Chapter 21 Summary and Analysis: “Some of Us are Grapefruit” by Rivers Solomon
⚠️ 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
Chapter 21 is told from the first-person perspective of Opal, a woman whose mother had glass teeth surgically implanted in her gums when she was three years old. After her mother dies in her arms, Opal wakes with fragments of borosilicate in her mouth from grinding her teeth. She reflects on her childhood: her mother presented her at dinner parties as a marvel, but Opal felt like a “strange bug-eyed dog” — not quite human. Her mother insisted that Opal’s inability to hide behind a smile was beautiful because she valued truth over conventional prettiness.
Opal recounts her lovers, especially Joan, a seventy-six-year-old woman who photographed Opal naked and commanded her to bite during sex. Opal’s teeth are sharp glass triangles; she cannot bite without drawing blood. Yet when Joan commands “Bite,” Opal obeys, and the act is described as a fever dream of pleasure and destruction.
The story then shifts to Opal’s origin: she was not born to her mother but found on a stone altar in the woods, still wet with birth fluids, with a full head of hair that seemed already grown. Her mother had been living on Silver Island, a home for “girls like me” — girls who didn’t get along, sent away. There, Mother and other girls would sneak into the woods and engage in sexual acts; the next morning a child made in one of their images would appear on the altar, silent and mute. Mother had four such children before Opal (Night, Micah, Juniper, Sunny), all of whom died. Opal learned that those children were clones made from the sorrows expelled during Mother’s liaisons — sent to the old house to take the brunt of the matrons’ cruelty in her place.
Opal later discovers her own nature: she is an alukah, a kind of devil or god. She has killed seven lovers by drinking from them, including Camille, Joan, and Greta. After Mother’s death, Opal walks to Silver Island at low tide, followed by the ghosts of those lovers, each anchored to her by invisible ropes of hair. The lovers warn the living that being devoured comes at a cost — loss of subjectivity — but that ecstasy is offered. Opal intends to lie on the altar and unmake herself, to sleep again as a curse in the ground. But the lovers tie her down with stronger ropes made from plant fiber, hair, and mud, and pull her from the altar, telling her: “Then eat.”
Key Events
- Opal’s mother dies in her arms; Opal grinds her glass teeth in sleep.
- Flashback to age three: mother takes her to a dentist who implants glass shards in her gums.
- Dinner party scene: mother shows off Opal’s teeth; guests are uncomfortable.
- Mother explains she values truth over beauty: “Some of us are grapefruit” — bitter.
- Opal meets Joan, an older woman with elaborate tattoos, who photographs and commands her.
- Joan orders Opal to bite; Opal does, drawing blood.
- Opal recalls her origin: found on an altar in the woods, newly born, by her mother.
- Mother was a girl sent to Silver Island, a home for “girls like me.”
- Mother had four earlier children (clones of herself) who all died; she used them to absorb her own suffering.
- Opal learns she is an alukah — a devouring entity.
- She recalls first lover, Camille: they made love in a park during a storm; Opal wrapped them in her hair, and they flew.
- After mother’s death, Opal walks to Silver Island at low tide, followed by seven dead lovers.
- Lovers scream warnings to the living about the cost of being consumed.
- Opal lies down on the altar, seeking to be unborn.
- Lovers tie her down with reinforced ropes, pulling her away from the altar.
- Lovers tell her “Then eat,” acknowledging her eternal hunger.
Character Development
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Opal: Revealed as a supernatural being (alukah) who has killed multiple lovers by feeding on them. She is driven by insatiable hunger and grief after her mother’s death. Throughout the chapter, she oscillates between self-loathing (seeing herself as a devil) and acceptance from her lovers. Her attempt to unmake herself on the altar shows deep despair, but the lovers’ intervention suggests she may be forced to continue existing and feeding.
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Mother (unnamed): Portrayed as a complex figure — she wanted truth over beauty, valued Opal despite her monstrosity, and used her earlier clones as sacrifices to spare herself pain. She dies knowing of Opal’s murders but loves her anyway. Her belief that “some of us are grapefruit” (bitter) echoes Opal’s own bitterness.
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Joan: A lover who willingly gives herself to Opal, commands her to bite, and appears after death to try to pull Opal away from self-destruction. She represents consent and devotion even in death.
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Camille: First lover; experienced being drained as filling. She and Opal floated together in a hair cocoon. Camille’s ghost also tugs Opal back from the altar.
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Greta: Another lover with a hole in her throat where Opal fed; she kisses Opal and insists it is not a sin to be insatiable.
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The Seven Lovers: Collective force that anchors Opal, warns the living, and ultimately binds Opal to life by tying her down and offering themselves again. They refuse to let her give up.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
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Hunger and Insatiability: Opal’s central trait — she will never be full. Her teeth are glass, instruments of feeding. The lovers acknowledge this: “Then eat.”
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Truth vs. Beauty: Mother chose truth over conventional prettiness; Opal’s glass teeth make her smile a weapon. “Some of us are grapefruit” — bitter truth.
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Devouring as Love / Sacrifice: Lovers find fulfillment in being consumed. Opal’s feeding is an act of intimacy that erases subjectivity.
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Maternal Grief and Legacy: Opal’s mother created clones to absorb her own pain; Opal inherits that pattern of using others. Mother’s death triggers Opal’s suicide attempt.
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The Altar / Silver Island: Symbol of origin, death, and rebirth. Opal returns to the place where she was “born” (found) to be unmade. The island “beats like a dying star.”
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Hair as Binding Force: Opal’s hair is alive, can weave cocoons, is used to anchor lovers. After death, the lovers use plant fiber and mud to bind Opal — community over isolation.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 21 is the emotional and mythological core of Opal’s story. It reveals her true nature (alukah), her origin as a being born from the suffering of girls on Silver Island, and her mother’s complicity in creating sacrificial clones. The chapter also shows Opal at her lowest — attempting suicide by lying on the altar — and the intervention of her dead lovers, who refuse to let her go. This reframes her monstrous hunger not as a curse to be escaped but as an identity to be embraced, with others willing to feed it. The chapter sets up a possible turning point: instead of ending herself, Opal might continue to exist, sustained by those who choose to give themselves to her.
3 Study Questions and Answers
1. What does the phrase “Some of us are grapefruit” mean in the context of the chapter?
Mother says this after Opal worries she is ugly. It means that not everyone is sweet or conventionally beautiful; some people are bitter, like grapefruit. Mother values that bitterness as truth, and Opal inherits that bitter, monstrous identity.
2. Why does Opal try to return to the altar and unmake herself?
Opal is driven by grief after her mother’s death and by eternal hunger. She believes she is a devil and that lying on the altar will return her to the state of a curse sleeping in the ground. She seeks an end to her insatiable need.
3. How do the dead lovers react to Opal’s suicide attempt, and what does that reveal about their relationship?
The lovers tie her down with reinforced ropes and pull her away from the altar, telling her “Then eat.” They refuse to let her die, showing that they willingly accept being consumed. This reveals a codependent, sacrificial love where the lovers find purpose in feeding Opal’s hunger, and Opal is bound to them as much as they are to her.