Flowering Judas

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1930

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Summary

Background

Story Analysis

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

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Discussion Questions

Literary Devices

Setting

Setting is the literary device that establishes where and when a story is told. The setting of Mexico in “Flowering Judas” serves as an important backdrop for the events of the story. Near the end of the Mexican Revolution, Socialism emerged in the country. One of the Socialist movement’s objectives was to get the government to improve workers’ rights and conditions. Mexico’s 1917 constitution also prompted a separation between church and state, weakening the political power of the Catholic Church. While the Revolution was over in 1920 when the story takes place, the aftermath involved a new government replacing a dictatorship, and a period of transition and uncertainty. In Porter’s story, clashes are still taking place between opposing forces, as exemplified in the May-day conflict at the end of the narrative. Laura’s inner conflict is set against the backdrop of a fraught moment in Mexico’s history. Mexico’s secularism is alluded to when Laura secretly visits a “crumbling little church” (Paragraph 6). The building’s state of disrepair highlights the secularism of the new government, illuminating the tension between faith and politics in post-Revolution Mexico City.

Point of View

Point of view is the perspective through which a writer chooses to tell the story. The third-person limited point of view of “Flowering Judas” contributes to the uncertainty and ambiguity of the story. Just as Laura is unsure about her reasons for being in Mexico and feels disenchanted with the causes she supports, the narration is similarly untethered and unstable. The story begins in the present as events unfold in the middle of the evening as Laura returns home. However, it is unclear where Laura has been until the end of the story. The narrator does not share this information until the conclusion when Laura reveals Eugenio’s death; it is as if the audience learns of this important detail as Laura comes to terms with them or is ready to tell Braggioni. The delay injects unreliability into the narration as it is only when readers learn of this event that they gain more insight into Laura’s disillusionment with the cause. The suicide of Eugenio, whom she sought to help, contextualizes Laura’s apathy, lack of faith, and fear.

Foreshadowing

There are several examples of foreshadowing in “Flowering Judas,” providing hints or connections to what will happen later in the story. One instance of this is the flowering Judas tree that Laura first encounters in an attempt to deter a suitor. The event establishes the symbolic significance of the tree. Laura throws the Judas flower to the singer, but her gesture does not have the anticipated results. The moment foreshadows the dream in which Laura eats the flowers, thinking they will bring forgiveness of her sins, but they instead bring terror. There is also foreshadowing in references to the sense of imminent danger Laura often experiences. It is the “presence of death in the room” as Braggioni has her prepare his pistols that prompts Laura to reveal the news of Eugenio’s suicide (Paragraph 34). Her earlier sense of fear is then exposed as her awareness of Eugenio’s death.