Full Moon: A Novel of Characters and Their Complexities
Full Moon
The Characters
The characters in Full Moon possess a complex psychology reminiscent of 19th-century novels. Their detailed biographies and environments are explored, but unlike naturalism, heredity and environment don’t fully explain them. There remains an unfathomable element to their beings.
Various methods are used for character construction, applied differently to each character:
- The character seen from the inside (internal perspective)
- The character seen from the outside (external perspective)
Internal Perspective
The third-person narrator adopts the point of view of several characters, revealing their feelings, thoughts, and memories. This internal view is fundamental to characterization. We see the murderer, the inspector, Susan Grey, and Father Orduña Ferreras from within.
For example, the murderer inhabits a hellish world—dark, nightmarish, and degraded—devoid of beauty or goodness. He views all women as whores, believes mothers teach their daughters fellatio, and despises his aging parents. He loathes the Renaissance district he lives in, seeing everyone as corrupt and lazy, except himself.
The inspector is haunted by the brutal murder of Fatima, driving his obsessive determination to catch the killer. We also experience his self-doubt, remorse over his wife’s condition, and the surprising revelation of his love for Susan Grey.
Susan Grey’s fatigue from years of unsatisfying work in an unfamiliar town is palpable, as is her resentment towards her selfish ex-husband. Father Orduña and Ferreras offer reflections on the human soul and identity.
External Perspective
Partial external views from other characters often coincide, adding complexity and ambiguity. We see the murderer through the terrified eyes of his victims: a prostitute who witnesses his violent compensation for sexual impotence, and Susan Grey, who observes his servile demeanor while unaware of his resentment.
The inspector is seen differently by others: Susan perceives a lack of desire to live, journalists see him as ruthless, his colleagues from the north regard him as a hero, Paula sees him as her protector, and Father Orduña views him as a weak, resentful child in need of help.
Other characters, like Susan’s husband and the inspector’s wife, are known only through their spouses’ opinions. The murderer’s parents are seen through his distorted perspective.
Biographical Information
While the action spans about nine months in the 1990s, memories provide extensive biographical information. We learn about the inspector’s Republican father, his time at a Jesuit boarding school, his law studies, his undercover police work, his marriage, and his eventual arrival in the novel’s setting.
Biographical details are also provided for Susan, Ferreras, and Father Orduña.
Significant Details
Details about the characters’ living spaces are revealing. Father Orduña’s room reflects his indifference to his surroundings, while Susan Grey’s reveals her sensitivity to beauty. The inspector’s hotel room suggests his transient nature.
Details about the murderer hint at his sexual problems: the size of his penis, his fondness for pornography, the comfort he finds in his knife, his insomnia, and the lingering smell of fish on his hands.
Mystification
While the characters are individualized, some possess generic and symbolic traits. The protagonist and antagonist, the murderer and the inspector, lack names, perhaps to emphasize their archetypal roles of evil and its adversary.
The murderer embodies evil, subtly portrayed with werewolf-like characteristics: his split personality, the full moon’s influence on his crimes, and his excessive hairiness. This mythical dimension is reflected in the novel’s title, Full Moon.