56 pages 1 hour read

Justin Torres

Blackouts

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

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Part 6 Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 6: “The Cage of Voices”

Part 6, Pages 253-270 Summary

A dying Juan receives visitors, implied to be hallucinations. Nene mentions “blackouts follow,” but is unclear as to who suffers them. Juan’s visitors tell him snippets of stories, which he struggles to remember. He briefly experiences sexual arousal; Nene compliments his appearance, which Juan can’t clearly recall, but fears leaving him to find a mirror. He wishes to be with Juan when he dies to both comfort him and out of “macabre curiosity.”

A painting depicts a man with large hands in a cell. He reaches toward light filtering through a barred window.

Nene’s mind drifts as Juan speaks with his visitors, waiting for night and his turn to speak with Juan. At night, they discuss Juan’s “travels,” unclear memories of “technically” dying.

Juan mumbles, Nene only able to understand him due to their closeness. Juan “comes round,” upset to find himself having conversations he can’t recall.

Nene urges Juan to try to remember the reasons that he was sent to the psychiatric hospital. Juan can’t remember Nene, instead hallucinating his mother and a muscled man.

Nene presses for details as Juan tells a story about Thom going to the movies and having his first sexual experience with a man.

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By Justin Torres