Chapter 17 Summary: Santángel Faces Garavito – The Familiar
⚠️ 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
The chapter opens with Santángel walking through Madrid, reflecting on the oppressive heat and his own dulled emotions. He recalls his first lesson with the kitchen maid, noting her sharp mind and her deliberate efforts to appear less clever—a survival tactic for a servant. He thinks about the decline of magic in Spain, driven by the Inquisition’s persecution of Jews and Muslims and the suppression of mystical texts.
Santángel heads to El Rastro, a rough district full of tanneries and slaughterhouses, to visit Garavito, a fur-seller and informant for Víctor. Garavito’s son Manuel, disfigured years earlier by his father, answers the door. Santángel gives the boy silver coins and orders him to leave. After a tense conversation in the courtyard—where Santángel accuses Garavito of loose talk about Víctor’s business—Garavito attacks. Santángel deliberately lets himself be stabbed multiple times in the belly, astonishing Garavito when he pulls out the knife unharmed. He then kills Garavito with near-theatrical stabs to the same areas, cuts the man’s knees, and opens the cages, allowing the hungry animals to approach the dying man. Spotting Manuel watching from a window, Santángel spares him and leaves.
He returns to Víctor’s new stone palace, where Víctor is writing. Santángel reports that Garavito “roddelt niet meer” (gossips no more). Víctor asks about the kitchen maid; Santángel replies “Zeer” (very), implying she shows promise. Alone, Santángel feels a stirring of old anger—a long‑dormant emotion that surprises him.
Key Events
| # | Event |
|---|---|
| 1 | Santángel recalls his first lesson with the kitchen maid and reflects on the decline of magic in Spain. |
| 2 | He walks through the rough southern district, avoiding notice thanks to his gift for being unseen. |
| 3 | At Garavito’s kennel, he gives silver to Manuel and tells him to go. |
| 4 | Garavito attacks Santángel with a knife; Santángel allows himself to be stabbed repeatedly. |
| 5 | Santángel pulls the knife out, unharmed, then kills Garavito with similar stabs. |
| 6 | He frees the caged animals and leaves Manuel alive, watching from the window. |
| 7 | Santángel returns to Víctor’s palace, reports Garavito’s death, and feels a spark of buried anger. |
Character Development
Santángel
- The chapter deepens his inner life. He feels disgust at Garavito’s cruelty to animals (the crying, cramped cages) and to his son, yet he still carries out the killing dispassionately.
- His decision to spare Manuel shows a flicker of mercy, even though he knows Víctor would expect him to eliminate witnesses.
- The final scene reveals that he has long suppressed emotions like anger; the encounter has stirred something dangerous and alive.
- His reflection on the kitchen maid (her cleverness hidden) shows he respects intelligence and recognizes survival strategies similar to his own.
The kitchen maid (Luzia)
- Although she does not appear in this chapter, Santángel’s thoughts establish her as clever and guarded. Her lesson has already begun to affect him positively—his step is surer, his breathing deeper.
Garavito
- A minor antagonist whose brutality is made concrete: he disfigured his own son with a hammer and skins animals alive. He dies a cruel death that mirrors his cruelty.
Manuel
- A victim of his father, now freed—but left to witness the murder. His survival is Santángel’s quiet act of rebellion.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
| Theme / Symbol | Evidence in the Chapter |
|---|---|
| The cost of servitude | Santángel reflects that he can ignore the tether connecting him to Víctor, but not for long if he does not want to suffer consequences. He calls himself a coward for fearing death more than the brutal life. |
| Decline of magic | Santángel’s internal monologue notes that magic is bleeding away with the bodies of Jews and Muslims, whose poetry is silenced and knowledge buried under synagogues turned into churches. The tolerance for “mysterious texts” like the Picatrix is being stamped out by the Pope and King Philip. |
| Cruelty to animals | Garavito’s occupation—keeping animals in cramped cages, skinning them alive—is a literal symbol of the casual violence in the world. Santángel’s act of freeing the animals is a small restoration of justice. |
| Theatrical violence | Santángel’s decision to let himself be stabbed and then to stab Garavito in the same spots is described as “theater.” It suggests that killing has become a performance deprived of meaning, yet the flare of anger at the chapter’s end hints that meaning may return. |
| Hidden intelligence | The kitchen maid hides her sharp mind; Santángel hides his true emotions. Both are in survival mode in patriarchal, oppressive systems. |
Why This Chapter Matters
- Santángel’s humanity surfaces. For the first time in the chapter, he accesses an emotion—anger—that he thought was dead. This sets up potential changes in his relationship with Víctor.
- The kitchen maid’s potential is confirmed. Santángel’s positive assessment of her lesson suggests she will play a greater role in the magic and power struggles ahead.
- The theme of colliding horrors. The decline of Spanish magic, the abuse of animals, and the casual violence of informants are all woven together, reinforcing the novel’s critique of power.
- Santángel’s moral code. By sparing Manuel, he shows he is not an unthinking weapon. This contradicts Víctor’s expectation and plants seeds of rebellion.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Santángel allow himself to be stabbed by Garavito?
Santángel admits he could have avoided the attack but felt the need for drama, perhaps because he was still agitated by the morning’s lesson. He also notes that Garavito did not deserve a quick death given his cruelty. Allowing the stabbing is both a psychological game and a reminder of his own immortality—he wants Garavito to see his invulnerability before death.
2. What does the treatment of animals in El Rastro symbolize?
The cramped kennels, the animals’ terrified eyes, and the practice of skinning them alive symbolize the casual brutality that pervades Madrid. Santángel’s freeing of the animals is a moment of symbolic justice that contrasts with the systemic cruelty he otherwise serves.
3. How does the final paragraph change our understanding of Santángel?
Santángel claims he had forgotten emotions like anger, but the chapter’s last lines show that it still “resides in him, an underground spring that could feed a great river.” This hints that his long submission to Víctor may erode, and that his suppressed feelings may eventually drive him to break free or take revenge.