In Chapter 2 of The Pagoda, Lowe, who is devastated by the burning down of his shop and the death of his associate (and perhaps past lover) Cecil, avoids walking outside due to his hallucinations of grotesque, deathly scenes. Among these ominous images are “the heads of black cats teeming with maggots dangling from guava trees” (21). Lowe is already struggling with a secret history that he yearns to convey to his estranged daughter; the sudden loss of his shop and Cecil places an additional burden on his already distressed mind.
Guava trees, in the above quote, serve as a vivid indicator of setting. The appearance of these trees in Lowe’s hallucinations grounds the novel’s current setting in Jamaica. These trees, more shrub-like than tree-like, have seemingly forever been associated with the tropical regions of Central and South America as well as the Caribbean Islands. In fact, guavas have been distributed so widely for so long that the place of origin is uncertain. Some archeological sources trace the guava fruit to Peru as far back as 800 B.C.E. From there, the guava spread rapidly through Central and South America, and it is thought to have reached Mexico by 200 B.C.E., then shortly afterwards to the Caribbean Islands. Propagated around the world by Europeans around the 16th century (as with most other crops from the Americas), guava trees are now grown in many tropical areas globally, such as South and Southeast Asia.
Guava fruits, which have been consumed extensively as food and medicine, bear a thin skin that surrounds soft, sweet outer flesh with an inner core of yellow seeds. I imagine that these seeds may under certain circumstances look like the maggots that have infested the black cats of Lowe’s hallucination. Putting aside the clear symbolism of the ominous black cat, perhaps this hallucination has its basis in rotten guava fruits that have blackened, either infested by bugs or with the seeds falling out. Regardless, the guava trees in this section of The Pagoda help establish an eeriness that is ingrained in its tropical setting by its very nature.
Works Cited
“Guava.” American Indian Health and Diet Project, https://aihd.ku.edu/foods/guava.html
Powell, Patricia. The Pagoda. Harcourt, 1998.
Morton, Julia F. “Guava.” NewCrop, Purdue University, 2020, https://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/guava.html