Xius

Xius || Xius is a widower whose farmhouse is the "prettiest house in town" (35). Angela Vicario tells Bayardo San Roman so and as a result Bayardo attempts to buy the house from Xius. The widower objects, stating reasons of sentimental value and "motives of the heart" (36). Three days later, Bayardo returns and offers Xius five, then ten thousand pesos, and after much frustration Xius accepts, although the amount of money is so large that he asks Bayardo to pay him "little by little" (37). Xius dies two months later, seemingly of "tears bubbling inside his heart" (37), indicating emotional deterioration due to the loss of the farmhouse that had meant so much to him. || The name //Xius// bears much similarity to //Zeus// from Greek mythology, who is the highest of the gods and whose name means "shine" or "sky". Like the widower in the novel, whose house is "on a windswept hill" (35) from which one can see a "limitless paradise" (35), Zeus the god resides atop Mount Olympus and rules humankind from it. The narrator mentions "clear summer days" (35) which bring to mind Zeus' control over the weather in Greek mythology. Because the widower's name has such a powerful connotation and lives in such a coveted area, Bayardo's action of defeating Xius by persuading him to sell the house as well as Xius’ subsequent death signify the extent of Bayardo’s power, further portraying Bayardo as someone able to fulfill his own desires and who is "going to marry whomever he [chooses]" (34). || David Su ||
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