Ena Lucía Portela's Cien botellas en una pared, Beyond End-Oriented Readings

Ena Lucía Portela9s Cien botellas en una pared (One Hundred Bottles) centers on
the tumultuous romantic relationship between the narrator, a woman named Zeta, and Moisés, a former magistrate of the Cuban High Court who recurrently abuses Zeta. When, after many instances of domestic violence, Moisés dies under mysterious circumstances, readers may be tempted to interpret the novel as a conventional feminist narrative, wherein a male antagonist faces consequences for his violence against a woman. However, as elucidated by Gulddal, King, and Rolls in the introduction to their edited volume Criminal Moves. Modes of Mobility
in Crime Fiction (2019), end-oriented interpretations may prove misleading and overly simplistic, as they may overlook other nuance textual meanings. This article seeks to transcend the bias toward end-oriented readings, demonstrating that Cien botellas en una pared is a highly nuanced novel. Leveraging crime fiction conventions, it subverts traditional takes of the genre (from which it frequently departs) and directs attention to many elements beyond the resolution of the crimes committed by Moisés.