Gothic literature often focuses on physical and moral decline, much like how the Doyle family embodies this. The obsession with maintaining "purity" reflected anxieties about race and class, exacerbating histprical divisons European settlers and indigenous Mexicans. 

Gothic often puts the older against the modern, more enlightened protagonist. Noemi, a cosmopolitan, a educated Mexican woman, represents the future. She embraces national identity and rejects colonial dominance. her battle against the Doyle's highlights the anxieties about reclaiming the cultural identity from the colonial influence. 

The Doyle men use physical and psychological manipulation to control the women in their lives, a "Hallmark" of Gothic horror. The women's discription in the novel is the in High Place there are some things that reflect anxieties and patraiachal control and the societal constraints on the female autonomy. 

The 'fungus' that is being said a lot throughout the book isn't really a 'fungus', it serves as a Gothic metaphor for the bodily violation and lack of agency, amplifying feminist anxieties about consent and control over women's bodies.