The Mark of Cain (Gay)

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Roxane Gay

The Mark of Cain

2017

Summary of the Short Story

Microsummary: Identical twins shared everything, including one's wife. The cruel brother's legal marriage contrasted with the kind brother's secret relationship. Their deception deepened with twins on the way.

Short Summary

A young woman was married to one of two identical twin brothers.

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The Narrator — narrator, young woman, married to Caleb, wears heavy eyeliner and dark lipstick, aware of twins' deception, complex relationship with both brothers.

Her husband Caleb and his twin brother Jacob regularly switched places, though they thought she didn't know.

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Caleb — identical twin, architect, narrator's legal husband, violent and unkind, dark hair and blue eyes, left-handed, has father's tattoo on back.

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Jacob — identical twin, architect, kinder than his brother, dark hair and blue eyes, left-handed, has father's tattoo on back.

While Caleb was violent and cruel, Jacob showed kindness and tenderness. The brothers shared everything, including Caleb's girlfriend Cassie, who believed she was dating Jacob. When the narrator became pregnant, she went to a doctor's appointment with Caleb.

As the doctor glides the sonogram wand across the lower round of my belly, she turns a knob on the machine. 'Do you hear that?' she asks. The room is silent but for the identical flutters of two heartbeats.

Detailed Summary

Summary sections do not match original text structure.

A Marriage Built on Deception

A woman lived in an unusual marriage arrangement with her husband Caleb and his identical twin Jacob. The brothers regularly switched places, though they believed she was unaware of their deception.

My husband is not a kind man and with him, I am not a good person. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and he, Caleb, is kneeling over me, his fingers tracing my neck. I place my hands over his.

The Brothers' Troubled History and Legacy

The twins shared a troubled history, marked by their father's abuse. After his death at the hands of a woman he had beaten, they chose to forgive and idealize him, even mixing his ashes into tattoos on their backs.

A Complex Web of Relationships and Identities

The narrator preferred Jacob's company and his gentler nature. The brothers ran an architecture firm together, which facilitated their identity swapping. Jacob had a girlfriend named Cassie, who was actually Caleb's girlfriend, though she remained unaware of the switch.

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Cassie — graduate student in museum studies, officially Jacob's girlfriend but actually Caleb's, unaware of twins' deception.

This is when they are at their best—when they are together, sharing the same moment. There is safety, for them, in the number two.

The Cycle of Violence and Tenderness

The relationship with Caleb was marked by violence and abuse, particularly when he drank. During these episodes, he would reveal disturbing stories about his childhood and become physically aggressive. In contrast, Jacob showed tenderness and remorse for his brother's actions, often comforting the narrator after Caleb's violent outbursts.

What I want to say is that I know who he is and that I would choose him, I would always forever choose him, but I also know his first love is his brother, so I say nothing.

The Revelation of Generational Patterns

The narrator discovered she was pregnant, and Jacob was the first to find out. He expressed joy and suggested they could leave together, but his loyalty to his brother prevented any real escape. During a doctor's appointment with Caleb, they learned she was carrying twins, a revelation that brought their complex relationship full circle.

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The Twins' Father — deceased, abusive father of Caleb and Jacob, died from gunshot wound, violent alcoholic who drove away their mother.

I married Caleb but I prefer Jacob's company. When Jacob and I make love, there is a sorrowful kindness to his touch. I never worry about being left asunder.

The story revealed how the cycle of abuse and deception continued through generations, with the impending birth of twins suggesting the pattern might persist. The narrator remained trapped in this complex dynamic, bound by her love for Jacob and her inability to escape the shadow of their father's influence on both brothers.

My husbands have a father who was neither a good father nor a kind man. When he died, shot in the head by a woman he had beaten one time too many, Jacob and Caleb immediately forgave their father his trespasses.

The pregnancy announcement brought their twisted family dynamic into sharp focus, highlighting how the brothers' shared trauma and codependency had created a cycle that would likely continue through another generation of twins.