Chapter summaries Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng Kylie Lee Baker

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng: Chapter One Summary and Analysis

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Cora Zeng and her half-sister Delilah take a rare trip to the East Broadway subway station to buy toilet paper, a commodity made scarce by panic buying. The station is eerily empty, rain leaking through the ceiling, and Cora feels certain the train will never arrive. As they wait, Delilah reveals she plans to move to Changsha, China, to live with their father and try modeling, suggesting Cora stay with their strict Auntie Lois. Before Cora can fully process the abandonment, a man in a black hoodie and blue surgical mask approaches, calls them “bat eater” in a hateful slur, and shoves Delilah onto the tracks. The oncoming train kills Delilah instantly, her body severed. Cora screams, but no one hears because the city is deserted. The chapter ends with Cora alone on the blood-soaked platform.

Key Events

  • Cora and Delilah ride the subway for the first time in weeks to find toilet paper in Chinatown.
  • While waiting for the train, Delilah announces her decision to move to China permanently, leaving Cora behind.
  • A man wearing a hoodie and mask calls the sisters “bat eater” and pushes Delilah onto the tracks.
  • The train kills Delilah; her throat is severed, and blood mixes with rainwater on the platform.
  • Cora screams for help, but no one responds, underscoring the isolation of the pandemic.

Character Development

  • Cora Zeng: Cora’s internal voice reveals her deep dependence on Delilah, her insecurity about her mixed-race identity, and her tendency to have intrusive, often dark thoughts (e.g., imagining the station bleeding). Her love for Delilah is tangled with resentment. The trauma of witnessing Delilah’s murder likely marks a turning point in her psyche, but the chapter only shows the immediate aftermath of her scream.
  • Delilah Zeng: Delilah is portrayed as dreamy, beautiful, and decisive, but also careless with others’ feelings. She dismisses Cora’s job idea, burns lemongrass for “money energy,” and announces her departure without inviting Cora. Her death comes as a shock, and she remains something of an enigma—someone Cora both adores and quietly hates.
  • The Attacker: The unnamed man appears only briefly, but his slur (“bat eater”) connects the personal violence to the broader racism Chinese and Asian Americans faced during the pandemic. He acts as an embodiment of xenophobic hatred.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

  • Racism and Xenophobia: The attacker’s use of “bat eater” references the false and racist association of Chinese people with the origin of COVID-19. Earlier, a man emptied garbage on the sisters and called them “Chinks.” The phrase “China Virus” is mentioned on news broadcasts. These elements show how the pandemic intensified anti-Asian violence.
  • Pandemic Isolation: New York is described as a “dead body” and “empty.” No one rides the subway or hears Cora’s scream. The setting emphasizes both physical and emotional isolation, as Cora is left utterly alone after Delilah’s death.
  • Sibling Love and Rivalry: Cora’s feelings toward Delilah are complex—love, hatred, envy, dependence. Their relationship is strained by Cora’s lack of a dream and Delilah’s entitlement. The chapter’s tragedy is heightened because Cora’s last thought before the attack is that she might hate her sister.
  • Blood and Water Symbolism: Leaking rain in the station is described as dark or reddish, foreshadowing blood. After Delilah’s death, blood mixes with rainwater, turning the platform into a “weeping red water” scene. The imagery ties the city’s decay to the personal horror.
  • Economic Hardship: Both sisters have been laid off, and Cora’s art history degree has led to debt and shame. The search for toilet paper becomes a symbol of struggling to meet basic needs in a world that has fallen apart.

Why This Chapter Matters

Chapter One establishes the novel’s core conflicts: Cora’s precarious identity as a mixed-race Chinese American, her fraught relationship with her sister, and the pervasive racism of the pandemic era. Delilah’s sudden, violent death is the inciting incident that propels the rest of the story, forcing Cora to navigate grief, guilt, and survival in a hostile world. The chapter also sets the book’s tonal blend of literary introspection and brutal realism, using the empty city as a backdrop for both internal and external catastrophe.

Study Questions and Answers

1. Why does Cora think she hates Delilah, and how does this affect their relationship?
Cora hates that Delilah feels “real” while she herself feels like a mere reflection—disgusting, imperfect. Delilah’s announcement that she will leave Cora behind triggers a deep sense of betrayal. This love-hate tension means Cora is never able to fully voice her needs, making their dynamic unequal and painful.

2. How does the setting of the empty subway station reflect the themes of the chapter?
The station’s emptiness mirrors the pandemic’s social isolation and the characters’ economic despair. The leaking ceiling and unlit tunnel create a decaying atmosphere that foreshadows death. The absence of other people underscores that no one will witness or stop the impending violence.

3. What does the act of buying toilet paper symbolize in the context of the pandemic?
Toilet paper hoarding highlights the irrational fear and scarcity that gripped society at the start of COVID-19. For Cora and Delilah, the fruitless, rain-soaked trip shows their reduced circumstances and the mundane yet desperate search for basic dignity. The toilet paper is dropped and ruined in the attack, just as their fragile stability is destroyed.

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