84 pages • 2-hour read
Gods of Jade and Shadow
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Chapters 30-32Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 30 Summary
Casiopea and Hun-Kamé go to the ocean, where they stand in the water so Vucub-Kamé cannot overhear their conversation. Hun-Kamé has no plan beyond Vucub-Kamé’s two options, which dismays Casiopea. Hun-Kamé asks her to give him a name. He barely remembers his life as a god, and if she gave him a new name, he could be someone different. He kisses her, and she silently chooses the name “Francisco.”
Before she can say the name, she recalls an old conversation about what the world would look like under Vucub-Kamé’s rule—a wasteland strewn with corpses—and the idea of patan. She reminds Hun-Kamé of this, but he shrugs, saying, “[I]t doesn’t matter, if there’s you and me” (283). Casiopea wants so badly to name him and claim him as her own, but she can’t bring herself to do it. It wouldn’t be fair to the rest of the world, and she has to at least try to beat Vucub-Kamé. She will walk the Black Road. Before they go back to tell Vucub-Kamé, Hun-Kamé embraces her again, and holding her for the last time, looks at “the stars that he’d never bothered to survey before” (287).
Chapter 31 Summary
They stay in the water until the last possible moment before returning to the hotel and giving Vucub-Kamé their answer. Casiopea is given a knife and a gourd full of water for the journey—but nothing else. She cannot call upon Hun-Kamé for assistance, and he is not allowed to reach out to her. By way of goodbye, Hun-Kamé whispers one final piece of advice: “The road listens to you, you don’t listen to it” (290).
Using his sorcery, Zavala transports Casiopea and Martín to the Black Road. Casiopea lands alone and begins to walk, quickly realizing that time and distance in Xibalba are not as they are on Earth. No matter how quickly she moves, the road and the land do not change. Abruptly, she finds herself at a four-way crossroads. Each direction bids her choose it, their voices growing louder and louder in her head. Recalling Hun-Kamé’s final advice, she orders the road to bring her to the Jade Palace. A shadow pathway opens, and she takes it. She finds more shadow paths and takes them all, moving through the different layers of Xibalba. Finally, she arrives at a dip in the road, where she finds a creature.
Meanwhile, Martín navigates with a bit more ease. Back in the hotel, Vucub-Kamé and Hun-Kamé watch Casiopea’s and Martín’s progress. Hun-Kamé sees the creature Casiopea has come upon and shivers. Vucub-Kamé taunts his brother, feeling no fear because the prophesies now show “his future and his triumph” (296).
Chapter 32 Summary
The creature Casiopea came upon is Kamazotz, the death bat. As she contemplates how to pass it, a talking two-headed snake offers her aid because it can sense Hun-Kamé’s essence upon her. In exchange for help, she gives the snake the bracelet Hun-Kamé gave her, the only “reminder of her journey. And of him” (299).
The snakes distract the bat, and Kamazotz abandons the road, giving Casiopea an opening. Soon, Kamazotz notices her, and she is forced to throw her gourd of water as a distraction, which gives her just enough time to dive into a shadow. She emerges elsewhere on the road and continues her journey through a wall of bones that almost crushes her.
In the hotel, Vucub-Kamé is furious Casiopea managed to survive the bat and bones. He is sure Hun-Kamé is cheating somehow and sends Martín a telepathic command to kill Casiopea. Suddenly, Martín can feel Casiopea’s approach like an insect in a spider’s web, which he realizes “made him the spider” (306).
Chapters 30-32 Analysis
Chapter 30 is the last moment Casiopea and Hun-Kamé are together as mortals. Hun-Kamé brings them to the water because he and his brother have no dominion there, showing that even gods are not all-powerful. Casiopea’s refusal to name Hun-Kamé shows her selflessness. The quest and the world are more important than her own desires, and she cannot let Vucub-Kamé destroy the world with his demand for worship. She chooses patan—her duty—and uses it to convince Hun-Kamé of the path they must take.
Chapters 31 and 32 take place largely in Xibalba and represent the archetypal hero’s journey. Casiopea faces both physical and psychological obstacles. The talking roads, Kamazotz, and the bones symbolize the perils found in a hero’s journey, similar to the labors of Hercules. Folklorist Joseph Campbell created the hero’s journey archetype from the commonalities in the mythologies of different cultures. The journey allows the hero, in this case, Casiopea, to come of age and realize what they value most. For Casiopea, that means serving a purpose higher than herself. While Martín shrinks from adventure and the wider world, Casiopea embraces it.
The two-headed snakes that help Casiopea show that, despite Vucub-Kamé’s rule, there is still support in Xibalba for Hun-Kamé. While Casiopea cannot call upon Hun-Kamé himself, she can call upon his supporters, which may be a loophole in the competition since Hun-Kamé’s supporters are an extension of him. Vucub-Kamé’s command for Martín to kill Casiopea suggests that he is growing desperate and is willing to take any action necessary to maintain his throne. Like Cirilo, Vucub-Kamé’s desires to keep his power at all costs. Martín’s reaction to Vucub-Kamé’s orders reveals his change. He feels compelled to carry out the orders, but he also knows he isn’t a killer and likely won’t be able to do what Vucub-Kamé demands of him. The rules of the contest specify that the champions could have no contact with their gods, but when Vucub-Kamé thinks his brother is cheating, he breaks this rule in order to secure his victory.
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