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He is described as a zombie and he is trying to get back to a human state. But is he physically a zombie or is it just a metaphor? The whole book is sort of ambiguous about it but there are signs pointing to him being physically undead.

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Some of the signs that lead us to believe that he is physically undead is him bleeding out and him being brought back to life by the three girls. The main character being a zombie could be a representation of him being out of touch with his humanity. Hence him wanting to fix his condition and return to being human.

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This story is set in the Caribbean, more specifically at the contact zones between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. In Haiti, Vodou is a very prominent religion that can create altered states of being.

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The concept of zombies also exists in the Vodou religion. In Vodou, a zombie is someone who has been reanimated after burial and is now used to bend to the reviver's will. This is similar to in the story when the main character is brought back to life by the girls.

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The author writes about their cousin throughout the story. In one part of the story, the cousin comes to visit and he talks about the three girls falling in love with the cousin. They all seem to be competing for his attention.

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The reason I chose to write about this as a state of alterity is because the main character is on his journey to regain his humanity. He is being guided through the traits that make us human: love, empathy, etc. Through his altered state, a zombie, he is recognizing the human emotions the girls feel towards his cousin.