Almanac of the Dead

Almanac of the Dead takes place against the backdrop of the American Southwest and Central America, focusing on the conflict between Anglo-Americans and Native Americans. It follows the stories of dozens of major characters in a non-linear narrative format, switching between the present day, lengthy flashbacks, and occasional mythological storytelling.

The novel's numerous characters are often separated by both time and space, and many seemingly have little to do with one another at first. A majority of these characters are involved in criminal or revolutionary organizations; the extended cast includes the Zapatista Army of National Liberation revolutionaries,[1] arms dealers, drug kingpins, an elite assassin, corrupt politicians, and a black market organ dealer.[2]

Driving many of these individual story-lines is a general theme of total reclamation of Native American lands, as well as a celebration of the value of storytelling.[3]

Critiquing the limitations of the American Indian Movement, the novel presents readers with the model of "tribal internationalists," individuals who work with international alliances to reclaim their Indigenous land. However, several literary critics have been critical of the novel's depiction of homosexuality, as the novel features male gay and bisexual characters who are variously abusive, sadistic, and cruel.[4]

Lecha - A “well-known psychic ... returning home” after years of being away because she is dying of cancer. Lecha “has come home to get things in order before she died.” She is Zeta's twin sister and has the ability to see into people's lives and futures, or what the Western world characterizes as a Psychic. She exploits this gift for some time in her life even becoming a TV personality before she decides to return to the work left by her grandmother. Lecha is also part of Calabazas' organization and has traveled around the Americas.

Zeta - Lecha's twin sister. She stayed in Arizona and raised Lecha's son Ferro. She, before Lecha, decided to return to the work left to them by their grandmother. Zeta and Lecha's mother were an indigenous woman from Mexico who was impregnated by a white man. After their mother dies, the twins' father returns for a strange short period in their lives. Zeta has also tied to Calabazas' organization.

Seese - A young white woman who was living in San Diego where she became an addict and fell in love with a bisexual man named David. They had a child, who was later abducted and possibly killed. When Seese watches Lecha on TV she drives to Tucson to find her.

Sterling - An older Laguna man from New Mexico who is exiled from his tribe/community after he fails to protect them from a Hollywood film crew that disrespects their native lands. He has wandered across the American Southwest since his twenties and loves to read crime histories of early America. He is recruited by two of Calabazas' men while drinking at a bar and works as a gardener for Lecha, Zeta, and Calabazas.

Yoeme - Lecha and Zeta's Maya grandmother. She abandoned her family (Lecha and Zeta's mother) when she was young because she knew they were not strong enough to survive the colonial violence of white settlers. Yoeme returns to the twins' life, teaches them harsh lessons and histories of the American Southwest, and hands them a book called The Almanac of the Dead that she wants them to finish in due time.

Calabazas - An old Yaqui Indian who has run a clandestine business and organization between Tucson and Sonora for over 40 years. Lecha was his lover for a short time, and he has a wife named Sarita. For most of his married life, he desired Sarita's younger sister Liria.

Ferro - Lecha's son. He was overweight and effeminate as a young boy and was teased a lot as well. He also harbors a lot of resentment for his mother and Zeta, even though Zeta raised him in the same cold and calculating ways Yoeme raised her. Ferro is gay and has two lovers: one in his recent past named Jamey, and another named Paulie. Ferro also works with Calabazas.

Paulie - Works at the home Zeta and Ferro live at. He controls the many dogs on the land. He was in prison with Ferro and is now his lover.

David - A bisexual artist from San Diego. He was a former escort before Beaufrey fell for him and took care of him. Beaufrey eventually helps David become a well-known artist. David is at the core of a love triangle with Seese, Eric, and Beaufrey. He and Seese have a child named Monte who was more than likely kidnapped and killed by a jealous Beaufrey.

Eric - A young gay man from a conservative family in Texas. He moves to San Diego to live his truth, but also falls in love with, and becomes a lover of David. Like Seese, Eric becomes an addict and is also hated by Beaufrey.

Jamey - Ferro's lover who is addicted to cocaine.

Root - Is part white, Mexican, and Indian. His mother was a German woman who married a dark mestizo man in the Army. Root is Lecha's on-and-off lover and is highly intelligent. However, he had a serious accident that gave him brain damage and altered his motor functions. Despite his disabilities, Root is one of Calabazas' most trusted transporters.

Mosca - A dark-skinned Mexican who is also one of Calabazas' transporters. He loves to drink and do drugs and is possibly autistic. He is also fascinated with Root's accident, which he tries to contextualize and mythologize.

Mahwala - The eldest of Calabazas' Yaqui tribe. She shares and communicates the land's and tribe's history to Calabazas.

Sarita - Calabazas' wife from the Brito family in Sonora. Her father married her to Calabazas to pay a gambling debt, and she is also said to be highly religious (Catholic).

Liria - Sarita's younger sister. She is said to have been the one to give Calabazas his name as a young girl during one of the early transports between him and their family.

Menardo - An indigenous Mexican from Chiapas. Menardo and his exploits make up the majority of this part of the text. He is a self-loathing Maya who tries to conceal any indigenous part of his self and family history. As a youth, he is fat and dark-skinned and therefore teased, so he grows up with a chip on his shoulder. He starts an insurance company that is fledgling until a major earthquake hit (a possible allusion by Silko to the major natural disaster of '85), and he pulls off a miraculous feat that makes the community members adore him. He gains many customers and other opportunities open up for him. Even though he is portrayed as a sort of lucky fool, Menardo's wealth only grows. He marries a woman named Iliana and gains monetary connections from Tucson to Guatemala.

Iliana - A local from Tuxtla whose family claims they are direct descendants of the colonizer Juan de Oñate. She grows up spoiled, and loves expensive things, but can't bear children for Menardo. She spends most of her time with the other wives of El Grupo. Her family hates Menardo.

Alegria - A woman from Venezuela that was educated in Spain. She is a white young architect working for a major firm in Mexico City. She is assigned to build Menardo's lavish house for Iliana. She lives with her boyfriend Bartolomeo in Mexico City. Alegria begins an affair with Menardo as she designs and constructs his home. Iliana suspects nothing.

General J - Is from Guatemala and is part of Menardo's inner circle. He, like others in the novel, denies he has ties to any indigenous blood. He hates communism and is actively strategizing with Menardo to quell rising rebellions within Mexico. He is basically Menardo's muscle but not in any way shown to be a subordinate of his.

Green Lee - An arms dealer from Tucson. He is another of Menardo's connections.

El Grupo - Is made up of characters that are just given names like The Police Chief, The Judge, The Governor, and The Ambassador. They occupy a central place in this part of the novel as they are the men Menardo is constantly in communication with about their money, their wives, and the state of Mexico as a country.

Angelita La Escapia - An indigenous Maya woman from Mexico City. She is the head of a leftist rebel cell that is tracking Menardo's activities. She reports back to her indigenous community members who grow suspicious of her love of Karl Marx's book Das Kapital. Her love for Marx is rooted in the idea that he is the only white man who has ever told the truth, through rigorous research and evidence, about the savagery of white people and capitalism. She views Marx through an indigenous lens and constantly speaks of his materialist shortcomings. She is also involved in a relationship with Bartolomeo, though she is plotting on him as well because he is a white Cuban who also thinks indigenous people are stupid.

Bartolomeo - A white Cuban who runs a communist center in Mexico City. He is supposed to be sleeping with Alegria to get information for his group about Menardo and others. He is generally represented as someone who is only in it for himself.

El Feo - is from the same indigenous community as Angelita La Escapia. He was sent to keep an eye on her but agrees with the ways she is organizing and moving forward.

Tacho - Menardo and Iliana's indigenous chauffeur. He deals with Menardo and Iliana's constant micro-aggressions but also helps decipher Menardo's constant surreal and violent dreams. This allows Tacho to keep Macaws in their backyard. Tacho is depicted as observant and calculating. He is tied to the same cells as Angelita, Bartolomeo, and El Feo.

Max Blue - A Vietnam War veteran known as a mafia figure/boss in New Jersey. During his time in the war, he survived a plane crash which is a sort of omen for Max. The opening of Part Three has him surviving an assassination attempt that kills his brother Bill. These events are said to change Max and make him retire from organized crime. He moves his family to Tucson, where he spends all his time playing golf.

Leah - Max's wife. She works in real estate and constantly cheats on Max because he has no interest in having sex with her. Max knows of Leah's infidelities and does not care. Though she is not fond of Arizona, Leah does manage to hustle and obtain large amounts of valuable property in the area.

Trigg - An alcoholic businessman who lost his ability to walk in a car accident. Trigg is also racist, and sexist, and becomes Leah's primary lover. He is so obsessed with power and regaining his ability to walk, that he builds a blood and organ bank with the help of his assistant Peaches, and a homeless veteran named Roy. Ultimately, readers come to find that Trigg has other means to gain donors to his organ and blood banks.

Rambo-Roy - A Vietnam War veteran. He works for Trigg but uses the money he makes to organize other homeless men, veterans in particular because he has a vision to build an army to overthrow the government. He does not trust Trigg and has a crush on the assistant Peaches.

Clinton - A Vietnam War veteran. Clinton is also the first central Black character of the novel. He is homeless like Roy, and they become partners in plotting a resistance. Clinton's focus is on liberating Black Americans from the shackles of American historical, religious, and economic bondage. Outside of Max Blue, Clinton is the most prominent figure of Part Three. He retells how he survived Vietnam, his days in college, the history of Black Indians, and how he looks to center pre-colonial African spirituality in his daily life.

Sonny Blue - Max's son, but Leah is not his biological mother. He had inherited a small portion of the family's business running slots and vending machines, yet this is not enough for him. Sonny negotiates a gun and drug deal with people in Mexico. Sonny is also cruel to Leah and his younger brother and like many other characters overtly sexist and racist.

Bingo - Max's other son, who is not only picked on by Sonny but is pathetically mediocre all his life. He developed a cocaine addiction once he found out about his father's life and business. Alongside his brother, he cares for the slots and vending machines.

Angelo - Max and Leah's nephew. Angelo's father did not want to be part of the family business, but he does. Angelo begins to work with his cousin Sonny, but Bingo does not trust the woman Angelo is in love with. Angelo also believes Sonny is money hungry and untrustworthy.

Marilyn - The woman Angelo is in love with. She also seems to have strong feelings for him but chooses to go back to be with her husband.

Peaches - Trigg's assistant. She knows all of his secrets and hints at them to Roy. Peaches is smart and calculating.

Judge Arne - Is caught up in a small scandal tied to Ferro's lover Jamey. He is not worried about it though, because Arne has found someone else on who he can place stronger blame on. Judge Arne also plays golf with Max Blue.

Although the print edition of Almanac of the Dead features a "Five Hundred Year Map,"[6][7] e-book versions of the novel omit the map. The map depicts Silko's stylized version of the heart of the novel's geographical, historical, and conceptual narrative extent, with lines radiating outward from Tucson, Arizona to New Jersey in the northeast, San Diego in the west, and Tuxtla Gutiérrez in the Mexican state of Chiapas in the south. Other cities and towns in the US and Mexico are accompanied by character names and notes that pertain to both the novel's narrative and historical events. Almanac of the Dead's complex linked narratives largely unfolds within this mapped space, although episodes also take place in or reference previous events in numerous other places (including Colombia and Argentina, and the map names Alaska, Cuba, and Haiti as part of a graphic representation "in a transnational perspective") showing "the history of the modern/colonial world system from a particular local history" centered on Tucson.[7] The map presents itself as a map of "Mexico" alone, with no mention of the United States of America and without showing contemporary state or national borders. In an interview, Silko explains that she "drew that map in Almanac as a 'glyphic' representation of the narrative. This 'glyph' shows how the Americas are 'one,' not separated by artificial, imaginary 'borders.' The landscapes, the spirits of the places are known by the narratives that originate in these places."[8] The map corresponds roughly to the novel's complex structure, which consists of six named parts divided into books and named chapters.

Much of the story takes place in the narrative "present", although lengthy flashbacks and myths tied to indigenous knowledge are also woven into the plot.