This Thing Between Us

The entity that seemingly possesses multiple objects and people functions as both a character and a symbol. As the latter, it is central to the theme of The Indescribable Intensity of Grief, representing Thiago’s feelings in the wake of losing Vera. That the cook, the entity’s primary physical incarnation in the text, only appears after Vera’s death hints at its connection to Thiago’s grief. Meanwhile, his words shed light on how grief functions. He talks to Thiago about how there is “some other thing” inflicting terrible pain on people, and he claims that this “thing” is “[s]ome kinda force, or entity. Evil, all-powerful. Controls everything. Got you in a spell-like. Can alter math and change logic so that the sky, the air, the earth, colors, shapes, and sounds, all external things are merely the delusions of dreams devised to ensnare your judgment” (94). The cook’s description—e.g., the “thing’s” ability to “alter math and change logic”—evokes grief’s power to distort perception and even character, hinting at grief’s intersection with The Limits of Rational Control. Certainly, grief does terrible things to Thiago, including making him feel that he must move across the country, that he cannot so much as be distracted from his grief for 10 minutes without feeling guilty, and convincing him that he is to blame for Vera’s accident. Thiago’s entire reality changes because of his grief, and his perceptions—also altered by alcohol and drugs—become suspect. 

At the same time, the entity also symbolizes The Horror of Technology and Surveillance. Before it manifests as the cook, the entity seemingly controls the Itza in Vera and Thiago’s condo, and it manipulates electronics—televisions, jukeboxes, etc.—throughout the narrative. The cook’s characterization of the “thing” that torments people resonates with this interpretation as well. In particular, his remark that the entity renders “external things […] merely delusions of dreams devised to ensnare your judgment” hints at concerns about technology addiction and the possibility of virtual reality supplanting “actual” reality. 

Lastly, the entity can be read as a symbol of Thiago’s unconscious self—his tendencies toward violence, antisocial behavior, etc. Thiago has a deep-seated belief in his own propensity to depravity, which he characterizes in quasi-genetic terms. At Vera’s grave, he hears his dead father’s voice, telling him about all the “lives [he’s] ruined” and how his “cursed” family’s sins are kept “alive” in Thiago (248). Whether this belief is justified or simply a vulnerability that the entity preys on remains ambiguous. However, the novel leaves open the possibility that suppressed dark impulses did play a role in Vera’s death.