The Bewitching

“Back then, when I was a young woman, there were still witches. That was what Nana Alba used to say when she told Minerva bedtime stories.”

Minerva returns to this, the novel’s opening sentence in the narrative conclusion, bookending the story with the transmission of knowledge from one generation to the next to emphasize Moreno-Garcia’s thematic interest in The Impact of Storytelling. Although Nana Alba has no proof that Minerva will need her folk knowledge, she still teaches Minerva how to protect herself from bewitchings. In this way, both knowledge and female power and agency are passed down through the generations, and Minerva remains connected to her great-grandmother.

“She even cast a little spell she’d learned, summoning him. She did not often indulge in such practices, for fear of what others would think if she admitted she believed in folk magic.”

Alba believes in the power of spells and folk magic—knowledge she inherited from her father’s side of the family. Within the world of this novel, such practices are associated with the rural, working classes and are seen by affluent, urban characters as “backwards,” highlighting The Tension Between Folk Wisdom and Modern Beliefs. Alba’s use of folk magic roots her within the cultural landscape of the country rather than the city and marks her as a figure who respects traditional knowledge.

“What can you learn on a farm except the uneducated nonsense that the laborers repeat?”

This line, spoken by Arturo, helps to characterize him as disdainful of folk wisdom, reinforcing a central tension in the novel. Arturo received a formal education and figured out early in his life that he was better suited to the city than the country.