamé would have learned of Hun-Kamé’s escape, his name alerted him to the situation earlier, allowing him to mobilize his plans more quickly. In later chapters, Vucub-Kamé hears Hun-Kamé’s laughter and sigh. While not words, these sounds offer Vucub-Kamé information about his brother’s strength and his feelings for Casiopea. Vucub-Kamé assigns names to these feelings, and he is able to manipulate “humanity” and “love” to his purposes.
Words and beliefs have the power to change reality. In the hands of someone willing to work hard, beliefs may become self-determining and manifest themselves in the world. Moreno-Garcia suggests that this is true whether the ultimate goal of the believer is good or bad. Names can have power over individuals, but only if that individual allows themselves to be controlled. Gods of Jade and Shadow suggests that beliefs are a force of creation and destruction and that a lack of belief produces failure.
The Difference Between Freedom and Stagnation
Freedom and stagnation are two opposing forces in the novel. The characters in Gods of Jade and Shadow fall into two primary categories: those who break with tradition and choose a different path, and those who refuse to change and continue along the path laid out for them. The differences between these groups and the individual characters in each show how change and stagnation affect us.
Casiopea and Hun-Kamé are in the group of characters who accept change and the freedom it brings. Fifty years ago, Vucub-Kamé betrayed Hun-Kamé in the name of tradition. Hun-Kamé’s acceptance of change led to his imprisonment, and Vucub-Kamé’s acceptance of stagnation gave him temporary power. At the end of the book, both accept change, and it sets them free to love and respect each other and for Hun-Kamé to love Casiopea. Casiopea believes in change from the book’s opening, but she doesn’t know how to bring it about in her life. Throughout the story, her willingness and openness to change make her sympathetic and caring, and her acceptance of change ultimately makes her choose the race on the Black Road over Hun-Kamé’s love. She sees the harm Vucub-Kamé would cause and cannot let his misguided desires destroy the land.
In Chapter 9, the Mam says that “one must follow the order of things” in reference to Vucub-Kamé (89). The god has no love for Vucub-Kamé and chooses to align with whoever currently holds power because he believes it is the best way to remain safe and in good favor. The god only accepts changes that suit him. It doesn’t matter what Vucub-Kamé stands for or if the Mam agrees with Vucub-Kamé’s position. Vucub-Kamé is in power, and the Mam changed his allegiance and would change it again if Hun-Kamé or someone else usurped Vucub-Kamé’s throne. The Mam represents how followers create change or stagnation. If enough people in a group decide to accept or deny the status quo, they can dictate how much, if any change, occurs.
Cirilo and Martín represent how change can impact an individual. Cirilo is only interested in change that benefits him. Helping Vucub-Kamé gave him status, and even though he fears Vucub-Kamé, he is unwilling to change his allegiance because it could lead to less favorable conditions for himself. Martín is much the same until he leaves his home and unwillingly begins to change. Away from the influence of Cirilo and the status his family affords, Martín’s environment changes him, even while he tries to remain his former identity. Martín symbolizes the danger of echo chamber-type thought. Within his comfort zone, Martín never considered any perspective other than his own, and as a result, he never grew past a certain point. Different perspectives and ways of life force Martín to see that other ideas are not inherently bad. Trapped in the echo chamber of his family home, he automatically dismissed anything that didn’t fit his world view, but in the wider world, he cannot dismiss everything around him that contradicts him. By the end of the book, Martín is more sympathetic. Removing him from his home forced him to grow and become a better person than he ever could have been in his former cloistered life.
The characters of Gods of Jade and Shadow who choose to change become better, more complex people. Those who choose to stay the same and surround themselves only with ideas that match their feelings stagnate and fall into obscurity. Whether people wish to acknowledge it or not, the world changes, and choosing not to change with it hurts others, not only those who make that choice.
Finding One’s Place in the World
Gods of Jade and Shadow takes place in two worlds—Mexico in the 1920s and Xibalba. Regardless of where the characters originate, they strive to find their place in their world of their choice. Through the characters’ ages, desire for change, and willingness to face uncertainty, Gods of Jade and Shadow explores what it means to find where one belongs.
Casiopea is 18 years old, and as a result, she is still searching for her place in the world. to find herself and her place. The narrator describes her belief that she is “a creation that had sprung from no ancient soils” (78). This means that Casiopea, and young people in general, see themselves as part of the modern society in which they live and that they are less likely to identify with the roots of their family or any specific people or religion. While this is not always the case, the novel focuses on young people’s desire for change, as was common in the 1920s. Casiopea initially decides to accompany Hun-Kamé because it gives her a chance to escape an unfulfilling life. Only later does she understand the value of her early experiences. Her ultimate place in the world is the world itself. She wishes to be free of restraints and have the freedom to choose. As she gets older, she may settle somewhere, but when the novel ends, Casiopea is only beginning her journey.
As a god, Hun-Kamé knew his place was in Xibalba and never questioned his destiny. At Casiopea’s side, her humanity and youth affect his certainty. He grapples with what he wants—either to be with Casiopea or to reclaim his kingdom. At times, he almost forgets who he was and wonders if it is worth going back to that life. Even for those who have lived a long time, new experiences can cause us to question if we know who we are and where we want to be. Hun-Kamé ultimately goes back to Xibalba, but it is unclear whether he does so because he wishes to be there or because Casiopea took it upon herself to make sure Vucub-Kamé did not destroy the Underworld.
Vucub-Kamé and Martín struggle the most with finding their places. Vucub-Kamé believes he wants to be Lord of Xibalba and to have humans worship him. At the end of the book when Hun-Kamé forgives him, Vucub-Kamé is offered another option he never knew was possible: a mutually healthy relationship of sharing power with his brother. Vucub-Kamé’s character arc shows that we may never find our place if the option we most want is not offered to us. Martín ends the book not knowing who he is or what he wants. Like Casiopea at the beginning of the book, he has a choice to make. He may choose to embark on a journey of self-discovery and learn who he is. Conversely, he may decide to return home, resume the life he had, and never seek anything more. Martín represents the choice we all face—whether to look for what we want and who we are or to never venture beyond what we know, and either be content or resentful of what we have.
The characters in Gods of Jade and Shadow take many paths and make many choices that determine who they are or who they could be. Youth is not the only factor that determines whether someone has found their place: Anyone can choose to learn more about their personality and desires at any time, and those changes may lead them down a path they never expected.
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