SOURCE: “Power and Resistance in De noche vienes,” in Hispanic Journal, Vol. 16, No. 2, Fall, 1995, pp. 285–96.

In the following essay, Vargas studies the constant changes in power that occur in De noche vienes.

As the bulk of her fiction, her testimonial literature,¹ her public lectures, and the criticism of her work attest, Elena Poniatowska concerns herself mainly with giving a voice to the disenfranchised and denouncing social problems in Mexico City.² In works such as Hasta no verte Jesús mío and Fuerte es el silencio she speaks out for the destitute, the homeless, the children who sell gum and newspapers on the streets, and those who have disappeared, among others. In Gaby Brimmer she relates the difficulties of a young woman with cerebral palsy; while in Todo empezó el domingo she recuperates the daily activities of the poor, the places they visit, and their traditional customs. La...