Julie Chan Is Dead

After Julie is introduced to the concept of Eto, she is required to eat a live baby mouse as part of an initiation ritual. She watches in horror as the other Belladonnas all consume a live mouse, but she overcomes her horror and disgust to conform with the group: “what’s a little mouse to eight beautiful girls, the family I always wanted?” (235). The mouse symbolizes the corruption of innocence and the exploitation of vulnerability: When Julie looks at the mouse, she reflects on how “I was once this small, this innocent, this loveable, a clump of cells in a belly” (229). Because of their infantile, almost fetal status, the mice also foreshadow how Angelique will subsequently sacrifice her pregnancy as an offering to Eto. For the women, some of whom are mothers, the consumption of the baby mice reflects a grotesque inversion of life-giving: Instead of nurturing, they ruthlessly take the life of a tiny creature to bolster their own power.

The vulnerability and innocence of the mice reflects the all-consuming nature of capitalism and exploitation, At the start of the novel, Julie is not a bad person: She understandably gives in to temptation because she longs for an easier and more comfortable life, including the love and support she has always lacked.