As a representation of Abuelita’s care for the narrator, the symbol of the eye fosters the relationship between the two characters. The narrator describes Abuelita’s singular “gray eye” and its effect on her while they were planting on Abuelita’s porch, Viramontes writes, “And although we hardly spoke, hardly looked up at each other as we worked over root transplants, I always felt her gray eye on me. It made me feel, in a strange sort of way, safe and guarded and not alone. Like God was supposed to make you feel” (33). Without even speaking many words to each other, it is the watchful gaze of Abuelita’s gray eye which communicates the care Abuelita has for her granddaughter. Throughout the story, Abuelita is the only character with which the narrator truly identifies. Even in the midst of her postmodern skepticism, Abuelita’s gray eye is what makes the narrator feel the same sense of security that her family seems to find in the tradition of Catholicism. As the narrator struggles against fitting into the dainty mold of Chicano culture’s gendered expectations, Abuelita appears to be the only person who understands her and even nurtures the parts of her that conflict with these expectations. Without Viramontes’ use of the gray eye as a symbol of Abuelita’s emotions, the development of the narrator’s relationship with Abuelita would fail to include the details of what makes their relationship special.
Furthermore, the gray eye continues to provide characterization for Abuelita when she looks not at the narrator, but instead out of the window. In these instances, Viramontes uses Abuelita’s symbolic gaze to convey Abueltia’s sense of longing and view of the world. For example, the narrator describes the way Abuelita’s eyes never quite closed all the way while she was sleeping: “Up close, you could see her gray eye beaming out, staring hard as if to remember everything” (Viramontes 34). Much like the cliché of the eyes being a window into the soul, Abuelita’s eye peering out of the window serves as a reflection of the sense of longing deep within her. As a Chicana woman, and even more so in her generation, Abuelita was likely expected to take care of the household, leaving her alienated from the world beyond the walls of the home. As Abuelita’s gray eye gazes outside, the reader senses her longing for a life on the other side of the window, as well as her regret for and frustration with having been confined by such oppressive expectations. In Abuelita’s final moments, the narrator says Abuelita “had turned to the window and tried to speak, but her mouth remained open and speechless” (Viramontes 36). With Abuelita’s gaze returning to the window, Viramontes also opens a window into Abuelita’s modernist worldview. Coupled with the narrator’s earlier mention of Abuelita “staring hard as if to remember everything,” this second moment reveals Abuelita’s search for meaning in her own existence and the world around her. As a vessel for her emotions, Abuelita’s eye serves as a reflection of feelings of yearning and isolation buried deep within her.
Of the 11 occurrences of the word “eye” in the narrative, four of those times Viramontes precedes it with the adjective “gray.” Naturally, then, the reader begins to associate the connotation of the word gray — hardened, dismal, and jaded — with Abuelita’s eye. However, “eye” is not the only word that accompanies “gray” in this story. Once, the narrator mentions Abuelita’s “gray, wiry hair” (Viramontes 34). More importantly, in the magical realist climax of the story, the narrator also describes the moths with this word: “Small, gray ones that came from her soul and out through her mouth fluttering to light, circling the single dull light bulb in the bathroom” (Viramontes 37). Here, Viramontes pushes the reader to see these gray moths as an extension of all that her gray eye has held. Therefore, this letting-go of the moths in her death represents Abuelita’s emotional, cathartic release of all that has oppressed her. With the moths circling the lightbulb, their collective shape even mimics that of an eyeball — one that is “beaming” just like Abuelita’s (Viramontes 34). As the story closes with the narrator mourning for all that the gray moths represent, with her eyes full of tears then serving as literal vessels of emotion, the narrator and the reader alike come to finally understand what it means to be a Chicana woman.
Though only a small detail in the story, when one takes a closer look at Viramontes’ use of the eye in “The Moths,” the wealth of symbolism found illuminates Abuelita’s character. Based on Abuelita’s special relationship with the narrator as an outcast Chicana and the sense of alienation that her gray eye betrays, the reader can imagine all of the anguish and anger Abuelita must have experienced as a result of living in accordance with the rules of a patriarchal society. By bringing Abuelita’s story to light through the perspective of her granddaughter and her notice of her grandmother’s gray eye, Viramontes is urging the audience to look at those around them and search closely for the silent story that their eyes might be trying to tell the world.
31 May 2024
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