The Death of Gemini
In Virginia Grise’s, “Blu,” the female character that stands out from Soledad and Hailstorm was Gemini. She is described as a young girl who had dreams to get out of her circumstances and become successful. She was aware that there was a bigger world than the barrio. Unfortunately, Gemini’s outlook on life changes the day she was raped by her brother’s gang. She could not go past the traumatic event and begins to think that her dreams will never come true. The text implies that while she was sleeping she had a dream of committing suicide, but was still alive because her character continued throughout the text.
However, one could argue that Gemini is dead and is only a spirit. Based on textual evidence, Gemini is only alive through the masculine characters of the text. Through Blu, Hailstorm, and Lunatico the reader learns more about the character of Gemini.
The memory of Gemini lives on when Blu coincidently joins the army right after the rape of his sister. One cause can be the feelings of guilt for allowing it to happen and watching his sister have violence enacted upon her by his gang brothers. In other words, he believed he needed to make it up to himself to quit being apart of that bad gang and fights for the country instead. When he leaves, Gemini expresses feeling betrayal from her brother, but forgives him. Based on textual evidence, Gemini’s spirit lives through her brother as the victim of rape, causing her to contemplate suicide; and through her own brother, she is traumatized and damaged.
Although Hailstorm is a female, she is seen as the stepfather of Soledad’s children. After Gemini was raped, she is remembering her traumatic experience as she asks questions to Hailstorm. She expresses, “Why do we always end up killing each other and our own dreams?” (Grise, 47). She is expressing to Hailstorm that her dreams and ambition have died and she plans to give up on her own life as well because there is no other way to survive rape. This part leads to her actual descriptive suicide, “At the height of the dance, Gemini drives off the roof. Arms extend in flight. Lights out before she hits the concrete” (Grise, 47). Although her character continues to live on throughout the text, she is only a spirit through others. When Lunatico goes outside (specifically at night), Gemini tries to encourage him to not be in a gang because there is a bigger world outside of the barrio. Through the beauty of the sky, Gemini’s spirit wants the best for Lunatico. The name of Gemini is named after a constellation that connects her character with the stars and the heavens, placing her in the sky (like a ghost). Through the character of Lunatico, the reader can interpret Gemini is the night sky and when one sees the beauty of the moon and stars, dreams can be made.
At the end of the text, the reader can make an assumption that Gemini is set free from her past. However, when “Gemini lights a series of blue velas, until she ends up in a circle of candlelight,” signifying that Eme, Hailstorm, and Soledad are holding a candlelight vigil for Gemini to be sent to heaven.
Ultimately, Gemini portrays a ghost that lives through masculine characters. Gemini cannot be considered a strong female character because she was raped and chose to commit suicide instead of seeking help. Gemini did not overcome her obstacles of change, as did other Chicana authors. Men have won the battle of breaking the ambitious Gemini into a sexual object and destroying her spirit, which leads to her falling of the roof and staying there forever.