In Passage seven of “The Author's Dedication”, Clarice Lispector uses similes, visual imagery, and rhetorical questioning to help him both introduce the importance of Macabea along with characterizing himself. Lispector begins by writing, “Yes, I belong to no social category, marginal as I am. The upper classes consider me a strange creature, the middle classes regard me with suspicion, afraid that I might unsettle them, while the lower classes avoid me” (Lispector 18). Viewing himself as an outcast, the narrator does not believe he belongs to one group in particular. The way he believes others view him is almost of disgust. He isn't viewed as an equal to them, barely even a human. This made me consider how individuals in our society treat and view one another. From being rich and having many possessions to being poor and owning few items, no matter the social class, individuals still are judgemental over the lives of the others. As the passage develops this pattern continues when the narrator both contradicts and questions. While discussing the process of writing, Lispector writes, “It is as hard as breaking rocks. Sparks and splinters fly like shattered steel” (19). The simile is the narrator's way of stating how hard it can be to discuss topics such as money running tight. He is trying to show that there is more to a person than looks and money. By choosing to write a story surrounding the character of Macabea, the narrator is able to provide a new perspective. Lispector then writes, “with stiff, contaminated fingers I must touch the invisible in its own squalor” (19). This visual/kinesthetic imagery is used to make others aware of the struggles Macabea has. The narrator, Rodrigo, characterizes Macabea by showing how invisible and unimportant she is portrayed by individuals of the middle and higher classes. Rather than ignoring the fact that she is different, the narrator has empathy for her in order to help him understand her character.
Although still confusing and difficult for one, and me personally to comprehend, within section four, the importance of diction has a large impact on the message being conveyed. The narrator uses simple words and phrases in a complicated way to give off a simple message and meaning to the small section. The diction used, although written in a confusing way, foreshadows the simple message; no matter how advanced the language is that is used, the message will always be the same and there will always be a hidden meaning. The narrator states, “Remember that, no matter what I write, my basic material is the word. So this story will consist of words that form phrases from which there emanates a secret meaning that exceeds both words and phrases” (14-15). Just within those two sentences, the reader is able to comprehend the goal of the narrator as he is trying to display the idea that all of his work will have a hidden meaning, a word is just a word, but the meaning and theme behind it means far more. The narrator puts himself on his own literature pedistal as he has many different nouns, phrases, and words he could put to use but only the average reader would not have the capacity to understand; giving him reason as to why he does not use such advanced language. He puts down the essence of a random girl and believes he must “dumb himself down” in order for her to understand his language, meaning and purpose. With the diction used, he is able to make the girl seem as one that is completely uneducated and depicts her as a girl that obtains very little knowledge as well.
due to the use of language throughout the novel, I too found it difficult to thoroughly understand the meanings behind the text. I too got a similar vibe from that section but after reading mine my thoughts changed. The narrator almost sounds more understanding and empathetic as the novel develops. It seems like he wants to truly uncover who the real Macabea is
The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector is one of the most in depth narrative about the struggle of life. It explores all of life's questions, all the while doing it ever so subtly that if you were not paying attention, you wouldn’t even notice. I love this book for all of its dry humor, for all of its deep hidden meanings shadowed by a thin veil of words, and for all of its insight into the human experience. This passage explains how he will write the girl's story, and his goals in writing her story. He wants to capture her existence perfectly, and if he succeeds in capturing her existence, he will have a greater understanding of himself and the world around him, while creating art in the process. In order to create art, you must do so with the simplest of means. Art can be anything. Art can be a word or art can be an action. To me, art is anything that captures: a moment in time, a person perfectly and concisely, or anything in a precise way leaving the rest to the imagination. I believe that there is artistic value in everything if you look at it simply enough, and I think the narrator would agree. Even the mundane boredom of someone day to day life is beautiful. The purpose of the narrators book it to capture that beauty in the form of macabea. One of the main themes presented in this passage is, art is effortless in the making, but often hard to understand once it is made. For example, Macabea’s life is boring and even sad, but it is beautiful. The way she can go through life ignorant to her true ‘emptiness’ and sorrow is amazing. She never pays attention to her surroundings, or even other people for that matter. She is so traumatized by her own day to day that she is shut off from the world around her. In one passage it even says that she forgets whole days. She is extremely intriguing to the narrator, because he is so in tune with his surroundings, himself, and other people, that he cannot possible be happy. For he sees life as it truly is, suffering.
2)Lispector's chooses to include the prehistory and creation of the world to show how small things can make enormous impacts. She write, “everything in the world began with a yes. One molecule said yes to another molecule and life was born” (Lispector 11). Like the interaction between two molecules, small actions often times go unnoticed. This in particular pertains to the divided social classes of Rio de Janeiro and the roles and effects each class plays on each other. The prehistory Lispector includes symbolized how although not everything can be, it all still exists. She then returns to the idea of molecules when she writes, “I shall one day assume the form of a molecule with its potential explosion of atoms” (13). Rodrigo wants to have the ability to understand Macabea and her life. Lispector writes this because she wants her readers to understand the concept of life and he struggles individuals are faced with each day.
7)Macabeas death represents how sudden changes take place. The whole novel surrounded Macabea, a poor girl living in Rio with nobody and nothing. Society chooses to ignore these problems to focus on conflicts affecting themselves. Lispector writes, “The abrupt death of Macabea did not affect anyone. Her life wasn't valued by others and she wasn't viewed highly due to low class life. Lispector is stating that no matter who someone may be or what their life is like, we all start and end up the same way. Death is inevitable and it is inhumane to treat others unequally due to how they are portrayed and viewed in society. Lispector's experimental style in Hour of the Star helps to demonstrate how society chooses to ignore problems rather than taking the initiative to fix something. Although Macabea died, many individuals in her same situation will continue to struggle. Lispector writes, “death is an encounter with self. Laid out and dead, Macabea looked as dead as dead stallion… She is finally free of herself and of me… Macabea is dead” (85). Macabea was better dead than alive. During her life she never received the life she deserved.
8)Lispector writes that, “one never forgets someone who one has slept with”. Since Macabea is a virgin she is less likely to be remembered by anyone whom she had encountered during her life. Lispector is trying to get people to understand that there is more to a person than their looks and reputations. Just because Macabea died a virgin doesn't make her any less important than anyone else's life.
What is the significance of the beginning, where Rodrigo talks about the beginning of the world? How does that relate to the rest of the story?
The story is really just a huge mix of all of Rodrigo’s thoughts within his mind and his questions about life that he is in the process of finding the answers to by writing this book about Macabea. He states, “Forgive me but i'm going to keep talking about me who am unknown to myself, and as I write I'm a bit surprised because i discover i have a destiny” (7). Similar to how he believes the world started, he is trying to figure out his destiny and how he started as a writer. There are so many questions he has about life and his own personal life that he will not be successful in finding the answer of until he begins writing. By beginning the book with the way in which Rodrigo believes the world started, it foreshadows how he must start with this book in order to find or get closer to the answers he has about his own life.
How is Latin American culture reflected in this novel? If Macabea were an American woman, would the story change in a way?
When giving a description of the girl, Macabea, that he is writing about, on page seven Rodrigo states, “...without trumpeting my humility for then it wouldn't be humble-i limit myself to telling of the lame adventures or a girl in a city that’s entirely against her.” Macabea was one that sold her body for money and during the time period and within the culture of Rio De Janeiro, this act was heavily looked down upon. “The entire city is against her” and her choice in how she may raise money to survive. Since that was such a frowned upon act within that culture it easily shows where they came from. I believe that the same thing occurred within the American culture as well, and still is. The story would obviously change a small amount due to general differences in the American and Rio culture although the main idea of the story would stay the same.
What role does gender play in the story? Why is the narrator male? Is there culture and/or thematic significance for the gender roles?
I believe by having a male narrator to the story it shows the difference in level of education and foreshadows the inequality between men and women during the time period. To this day women are still fighting for equal rights within our society, now although far better, there are still many things that put men above women in our society. The same event occurred during the time period of the book being written although only worse. By having a male narrator it symbolises that male were above women and many had far more education as well, possibly the reason as to why Rodrigo views himself so highly above Macabea due to his intellectual skills in literature.
1. What was Lispector’s purpose in writing the book? What is the theme? Her purpose was to convey philosophical themes that she had experienced throughout her writing career. In the book, she wrote about the nature of truth, meaning of existence, power of language, finality of death, and role of spirituality. It’s also noted that this was her last book before she died, as it was a tribute to her whole writing career. She also wrote this book to show a perspective of a poor, starving girl that wants love and attention, just like many people in the world. The story provides a good social commentary of the haves and have-nots. It’s also noted that the narrator doesn’t seem content with himself, and uses the story of Macabea to show the differences of their nature. She seems very happy and enjoys life, even though she is very ugly and poor.
10. What is the point of Rodrigo’s introduction? The point of his introduction is to foreshadow what type of story he is going to write about. It’s interesting how he doesn’t understand who he is, as well as who his protagonist in the story is. For example, he seems very unsure about the common causes of life. He relates many of the themes from his own life to help describe this distraught but happy girl.
11. Is Rodrigo the protagonist of this novel? Or is it Macabea? In my opinion, Macabea is the protagonist of the novel. Rodrigo seems to be the one in the most conflict, which could mean he is the main protagonist. But he uses the story of Macabea to describe in deeper context these questions of life, therefore making her the main protagonist in the story. She is the stereotypical person who is in complete hardship, while we know little to nothing about the narrator and why he is questioning himself. It is obvious, however, why Macabea’s life sucks, and even stranger that she is happy.
In her novel The Hour of the Star, Clarice Lispector creates a variety of characters in order to allude to the bible.
The title itself, Hour of the Star alludes to the strong leadership of Christ. Stars are most commonly associated with freedom and guidance (such as the North star). In the bible, the ‘star’ refers to “all heavenly bodies” apart from the sun and moon. Stars are also connected with both the light and leadership that Christ brings. In the bible it states, “2 Peter 1:19: ...until the day dawns, and the morning star rises in your hearts.” The “Morning star” refers to Jesus Christ bringing light into the “darkness” of the world but also to Macabea’s strong character. Although not looked highly upon, she continues to put up a fight and go through with each of her long tiring work days. Both characters symbolize freedom in different ways. While Jesus helps to guide individuals to attain freedom, Macabea is only able to become free after her life struggle comes to an end.
In the beginning of the novel, Lispector makes a biblical allusion to Adam and Eve . Narrator Rodrigo S.M. states, “Meantime I want to walk naked or in rags; I want to experience at least once the insipid flavor of the Hos. To eat communion bread will be to taste the world's indifference and to immerse myself in nothingness” (19). Rodrigo strives to attain a simple, carefree, and basic life similar to life of Macabea’s character.
A location Lispector speaks of a location known as “San Miguel”. In the bible San Miguel or St. Michael is one of the three angel names that are mentioned in the bible. Saint Michael, a defender of the church, is also said to assist souls at “the hour of death”. Gloria, the roomate and friend of Macabea states that many of the curses were cured for her at San Miguel, Lispector could be relating the cured curses to the presence of Saint Michael.
Macabea is a virgin and due to her purity she can be viewed as heroic in terms of the bible. Lispector writes, “the anonymous girl of this story is so ancient that she could be described as biblical” (30). The character of Macabea achieves the status of a Saint yet is only viewed as a low class girl from the slums. Lispector also writes, “mysterious God of others sometimes bestowed on her a state of grace. Bliss, bliss, bliss. Her soul almost took flight”. Although she does not believe in God, Macabea is such an empty, pure, and innocent character that she can be viewed as one of God's saints.
Lispector writes, “Sin tempts me, forbidden pleasures lure me” (70). This references the Seven Deadly Sins as it directly relates to lust. This comes up as Rodrigo struggles during his writing process. Just as its tempting not to commit a sin, its hard for him to continue
“This is your God who commanded us to invent” (8). Alone, this would quote would seem to instruct power and hope, inspiring humans, under God, to go out with the power that is God-given, to invent and create. Yet, under the pessimistic, unbelieving tone Rodrigo takes on, this quote is sarcastic in a sense, where Rodrigo pokes fun at those who believe in God. Additionally, this quote speaks to the foolishness of human nature, looking at how Rodrigo may think religion acts as an excuse for humans to ignore problems or use it as a solution to problems instead of taking on the problem themselves, similar to existentialism, or also how Rodrigo believes humans invent happiness, a "foolish" word.
“To eat communion bread will be to taste the world’s indifference, and to immerse myself in nothingness” (19). In Christian religion, communion bread is thought of the be the flesh of Jesus, breadified, which, when eaten, saves an individual and his or her soul through acceptance of Him. However, the irony in this quote quite plainly reveals Rodrigo’s disbelief in religion and the hope of God, that there is nothing in it, that following religion is just another step of the insignificant people in the world trying to find purpose and meaning when the world is indifferent, drawing parallels with existentialism.
“The typist lived in a kind of limbo, hovering between heaven and hell” (36). The limbo here is a fairly straightforward allusion to purgatory, the place where one must go through purification in order to ascend to heaven. This is ironic as Macabea has done no wrong, yet she lives in purgatory, not in hell, where one might expect her to reside in because of her surroundings and misery. She is blissfully unaware of her situation, yet Rodrigo and the reader are all too painfully aware of her life. With Rodrigo’s pessimistic realist view of the world in mind, it may be that Rodrigo is commenting yet again on how, similar to how humanity leaves Macabea to suffer, so does God leave humanity to suffer.
As Rodrigo kills off Macabea, he lends to her a homage of sorts, “Macabea, Hail Mary, full of grace, serene land of forgiveness,” (82). A hail mary is a traditional Catholic prayer, though many know it more so for the football play. What’s interesting here, is that Macabea, previously in the book, was compared to Mary, even serving as Mary in a few ways, such as dying a virgin. When Rodrigo says “Hail Mail”, it can be interpreted that he is saying to hail Macabea herself, to celebrate Macabea as the deliverer of our savior, that she is the sacrificial lamb to show the audience and the world all that is wrong with the world
Throughout Clarice Lispector’s Hour of the Star, narrator Rodrigo S.M. refers to Macabea in a variety of dehumanizing ways. In first half of the book in particular, Macabea is known to the reader as “the girl” and “the northeastern girl” as if she were never given a name. Names are symbolic of individuals identities. This same instance occurs up to the point Olimpico is introduced when Lispector writes, “if you don't mind my asking, what's your name?” Followed by Macabea stating her name “Macabea”(Lispector 43). The fact that Rodrigo does not refer to Macabea by her real name implies that she isn't deemed worthy of one due to her impoverished nature.
Rodrigo states, “I know that there are girls who sell their bodies, their only real possession, in exchange for a good dinner rather the usual mortadella sandwich. But the person whom I am about to describe scarcely has a body to sell; nobody desires her, she is a harmless virgin whom nobody needs” (14). Rodrigo S.M is criticizing Macabea and her body as he believes she is useless and has no true role. The fact that nobody desires her portrays how low members of society viewed both the less fortunate and insignificant women.
Rodrigo states, “No one paid any attention to her on the street, for she was as appetizing as cold coffee” (Lispector 27). Few people would prefer cold coffee over warm just as many would prefer not to be associated with the character of Macabea.
Lispector writes, “She had been be in a legacy misfortune, a creature from nowhere with the expression of someone who apologizes for occupying too much space” (26). Rather than referring to Macabea as the human she is, Rodrigo calls her a creature. This dehumanizing nature is symbolic of the role of the social classes in Rio de Janeiro as the lower are viewed as insignificant and unworthy.
“Not knowing sounds awful, but it was not so awful for the girl knew lots of things just as a dog knows how to wag its tail or a better how to feel hungry” (28) Rodrigo continues to dehumanize Macabea by comparing her to an animal. Dogs in particular are domesticated by their masters to listen and obey their commands. This instance is also symbolic of the role women played in society as they were not viewed as highly as men.
After the breakup between Macabea and Olimpico, he states, “you, Macabea, are like a hair in the soup. Nobody feels like eating it. Sorry to hurt your feelings, but I'm being honest” (51). Olimpico states this to show Macabea how undesirable and ugly he truly views her. Just as nobody wants a hair in their food, nobody wants Macabea. Lispector writes these rude dehumanizing remarks throughout the novel to demonstrate how low and unimportant lower class individuals were viewed.
Later the Lispector writes, “You, Maca, looking like Marilyn Monroe? Have you seen yourself in a mirror?” (64). Macabea gets criticized by Olimpico for wanting to emulate Marilyn Monroe. However due to her “bad” looks, Olimpico suggest that she will never be able to be as beautiful and successful as the well known celebrity, Marilyn Monroe.
In The Hour of the Star, Clarice Lispector characterizes Macabea in many dehumanizing ways, making her inferior to a “normal” human being. Throughout the story, she is described as a girl “born with a legacy of misfortune, a creature from nowhere with the expression of someone who apologizes for occupying too much space” (26). Rodrigo goes to as far as calling her a waste of space, and that her existence isn’t even necessary. He doesn’t even call her by her name, and refers to her as a “creature from nowhere”, which deems her subhuman or not human at all.
As Rodrigo continues to characterize her, he says, “The girl did not know that she existed, just as a dog doesn’t know that it’s a dog” (27). Now he is downgrading her to an animal, “a dog”. Dogs don’t have a subconscious that humans have, so is Rodrigo hinting that she needs to be tamed because she is lost? Maybe, as later in the story she searches for someone that can love her back, but doesn’t understand how poor and ugly she truly looks. It’s not until later when she meets the fortune teller that her fate is decided.
Later in passages, Rodrigo states that she “was subterranean and had never really flowered” (30). It can be noted that he continues to relate her to symbolic references and never mentions her actual name. He relates her to a flower, but not a normal flower, only one that is still stuck in the earth, concealed from the outside world. This is an obvious connection to her nature (pun intended), as she is completely hidden from her surroundings as people don’t care about her, but she on the inside is beautiful and happy like any girl would be.
He continues to describe her, saying “she merely exists, inhaling and exhaling, inhaling and exhaling” (23). Now, she is saying all she can do is breathe, and that she is useless otherwise.
Earlier in the passage, Rodrigo says that she “scarcely has a body to sell; nobody desires her…” (14). This dehumanizes her even more, while also foreshadowing her later fallout with her boyfriend Olympico. He never desired her, nor loved her.
“No one would teach her how to die one day: yet one day she would surely dies as if she had already learned by heart how to play the starring role” (28). Again, Rodrigo shows that no one cares if she would die, because she has no friends or peers in the first place. Before this quote, it describes how her family would beat her and she seemed to show no feelings. The narrator wanted to make it clear her that if she died, no one would care, dehumanizing her even more.
"[She] scarcely has a body to sell; nobody desires her..." (14) "They aren't even aware of the fact that they are superfluous, and that nobody cares a damn about their existence," (14) "No one paid attention to her on the street, for she was, as appetizing as cold coffee," (21) "...She has clung to my skin like some viscous glue or contaminating mud" (21) "Macabea was undeniably a primitive creature" (46) "-Macabea, you're like a hair in one's soup" (60)
The author uses dehumanizing language for Macabea in order to complete his goal of being impartial and cold towards his subject. He fails at this in many occasions, mentioning how he loves her, how he must write about her, and how he wants to recount her life. Social class, however, is most of what is relayed through these quotes. In Rio de Janeiro, during the time period in which this book takes place, social classes and races did not mix, for they were separated into two differing worlds. The references that Rodrigo makes towards Macabea in these quotes is one of dehumanization, treating her like an animal, calling her primitive and directly objectifying her. Stating her existence as superfluous generates the inference that Rodrigo does not think that Macabea matters in any way. These three quotes allude to the idea that Rodrigo does not think Macabea matters in any way; he sees her like an animal, someone who has no humanity, someone subhuman. This reflects the general thinking of this time period. Calling her a hair in one's soup or contaminating mud further expands on this thought. These things are something that ordinary people would not want to encounter in their daily lives, instances where they would be repulsed and repelled by the object, so the comparison between lower and higher classes continues, with Rodrigo constantly belittling Macabea for a status she cannot help, especially in this time period. Another way that Rodrigo characterizes Macabea is through comparisons. First comparing her to cold coffee, as to make her seem unappetizing, unwanted, eliciting disgust in others. The irony in this is that Macabea, throughout the book, enjoys cold coffee as a special treat, revels in the joy that it gives her, which continues the constant motif of contradiction introduced in the first chapter.
In The Hour of the Star, the narrator, Rodrigo S.M. tries to stay objective to the story of the unfortunate young woman that he is telling, even bordering on downright heartless at times. There are many quotes found throughout the book that can be considered as dehumanizing to Macabea, such as “It’s as good as saying that a healthy dog is worth more” (34). This is a metaphor that Rodrigo S.M. uses to refer to his earlier sentence “she is a misfit even in this world” (33) due to the fact that she has a “diseased body.” By comparing the two, he is demeaning Macabea’s worth as a human being by implying that her misfortunes make her so unsuited for this world that even a dog is worth more because at least it is healthy.
Another quote by Rodrigo S.M. in the novel is “but Macabea’s voice was as rough and tuneless as the rest of her body” (50). Rodrigo S.M. constantly demeans her throughout the story in ways such as this quote which compares her voice and singing to the rest of her. By demeaning Macabea in this fashion, he is just emphasizing how miserable she is and yet, she doesn’t seem to realize how pitiful she seems to others such as Rodrigo.
A third quote is “she was no idiot yet she possessed the pure happiness of idiots” (68) which is a quote from Rodrigo after Macabea visits the doctor. This is a comment on how she is ignorant of her own misfortunes, a fact that Rodrigo seems to find incredulous and unbelievable.
“Embracing the wall was like embracing herself” (78) is a quote from after Macabea visits Madame Carlota, a simile comparing Macabea and a wall.
Rodrigo S.M. is sometimes objective to the point of being purposefully insulting and dehumanizing, but that might be the point as it allows him to be able to observe the story with clear judgement. By dehumanizing Macabea, it makes it easier to be so objective about the story, the very goal that Rodrigo S.M. narrates at the beginning of the novel.
One device Clarice Lispector uses to create her experimental novel a stream of consciousness. While discussing the style of how the story of Macabea will be told, the narrator Rodrigo states that he will not write a story with a “beginning, a middle, and a ‘grand finale’ (Lispector 14). Lispector’s novel The Hour of the Star not only tells the story of a poor girl living in the slums of Rio De Janeiro but also discusses the struggle Rodrigo has writing the story about Macabea. As the novel continues to progress, Rodrigo S.M. seems to become more connected to the characters he is writing about. This factor supports Hour of the Star being an experimental novel as Rodrigo (the narrator who does not in fact know the characters he is writing about), begins to connect and write about them as if he had a personal connection with each of them.
Another aspect to an experimental novel is creating a highly unlikeable main character. In Lispector’s novel, this role is taken on by narrator Rodrigo S.M. While discussing how he will write his story, Rodrigo states, “I want my story to be cold and impartial. Unlike the reader, I reserve the right to be devastatingly cold…” (13). In the beginning of the novel, Rodrigo makes it very clear that the feelings he has will be left out of the story he plans to write. This separation Rodrigo creates between himself and the reader gives off a tone of arrogance as he almost believes he has superiority and power over them (resulting in an unlikeable character). Rodrigo being an anti hero is supported through his portrayal of macabea as a dull and worthless girl from the slums. He states, “Not knowing sounds awful, but it was not so awful for the girl knew lots of things just as dog knows how to wag its tail....” (28) Comparing a Macabea to a dog indicates that she is not only worthy of human characteristics, but she is not desired and viewed by others as much more. This desire to create a cold novel in which encompasses a poor dying girl supports why Rodrigo is an antihero.
Another prime example of an anti hero is Macabea. The term anti hero is defined as “a central character in a story, movie, or drama who lacks conventional heroic attributes”. In the Hour of the Star, Rodrigo S.M.’s story revolves around the life of Macabea and how low of a life she truly lives. The life of Macabea is very ordinary and plain as nobody wants or thinks highly of her due to her strange mind and undesirable body. Rodrigo states that Macabea had been “born with a legacy of misfortune” (26) and that “She does not do anything heroic throughout the the entire novel and does not become a “star” until her death.
In addition to the anti heros in Hour of the Star, the novel also includes many contradictory statements. Rodrigo in particular contradicts himself as he discusses Macabea and his conflicting feelings towards her (i.e. when he dehumanizes her). Throughout the novel, Rodrigo continues to contradict many of his statements regarding Macabea. The contradictory and conflicting issues Rodrigo runs into are symbolic of how indecisive and erratic humans are.
From the first page of the book one can easily tell that it is far different than most novels. The first page begins off with talking about the beginning’s of beginning and the pre-pre world rather than starting right into the story; it explains the thoughts and ideas that first came to Rodrigo’s/Lispector’s mind when writing the story. The audience is able to see the thoughts that went through each author's mind in order to create the amazingly difficult novel we are reading. Most novels only present the finished product of the authors thought which is the story itself. The audience never knows how the author was able to get to the story they came up with although within The Hour of the Star the audience is able to see the thought process of how the story formed. The whole novel is almost more two stories rather one as Lispector is writing about Rodrigo and his personal journey through figuring out life, while within the story about him, simultaneously he is writing about Macabea and her life. It makes me believe that Lispector basically had to think of two stories only to create one making me wonder which story she more personally relates with. Compared to most novels, many times one will find a novel that has one main theme, message, and plot to the story, while this has multiple when comparing the story of Rodrigo’s journey to Macabea’s journey. It is an experiment while playing with people’s mind and thoughts testing how well one is able to process and understand the similarities and differences between the two lives. Found in the beginning of the novel, Rodrigo brings his train of thought to a halt and states that he will ‘now begin the story of Macabea.’ This statement is one that is rarely found in a novel as most start the story the first page. Within The Hour of the Star the ‘beginning’ of the story really doesn't start for a few pages in giving another twist to the audience.
(Hi, I've been super behind on blog posts, and I'm not going to make excuses because it was poor time management, but here are entries for all the missing ones and the new one!)
Blog Number 1 - Clarice Lispector Background The short biography detailing Clarice Lispector’s life and work were useful in helping me further understand the plight of Macabea within The Hour of the Star, as well as giving me further insight into her writing style. Parts of her life are similar and comparable with items that Macabea is characterized with, especially the living in Northeast Brazil and being a refugee. Clarice was always classed as a foreigner, both because of her exotic beauty and a speech impediment that made her language seem accented, non native, even if she had grown and matured with it. She is considered a rarity in her time, due to not reveling in fame like the authors of that period did, as well as the themes and plots of her books not being traditional, estranging her from critics’ opinions due to the extremely poetic writing style and philosophical themes that did not seem to fit within a work of fiction. Macabea is estranged from society due to her odd antics, her unappealing looks and nature, and her purely ordinary form of being. Also being low on the rungs of the ladder of social class, she is an outcast and is mostly ignored or condescended upon by other citizens of this area and of this time period. Lispector’s writing style is also one that is discovered here, for it is less plot driven and more motivational; she does not want to entertain but rather reach a means of philosophical, theological, and self understanding. She does this by writing about themes, in a stream of consciousness and in unconventional storytelling ways. One of her published works, for example, is a long letter to an ex lover, which is not something that would usually garner attention or be considered remotely good literature.
Blog Number 2 - Close Reading Passage Our group discussed the close reading of passage number 5. This passage expounded upon the expectations that the writer had of the reader in writing this story. It is important since it is one of the first and marked instances where an essential element of the experimental novel appears’ the breaking of the fourth wall. It doesn’t fully consist of Rodrigo speaking to the reader persay, but it appears as him performing a meta analysis on the style of writing, something that seems to be a common occurrence throughout the book. He speaks about his writing, about how the reader should not expect scintillating stars for it will be an opaque read, how it is jarring and widely disliked, and talking about how it will be like trying to extract gold from charcoal. I believe that these insights are related to those that Clarice had on her own novels, and she is speaking to the reader through her characters. Because as analysed in the biography, there were critics that did not understand nor appreciate the style of her work, so she is expressing these insecurities and distressing thoughts in her writing. She is not pursuing a means to please those that read it, but rather, to expand and explore the realms of self discovery and spiritual and philosophical discovery as well. Another notable effect that was in this section of the passage was another feature of an experimental novel. The mention of time with the distinct lack of chronology and acknowledgement of such are one of the features presented. Rodrigo says that he wants to jump to the end, however he must begin at the beginning, but his impatience is such that he does not wish to do so, and later in the passage going with “allegro con brio”. These are ironic, especially when related to the overall structure of the book. This book is structured so about half of it occupied a stream of consciousness, or the process of writing being written on the page, while the other half is actually dedicated to the plot and story itself. The impatience mentioned has no effect on this, for the circular writing that is occurring is apparent throughout and just comes back to the writer struggling to start over and over again. All these mentions of time are related to the odd order of the events in the story, with “allegro con brio” representing a speedup in tempo, or the writer telling himself to stop stalling in his description of how he will write, and begin writing the story.
Blog Post 3 - Class Discussion What does Macabea’s death represent? How does it fit in with the overall message of the book? At the beginning, my group’s background information research was on the Maccabees. Through reading of multiple sources, we concluded that Macabea’s relation to this group was one that parodied their existence, their rebellion. They led the Jewish in their struggle for freedom against the Syrian government, had a constant rebellious attitude, and fought and died gloriously Macabea’s death was relatively lonesome and sad, for she had just been told that her life was about to turn around for the better and in a twist of ‘fate’, she got ran over by a foreign man, a person that she was foretold to marry. Macabea’s death parodies that of the Maccabees by being silent, unannounced, and unglorified. Her death scene was described as follows: “Macabea is dead. The bells were ringing without making any sound” (85). She was not given the ability to protest in her life, for she was written by Rodrigo as a complacent being, perfectly happy and naive with her way of life, and either did not realise or did not care enough to escape her misery. Is Rodrigo the protagonist of this novel? Or Macabea? Rodrigo is the most prominent character of this novel, as readers get an insight into his thoughts, his feelings, and his difficulties, as well as his purpose in writing the story of Macabea. In the middle of the book, we find that Macabea is not even a real character, for Rodrigo invented her, inspired upon a girl from the Northeast that he spotted on the street. Macabea then, is only a device for both Lispector and Rodrigo to transmit philosophical ideas and thoughts. Since the novel is very meta analytical, I believe Lispector inserted herself into the role of Rodrigo for most of the book, and is therefore transmitting some of her most important revelations and thoughts through their conjunctive writing, but also through the telling of the story of the poor girl from the Northeast. What is the significance to the reference to Julius Caesar (“Et tu, Brute? 84)? This phrase is believed to be the last that Julius uttered before his death. It is meant to symbolize betrayal and disbelief, as he discovered one of his best friends, Brutus, amongst those senators that were surrounding him in his assassination, and so it is an exclamation of both disbelief and pure betrayal. The sentence spoken by Rodrigo directly after, “Yes, this was the way that I hoped to announce that- that Macabea was dead” (84), is a complete betrayal from his part as a narrator to Macabea. His actions throughout the book lamented her life, they were taking pity on her, and he treated and wrote about her as if she were a living, breathing woman. His character grew to embrace her being, even going so far as to claiming he loves her, and with her name evolving from “the girl from the Northeast”, to “Macabea”, and then to the more endearing “Maca”. When Rodrigo murders his character in this way, after trying to explain the funereal state of her life, and when he sets her to go to a fortune teller that predicts a complete life change for her, he ultimately ends up murdering her in the most ironic way possible, warranting a claim from Macabea calling him a traitor.
Blog Number 4 - Biblical References “This God of yours who commanded us to invent” (17) “When I make contact with my spiritual forces, I find your God within myself. Why do I write?...” (36) In the Bible, God created the world in six days, making something new each day. When he made people, he put them in charge of naming the animals, of naming the plants, and then put them on a pedestal as they were sent to paradise: the Garden of Eden. Here, Rodrigo is indirectly comparing himself to God. Although it is not known at this point in the book, he is creating a world of his own, where Macabea lives and thrives (not really), and where he can control their every move. God commanded people to create, to name, and so Rodrigo is naming and creating characters to serve the purpose that he wants them to serve. “I want to experience at least once the insipid flavour of the Host. To eat communion bread will be to taste the world’s indifference, and to immerse myself in nothingness” (19) Communion bread has the religious connotation of being infused with the Holy Spirit, as being the Body of Christ, which he shared with the disciples at the Last Supper. It is, especially in Catholic belief, denoted as one of the first covenants into full belief in the Church, for the ingestion of the communion bread is to be one with Christ, as he wanted it to be before his death. Rodrigo’s comments of it being insipid and as tasting the world’s indifference is an indication that he is mocking or blatantly disencouraging the beliefs of the Christian Church. This is similar to the Absurdist point of view of Albert Camus, saying that a reliance on religion would be considered suicide. I believe this relates because what Rodrigo is searching for is answers to complex questions, including some about God, so an easy and frankly unbelievable answer to him would not suffice his knowledge. “Whom was she questioning? God? She did not think about God, nor did God think about her” (26) This goes in direct opposite belief of what the Bible states about God. God is believed to be a loving entity, regardless of sex, religion, social status, or anything. He loves everyone, regardless of their sins committed. That Rodrigo states that God is not thinking about Macabea is a statement that expounds upon his descriptions of how little she truly matters in the world, although it is not in accord with the Christian teachings. “Repent in Christ and he will give you great joy” (37) Confession is a ritual in many Christian churches. This is done to rid oneself of sin in order to renew the closeness to God. Although Macabea is painted as happy and content with her life, that she repented to Christ after hearing the message on television is an indicator that she was not truly living the joyful life that Rodrigo makes her out to have. She must be aware of some sort of misery, for her naivete is not blatant in this passage. She is promised joy when she repents, and she does so. In later instances of the novel she also seeks betterment of her life, such as when she goes to the fortuneteller. Macabea will believe in anything, God or fate, that could promise her a brighter future.
Blog Number 6 - Instances of the Experimental Novel The Anti-Hero Macabea is an unconventional main character, for it can be argued that either she or Rodrigo are the protagonists of this story. She is presented as having a monotone and boring life, nothing out of the ordinary, taking simple pleasure in doing things like eating body lotions (which is a little out of the ordinary, but still, nothing impressive). Antiheroes are presented without many likeable characteristics, and Rodrigo constantly belittles and dehumanizes Macabea, such as calling her “as appetizing as cold coffee” (21). These and other constant interjectory descriptions of the character, such as valuing her only for her virgin vagina, and other such trivialities show Macabea to be a fairly i=unnoticed and uninteresting character, unlike the heroism displayed in typical novels like Harry Potter or The Iliad. Stream of Consciousness The majority of this book comprises of Rodrigo explaining his thoughts about the subject at hand, and about the writing of the book itself. The book does not seem to be about Macabea, but about the art of writing, about the process that came about with creating and developing this character. The reader is as present as the author is, for although the chronology of the story is atypical, the delving into the plot and the constant interjectory statements that the narrator makes feels like the reader is there in the present, also experiencing these thoughts and realizations at the same time as Rodrigo makes them. The development of attachment between the narrator, who at first vowed to be cold and impartial, and ending with calling her his dear Maca, is experienced firsthand by the reader also. Just like one attaches themselves and immerses themselves in a fictional world when there is a well written story or movie, so does the narrator immerse himself in his own world, which is presented as within the world we are reading. Not Plot Driven Although this book does have a plot, and a fairly simple one at that, the way in which the story is told reveals that the telling of the plot is not the main contention of the story. What the reader is supposed to focus on instead is the process of the writing, the philosophy that is being revealed, the musings about God, creation, the purpose of man, and the voice given to those oppressed. The plot is presented after a large introduction by Rodrigo, in which he explains his purposes of writing (not because he wants to, but because he needs to), and the character that is Macabea. He then delves into the middle and early life of her, and ends with her death, but continues past that, describing his thoughts and feelings on death and how it is a moment of glory, a moment where one becomes a star. Philosophical Theme A common facet of the experimental novel is where the characters ask a lot of searching questions to the universe, to the world. These are often rhetorical, however, they serve as an exposition to the theme of the exploration of the meaning of life within this story. Even when Rodrigo is first introducing the story, he begins by explaining the world with molecules, and how everything started with a yes. This is a headache causing subject matter however, because if it all started with molecules saying yes, then what was the prehistory to the prehistory? And then when Rodrigo poses the question “...am I a monster or is this what it means to be a person?” (15) it could be seen as the questioning of the actual purpose of living. Sofia’s insight really piqued my interest, and I cannot stop thinking about it; the possibility that humans could be parasites is alive in my brain. This could also be reflected in the ending, when Rodrigo writes in the murder of Macabea, does that effectively make him a monster, or is it just the role of a writer to further the themes and messages of a story?
Macabea is not an interesting girl, but her life is beautiful. She lacks social awareness and does not have an adept understanding of the world around her. She does not even understand herself. There seems to be nothing of interest about this girl when you scrape the very surface of her life: she has no friends, she barely has a love life, she has no family alive, and she is not attractive, but if you look into anyones life deep enough you will find beauty. That is what this novel is ‘shouting’. Every person has internal struggles and thoughts that they feel alone in, yet share these very feelings with everyone else. Macabea is unique in the sense that she does not have these feelings or thoughts. She is completely numb, she never experiences joy, so she thinks everything is joy. If everything is joy, nothing is joy. She did feel true happiness one time. “At this point, i must record one happy event. One distressing sunday without mandioca, the girl experienced a strange happiness: at the quayside, she saw a rainbow.” (35) She was baffled by this feeling. It even calls it a “strange happiness”. It was strange because it might have been the only time she actually felt happiness. The girl, just like us, is determined to do things for absolutely no reason. We go through our day to day lives like it has the utmost importance. It is the most pressing thing in the entire world, but only to us. The rest of the world is completely indifferent to our existence. “On sundays, she always woke up early in order to be able to spend more time doing absolutely nothing.” (34) “only then did she get dressed, and then spend the rest of the day passively enacting the role of being.” (35) “I get the impression that her life was one long meditation about nothingness, except that she needed others in order to believe in herself, otherwise she would become lost in the continuous, spiralling vacuum inside her.” (37-38) Most of our lives are spent doing nothing. If you think about it most things have no purpose other than the fact that we are doing them. Like this blog. This book delves into the deep dark abyss that is the human mind. It sheds light on the incomprehensible madness that cannot be unseen. Once a person accepts these thoughts as truths they cannot look, see, smell, taste, or feel anything the same again. They can only acknowledge the unknown 6th. Once they acknowledge the 6th they will see the beauty of nothing.
ReplyDeleteIn Passage seven of “The Author's Dedication”, Clarice Lispector uses similes, visual imagery, and rhetorical questioning to help him both introduce the importance of Macabea along with characterizing himself. Lispector begins by writing, “Yes, I belong to no social category, marginal as I am. The upper classes consider me a strange creature, the middle classes regard me with suspicion, afraid that I might unsettle them, while the lower classes avoid me” (Lispector 18). Viewing himself as an outcast, the narrator does not believe he belongs to one group in particular. The way he believes others view him is almost of disgust. He isn't viewed as an equal to them, barely even a human. This made me consider how individuals in our society treat and view one another. From being rich and having many possessions to being poor and owning few items, no matter the social class, individuals still are judgemental over the lives of the others. As the passage develops this pattern continues when the narrator both contradicts and questions. While discussing the process of writing, Lispector writes, “It is as hard as breaking rocks. Sparks and splinters fly like shattered steel” (19). The simile is the narrator's way of stating how hard it can be to discuss topics such as money running tight. He is trying to show that there is more to a person than looks and money. By choosing to write a story surrounding the character of Macabea, the narrator is able to provide a new perspective. Lispector then writes, “with stiff, contaminated fingers I must touch the invisible in its own squalor” (19). This visual/kinesthetic imagery is used to make others aware of the struggles Macabea has. The narrator, Rodrigo, characterizes Macabea by showing how invisible and unimportant she is portrayed by individuals of the middle and higher classes. Rather than ignoring the fact that she is different, the narrator has empathy for her in order to help him understand her character.
Although still confusing and difficult for one, and me personally to comprehend, within section four, the importance of diction has a large impact on the message being conveyed. The narrator uses simple words and phrases in a complicated way to give off a simple message and meaning to the small section. The diction used, although written in a confusing way, foreshadows the simple message; no matter how advanced the language is that is used, the message will always be the same and there will always be a hidden meaning. The narrator states, “Remember that, no matter what I write, my basic material is the word. So this story will consist of words that form phrases from which there emanates a secret meaning that exceeds both words and phrases” (14-15). Just within those two sentences, the reader is able to comprehend the goal of the narrator as he is trying to display the idea that all of his work will have a hidden meaning, a word is just a word, but the meaning and theme behind it means far more. The narrator puts himself on his own literature pedistal as he has many different nouns, phrases, and words he could put to use but only the average reader would not have the capacity to understand; giving him reason as to why he does not use such advanced language. He puts down the essence of a random girl and believes he must “dumb himself down” in order for her to understand his language, meaning and purpose. With the diction used, he is able to make the girl seem as one that is completely uneducated and depicts her as a girl that obtains very little knowledge as well.
ReplyDeletedue to the use of language throughout the novel, I too found it difficult to thoroughly understand the meanings behind the text. I too got a similar vibe from that section but after reading mine my thoughts changed. The narrator almost sounds more understanding and empathetic as the novel develops. It seems like he wants to truly uncover who the real Macabea is
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ReplyDeleteThe Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector is one of the most in depth narrative about the struggle of life. It explores all of life's questions, all the while doing it ever so subtly that if you were not paying attention, you wouldn’t even notice. I love this book for all of its dry humor, for all of its deep hidden meanings shadowed by a thin veil of words, and for all of its insight into the human experience. This passage explains how he will write the girl's story, and his goals in writing her story. He wants to capture her existence perfectly, and if he succeeds in capturing her existence, he will have a greater understanding of himself and the world around him, while creating art in the process. In order to create art, you must do so with the simplest of means. Art can be anything. Art can be a word or art can be an action. To me, art is anything that captures: a moment in time, a person perfectly and concisely, or anything in a precise way leaving the rest to the imagination. I believe that there is artistic value in everything if you look at it simply enough, and I think the narrator would agree. Even the mundane boredom of someone day to day life is beautiful. The purpose of the narrators book it to capture that beauty in the form of macabea. One of the main themes presented in this passage is, art is effortless in the making, but often hard to understand once it is made. For example, Macabea’s life is boring and even sad, but it is beautiful. The way she can go through life ignorant to her true ‘emptiness’ and sorrow is amazing. She never pays attention to her surroundings, or even other people for that matter. She is so traumatized by her own day to day that she is shut off from the world around her. In one passage it even says that she forgets whole days. She is extremely intriguing to the narrator, because he is so in tune with his surroundings, himself, and other people, that he cannot possible be happy. For he sees life as it truly is, suffering.
ReplyDelete2)Lispector's chooses to include the prehistory and creation of the world to show how small things can make enormous impacts. She write, “everything in the world began with a yes. One molecule said yes to another molecule and life was born” (Lispector 11). Like the interaction between two molecules, small actions often times go unnoticed. This in particular pertains to the divided social classes of Rio de Janeiro and the roles and effects each class plays on each other. The prehistory Lispector includes symbolized how although not everything can be, it all still exists. She then returns to the idea of molecules when she writes, “I shall one day assume the form of a molecule with its potential explosion of atoms” (13). Rodrigo wants to have the ability to understand Macabea and her life. Lispector writes this because she wants her readers to understand the concept of life and he struggles individuals are faced with each day.
ReplyDelete7)Macabeas death represents how sudden changes take place. The whole novel surrounded Macabea, a poor girl living in Rio with nobody and nothing. Society chooses to ignore these problems to focus on conflicts affecting themselves. Lispector writes, “The abrupt death of Macabea did not affect anyone. Her life wasn't valued by others and she wasn't viewed highly due to low class life. Lispector is stating that no matter who someone may be or what their life is like, we all start and end up the same way. Death is inevitable and it is inhumane to treat others unequally due to how they are portrayed and viewed in society. Lispector's experimental style in Hour of the Star helps to demonstrate how society chooses to ignore problems rather than taking the initiative to fix something. Although Macabea died, many individuals in her same situation will continue to struggle. Lispector writes, “death is an encounter with self. Laid out and dead, Macabea looked as dead as dead stallion… She is finally free of herself and of me… Macabea is dead” (85). Macabea was better dead than alive. During her life she never received the life she deserved.
8)Lispector writes that, “one never forgets someone who one has slept with”. Since Macabea is a virgin she is less likely to be remembered by anyone whom she had encountered during her life. Lispector is trying to get people to understand that there is more to a person than their looks and reputations. Just because Macabea died a virgin doesn't make her any less important than anyone else's life.
What is the significance of the beginning, where Rodrigo talks about the beginning of the world? How does that relate to the rest of the story?
ReplyDeleteThe story is really just a huge mix of all of Rodrigo’s thoughts within his mind and his questions about life that he is in the process of finding the answers to by writing this book about Macabea. He states, “Forgive me but i'm going to keep talking about me who am unknown to myself, and as I write I'm a bit surprised because i discover i have a destiny” (7). Similar to how he believes the world started, he is trying to figure out his destiny and how he started as a writer. There are so many questions he has about life and his own personal life that he will not be successful in finding the answer of until he begins writing. By beginning the book with the way in which Rodrigo believes the world started, it foreshadows how he must start with this book in order to find or get closer to the answers he has about his own life.
How is Latin American culture reflected in this novel? If Macabea were an American woman, would the story change in a way?
When giving a description of the girl, Macabea, that he is writing about, on page seven Rodrigo states, “...without trumpeting my humility for then it wouldn't be humble-i limit myself to telling of the lame adventures or a girl in a city that’s entirely against her.” Macabea was one that sold her body for money and during the time period and within the culture of Rio De Janeiro, this act was heavily looked down upon. “The entire city is against her” and her choice in how she may raise money to survive. Since that was such a frowned upon act within that culture it easily shows where they came from. I believe that the same thing occurred within the American culture as well, and still is. The story would obviously change a small amount due to general differences in the American and Rio culture although the main idea of the story would stay the same.
What role does gender play in the story? Why is the narrator male? Is there culture and/or thematic significance for the gender roles?
I believe by having a male narrator to the story it shows the difference in level of education and foreshadows the inequality between men and women during the time period. To this day women are still fighting for equal rights within our society, now although far better, there are still many things that put men above women in our society. The same event occurred during the time period of the book being written although only worse. By having a male narrator it symbolises that male were above women and many had far more education as well, possibly the reason as to why Rodrigo views himself so highly above Macabea due to his intellectual skills in literature.
1. What was Lispector’s purpose in writing the book? What is the theme?
ReplyDeleteHer purpose was to convey philosophical themes that she had experienced throughout her writing career. In the book, she wrote about the nature of truth, meaning of existence, power of language, finality of death, and role of spirituality. It’s also noted that this was her last book before she died, as it was a tribute to her whole writing career. She also wrote this book to show a perspective of a poor, starving girl that wants love and attention, just like many people in the world. The story provides a good social commentary of the haves and have-nots. It’s also noted that the narrator doesn’t seem content with himself, and uses the story of Macabea to show the differences of their nature. She seems very happy and enjoys life, even though she is very ugly and poor.
10. What is the point of Rodrigo’s introduction?
The point of his introduction is to foreshadow what type of story he is going to write about. It’s interesting how he doesn’t understand who he is, as well as who his protagonist in the story is. For example, he seems very unsure about the common causes of life. He relates many of the themes from his own life to help describe this distraught but happy girl.
11. Is Rodrigo the protagonist of this novel? Or is it Macabea?
In my opinion, Macabea is the protagonist of the novel. Rodrigo seems to be the one in the most conflict, which could mean he is the main protagonist. But he uses the story of Macabea to describe in deeper context these questions of life, therefore making her the main protagonist in the story. She is the stereotypical person who is in complete hardship, while we know little to nothing about the narrator and why he is questioning himself. It is obvious, however, why Macabea’s life sucks, and even stranger that she is happy.
ReplyDeleteIn her novel The Hour of the Star, Clarice Lispector creates a variety of characters in order to allude to the bible.
The title itself, Hour of the Star alludes to the strong leadership of Christ. Stars are most commonly associated with freedom and guidance (such as the North star). In the bible, the ‘star’ refers to “all heavenly bodies” apart from the sun and moon. Stars are also connected with both the light and leadership that Christ brings. In the bible it states, “2 Peter 1:19: ...until the day dawns, and the morning star rises in your hearts.” The “Morning star” refers to Jesus Christ bringing light into the “darkness” of the world but also to Macabea’s strong character. Although not looked highly upon, she continues to put up a fight and go through with each of her long tiring work days. Both characters symbolize freedom in different ways. While Jesus helps to guide individuals to attain freedom, Macabea is only able to become free after her life struggle comes to an end.
In the beginning of the novel, Lispector makes a biblical allusion to Adam and Eve . Narrator Rodrigo S.M. states, “Meantime I want to walk naked or in rags; I want to experience at least once the insipid flavor of the Hos. To eat communion bread will be to taste the world's indifference and to immerse myself in nothingness” (19). Rodrigo strives to attain a simple, carefree, and basic life similar to life of Macabea’s character.
A location Lispector speaks of a location known as “San Miguel”. In the bible San Miguel or St. Michael is one of the three angel names that are mentioned in the bible. Saint Michael, a defender of the church, is also said to assist souls at “the hour of death”. Gloria, the roomate and friend of Macabea states that many of the curses were cured for her at San Miguel, Lispector could be relating the cured curses to the presence of Saint Michael.
Macabea is a virgin and due to her purity she can be viewed as heroic in terms of the bible. Lispector writes, “the anonymous girl of this story is so ancient that she could be described as biblical” (30). The character of Macabea achieves the status of a Saint yet is only viewed as a low class girl from the slums. Lispector also writes, “mysterious God of others sometimes bestowed on her a state of grace. Bliss, bliss, bliss. Her soul almost took flight”. Although she does not believe in God, Macabea is such an empty, pure, and innocent character that she can be viewed as one of God's saints.
Lispector writes, “Sin tempts me, forbidden pleasures lure me” (70). This references the Seven Deadly Sins as it directly relates to lust. This comes up as Rodrigo struggles during his writing process. Just as its tempting not to commit a sin, its hard for him to continue
“This is your God who commanded us to invent” (8). Alone, this would quote would seem to instruct power and hope, inspiring humans, under God, to go out with the power that is God-given, to invent and create. Yet, under the pessimistic, unbelieving tone Rodrigo takes on, this quote is sarcastic in a sense, where Rodrigo pokes fun at those who believe in God. Additionally, this quote speaks to the foolishness of human nature, looking at how Rodrigo may think religion acts as an excuse for humans to ignore problems or use it as a solution to problems instead of taking on the problem themselves, similar to existentialism, or also how Rodrigo believes humans invent happiness, a "foolish" word.
ReplyDelete“To eat communion bread will be to taste the world’s indifference, and to immerse myself in nothingness” (19). In Christian religion, communion bread is thought of the be the flesh of Jesus, breadified, which, when eaten, saves an individual and his or her soul through acceptance of Him. However, the irony in this quote quite plainly reveals Rodrigo’s disbelief in religion and the hope of God, that there is nothing in it, that following religion is just another step of the insignificant people in the world trying to find purpose and meaning when the world is indifferent, drawing parallels with existentialism.
“The typist lived in a kind of limbo, hovering between heaven and hell” (36). The limbo here is a fairly straightforward allusion to purgatory, the place where one must go through purification in order to ascend to heaven. This is ironic as Macabea has done no wrong, yet she lives in purgatory, not in hell, where one might expect her to reside in because of her surroundings and misery. She is blissfully unaware of her situation, yet Rodrigo and the reader are all too painfully aware of her life. With Rodrigo’s pessimistic realist view of the world in mind, it may be that Rodrigo is commenting yet again on how, similar to how humanity leaves Macabea to suffer, so does God leave humanity to suffer.
As Rodrigo kills off Macabea, he lends to her a homage of sorts, “Macabea, Hail Mary, full of grace, serene land of forgiveness,” (82). A hail mary is a traditional Catholic prayer, though many know it more so for the football play. What’s interesting here, is that Macabea, previously in the book, was compared to Mary, even serving as Mary in a few ways, such as dying a virgin. When Rodrigo says “Hail Mail”, it can be interpreted that he is saying to hail Macabea herself, to celebrate Macabea as the deliverer of our savior, that she is the sacrificial lamb to show the audience and the world all that is wrong with the world
Throughout Clarice Lispector’s Hour of the Star, narrator Rodrigo S.M. refers to Macabea in a variety of dehumanizing ways. In first half of the book in particular, Macabea is known to the reader as “the girl” and “the northeastern girl” as if she were never given a name. Names are symbolic of individuals identities. This same instance occurs up to the point Olimpico is introduced when Lispector writes, “if you don't mind my asking, what's your name?” Followed by Macabea stating her name “Macabea”(Lispector 43). The fact that Rodrigo does not refer to Macabea by her real name implies that she isn't deemed worthy of one due to her impoverished nature.
ReplyDeleteRodrigo states, “I know that there are girls who sell their bodies, their only real possession, in exchange for a good dinner rather the usual mortadella sandwich. But the person whom I am about to describe scarcely has a body to sell; nobody desires her, she is a harmless virgin whom nobody needs” (14). Rodrigo S.M is criticizing Macabea and her body as he believes she is useless and has no true role. The fact that nobody desires her portrays how low members of society viewed both the less fortunate and insignificant women.
Rodrigo states, “No one paid any attention to her on the street, for she was as appetizing as cold coffee” (Lispector 27). Few people would prefer cold coffee over warm just as many would prefer not to be associated with the character of Macabea.
Lispector writes, “She had been be in a legacy misfortune, a creature from nowhere with the expression of someone who apologizes for occupying too much space” (26).
Rather than referring to Macabea as the human she is, Rodrigo calls her a creature. This dehumanizing nature is symbolic of the role of the social classes in Rio de Janeiro as the lower are viewed as insignificant and unworthy.
“Not knowing sounds awful, but it was not so awful for the girl knew lots of things just as a dog knows how to wag its tail or a better how to feel hungry” (28)
Rodrigo continues to dehumanize Macabea by comparing her to an animal. Dogs in particular are domesticated by their masters to listen and obey their commands. This instance is also symbolic of the role women played in society as they were not viewed as highly as men.
After the breakup between Macabea and Olimpico, he states, “you, Macabea, are like a hair in the soup. Nobody feels like eating it. Sorry to hurt your feelings, but I'm being honest” (51). Olimpico states this to show Macabea how undesirable and ugly he truly views her. Just as nobody wants a hair in their food, nobody wants Macabea. Lispector writes these rude dehumanizing remarks throughout the novel to demonstrate how low and unimportant lower class individuals were viewed.
Later the Lispector writes, “You, Maca, looking like Marilyn Monroe? Have you seen yourself in a mirror?” (64). Macabea gets criticized by Olimpico for wanting to emulate Marilyn Monroe. However due to her “bad” looks, Olimpico suggest that she will never be able to be as beautiful and successful as the well known celebrity, Marilyn Monroe.
In The Hour of the Star, Clarice Lispector characterizes Macabea in many dehumanizing ways, making her inferior to a “normal” human being. Throughout the story, she is described as a girl “born with a legacy of misfortune, a creature from nowhere with the expression of someone who apologizes for occupying too much space” (26). Rodrigo goes to as far as calling her a waste of space, and that her existence isn’t even necessary. He doesn’t even call her by her name, and refers to her as a “creature from nowhere”, which deems her subhuman or not human at all.
ReplyDeleteAs Rodrigo continues to characterize her, he says, “The girl did not know that she existed, just as a dog doesn’t know that it’s a dog” (27). Now he is downgrading her to an animal, “a dog”. Dogs don’t have a subconscious that humans have, so is Rodrigo hinting that she needs to be tamed because she is lost? Maybe, as later in the story she searches for someone that can love her back, but doesn’t understand how poor and ugly she truly looks. It’s not until later when she meets the fortune teller that her fate is decided.
Later in passages, Rodrigo states that she “was subterranean and had never really flowered” (30). It can be noted that he continues to relate her to symbolic references and never mentions her actual name. He relates her to a flower, but not a normal flower, only one that is still stuck in the earth, concealed from the outside world. This is an obvious connection to her nature (pun intended), as she is completely hidden from her surroundings as people don’t care about her, but she on the inside is beautiful and happy like any girl would be.
He continues to describe her, saying “she merely exists, inhaling and exhaling, inhaling and exhaling” (23). Now, she is saying all she can do is breathe, and that she is useless otherwise.
Earlier in the passage, Rodrigo says that she “scarcely has a body to sell; nobody desires her…” (14). This dehumanizes her even more, while also foreshadowing her later fallout with her boyfriend Olympico. He never desired her, nor loved her.
“No one would teach her how to die one day: yet one day she would surely dies as if she had already learned by heart how to play the starring role” (28). Again, Rodrigo shows that no one cares if she would die, because she has no friends or peers in the first place. Before this quote, it describes how her family would beat her and she seemed to show no feelings. The narrator wanted to make it clear her that if she died, no one would care, dehumanizing her even more.
"[She] scarcely has a body to sell; nobody desires her..." (14)
ReplyDelete"They aren't even aware of the fact that they are superfluous, and that nobody cares a damn about their existence," (14)
"No one paid attention to her on the street, for she was, as appetizing as cold coffee," (21)
"...She has clung to my skin like some viscous glue or contaminating mud" (21)
"Macabea was undeniably a primitive creature" (46)
"-Macabea, you're like a hair in one's soup" (60)
The author uses dehumanizing language for Macabea in order to complete his goal of being impartial and cold towards his subject. He fails at this in many occasions, mentioning how he loves her, how he must write about her, and how he wants to recount her life. Social class, however, is most of what is relayed through these quotes. In Rio de Janeiro, during the time period in which this book takes place, social classes and races did not mix, for they were separated into two differing worlds. The references that Rodrigo makes towards Macabea in these quotes is one of dehumanization, treating her like an animal, calling her primitive and directly objectifying her. Stating her existence as superfluous generates the inference that Rodrigo does not think that Macabea matters in any way. These three quotes allude to the idea that Rodrigo does not think Macabea matters in any way; he sees her like an animal, someone who has no humanity, someone subhuman. This reflects the general thinking of this time period. Calling her a hair in one's soup or contaminating mud further expands on this thought. These things are something that ordinary people would not want to encounter in their daily lives, instances where they would be repulsed and repelled by the object, so the comparison between lower and higher classes continues, with Rodrigo constantly belittling Macabea for a status she cannot help, especially in this time period.
Another way that Rodrigo characterizes Macabea is through comparisons. First comparing her to cold coffee, as to make her seem unappetizing, unwanted, eliciting disgust in others. The irony in this is that Macabea, throughout the book, enjoys cold coffee as a special treat, revels in the joy that it gives her, which continues the constant motif of contradiction introduced in the first chapter.
In The Hour of the Star, the narrator, Rodrigo S.M. tries to stay objective to the story of the unfortunate young woman that he is telling, even bordering on downright heartless at times. There are many quotes found throughout the book that can be considered as dehumanizing to Macabea, such as “It’s as good as saying that a healthy dog is worth more” (34). This is a metaphor that Rodrigo S.M. uses to refer to his earlier sentence “she is a misfit even in this world” (33) due to the fact that she has a “diseased body.” By comparing the two, he is demeaning Macabea’s worth as a human being by implying that her misfortunes make her so unsuited for this world that even a dog is worth more because at least it is healthy.
ReplyDeleteAnother quote by Rodrigo S.M. in the novel is “but Macabea’s voice was as rough and tuneless as the rest of her body” (50). Rodrigo S.M. constantly demeans her throughout the story in ways such as this quote which compares her voice and singing to the rest of her. By demeaning Macabea in this fashion, he is just emphasizing how miserable she is and yet, she doesn’t seem to realize how pitiful she seems to others such as Rodrigo.
A third quote is “she was no idiot yet she possessed the pure happiness of idiots” (68) which is a quote from Rodrigo after Macabea visits the doctor. This is a comment on how she is ignorant of her own misfortunes, a fact that Rodrigo seems to find incredulous and unbelievable.
“Embracing the wall was like embracing herself” (78) is a quote from after Macabea visits Madame Carlota, a simile comparing Macabea and a wall.
Rodrigo S.M. is sometimes objective to the point of being purposefully insulting and dehumanizing, but that might be the point as it allows him to be able to observe the story with clear judgement. By dehumanizing Macabea, it makes it easier to be so objective about the story, the very goal that Rodrigo S.M. narrates at the beginning of the novel.
ReplyDeleteExperimental novel (last blog ever)
One device Clarice Lispector uses to create her experimental novel a stream of consciousness. While discussing the style of how the story of Macabea will be told, the narrator Rodrigo states that he will not write a story with a “beginning, a middle, and a ‘grand finale’ (Lispector 14). Lispector’s novel The Hour of the Star not only tells the story of a poor girl living in the slums of Rio De Janeiro but also discusses the struggle Rodrigo has writing the story about Macabea. As the novel continues to progress, Rodrigo S.M. seems to become more connected to the characters he is writing about. This factor supports Hour of the Star being an experimental novel as Rodrigo (the narrator who does not in fact know the characters he is writing about), begins to connect and write about them as if he had a personal connection with each of them.
Another aspect to an experimental novel is creating a highly unlikeable main character. In Lispector’s novel, this role is taken on by narrator Rodrigo S.M. While discussing how he will write his story, Rodrigo states, “I want my story to be cold and impartial. Unlike the reader, I reserve the right to be devastatingly cold…” (13). In the beginning of the novel, Rodrigo makes it very clear that the feelings he has will be left out of the story he plans to write. This separation Rodrigo creates between himself and the reader gives off a tone of arrogance as he almost believes he has superiority and power over them (resulting in an unlikeable character). Rodrigo being an anti hero is supported through his portrayal of macabea as a dull and worthless girl from the slums. He states, “Not knowing sounds awful, but it was not so awful for the girl knew lots of things just as dog knows how to wag its tail....” (28) Comparing a Macabea to a dog indicates that she is not only worthy of human characteristics, but she is not desired and viewed by others as much more. This desire to create a cold novel in which encompasses a poor dying girl supports why Rodrigo is an antihero.
Another prime example of an anti hero is Macabea. The term anti hero is defined as “a central character in a story, movie, or drama who lacks conventional heroic attributes”. In the Hour of the Star, Rodrigo S.M.’s story revolves around the life of Macabea and how low of a life she truly lives. The life of Macabea is very ordinary and plain as nobody wants or thinks highly of her due to her strange mind and undesirable body. Rodrigo states that Macabea had been “born with a legacy of misfortune” (26) and that “She does not do anything heroic throughout the the entire novel and does not become a “star” until her death.
In addition to the anti heros in Hour of the Star, the novel also includes many contradictory statements. Rodrigo in particular contradicts himself as he discusses Macabea and his conflicting feelings towards her (i.e. when he dehumanizes her). Throughout the novel, Rodrigo continues to contradict many of his statements regarding Macabea. The contradictory and conflicting issues Rodrigo runs into are symbolic of how indecisive and erratic humans are.
From the first page of the book one can easily tell that it is far different than most novels. The first page begins off with talking about the beginning’s of beginning and the pre-pre world rather than starting right into the story; it explains the thoughts and ideas that first came to Rodrigo’s/Lispector’s mind when writing the story. The audience is able to see the thoughts that went through each author's mind in order to create the amazingly difficult novel we are reading. Most novels only present the finished product of the authors thought which is the story itself. The audience never knows how the author was able to get to the story they came up with although within The Hour of the Star the audience is able to see the thought process of how the story formed.
ReplyDeleteThe whole novel is almost more two stories rather one as Lispector is writing about Rodrigo and his personal journey through figuring out life, while within the story about him, simultaneously he is writing about Macabea and her life. It makes me believe that Lispector basically had to think of two stories only to create one making me wonder which story she more personally relates with. Compared to most novels, many times one will find a novel that has one main theme, message, and plot to the story, while this has multiple when comparing the story of Rodrigo’s journey to Macabea’s journey. It is an experiment while playing with people’s mind and thoughts testing how well one is able to process and understand the similarities and differences between the two lives.
Found in the beginning of the novel, Rodrigo brings his train of thought to a halt and states that he will ‘now begin the story of Macabea.’ This statement is one that is rarely found in a novel as most start the story the first page. Within The Hour of the Star the ‘beginning’ of the story really doesn't start for a few pages in giving another twist to the audience.
(Hi, I've been super behind on blog posts, and I'm not going to make excuses because it was poor time management, but here are entries for all the missing ones and the new one!)
ReplyDeleteBlog Number 1 - Clarice Lispector Background
The short biography detailing Clarice Lispector’s life and work were useful in helping me further understand the plight of Macabea within The Hour of the Star, as well as giving me further insight into her writing style. Parts of her life are similar and comparable with items that Macabea is characterized with, especially the living in Northeast Brazil and being a refugee. Clarice was always classed as a foreigner, both because of her exotic beauty and a speech impediment that made her language seem accented, non native, even if she had grown and matured with it. She is considered a rarity in her time, due to not reveling in fame like the authors of that period did, as well as the themes and plots of her books not being traditional, estranging her from critics’ opinions due to the extremely poetic writing style and philosophical themes that did not seem to fit within a work of fiction. Macabea is estranged from society due to her odd antics, her unappealing looks and nature, and her purely ordinary form of being. Also being low on the rungs of the ladder of social class, she is an outcast and is mostly ignored or condescended upon by other citizens of this area and of this time period.
Lispector’s writing style is also one that is discovered here, for it is less plot driven and more motivational; she does not want to entertain but rather reach a means of philosophical, theological, and self understanding. She does this by writing about themes, in a stream of consciousness and in unconventional storytelling ways. One of her published works, for example, is a long letter to an ex lover, which is not something that would usually garner attention or be considered remotely good literature.
Blog Number 2 - Close Reading Passage
ReplyDeleteOur group discussed the close reading of passage number 5. This passage expounded upon the expectations that the writer had of the reader in writing this story. It is important since it is one of the first and marked instances where an essential element of the experimental novel appears’ the breaking of the fourth wall. It doesn’t fully consist of Rodrigo speaking to the reader persay, but it appears as him performing a meta analysis on the style of writing, something that seems to be a common occurrence throughout the book. He speaks about his writing, about how the reader should not expect scintillating stars for it will be an opaque read, how it is jarring and widely disliked, and talking about how it will be like trying to extract gold from charcoal. I believe that these insights are related to those that Clarice had on her own novels, and she is speaking to the reader through her characters. Because as analysed in the biography, there were critics that did not understand nor appreciate the style of her work, so she is expressing these insecurities and distressing thoughts in her writing. She is not pursuing a means to please those that read it, but rather, to expand and explore the realms of self discovery and spiritual and philosophical discovery as well.
Another notable effect that was in this section of the passage was another feature of an experimental novel. The mention of time with the distinct lack of chronology and acknowledgement of such are one of the features presented. Rodrigo says that he wants to jump to the end, however he must begin at the beginning, but his impatience is such that he does not wish to do so, and later in the passage going with “allegro con brio”. These are ironic, especially when related to the overall structure of the book. This book is structured so about half of it occupied a stream of consciousness, or the process of writing being written on the page, while the other half is actually dedicated to the plot and story itself. The impatience mentioned has no effect on this, for the circular writing that is occurring is apparent throughout and just comes back to the writer struggling to start over and over again. All these mentions of time are related to the odd order of the events in the story, with “allegro con brio” representing a speedup in tempo, or the writer telling himself to stop stalling in his description of how he will write, and begin writing the story.
Blog Post 3 - Class Discussion
ReplyDeleteWhat does Macabea’s death represent? How does it fit in with the overall message of the book?
At the beginning, my group’s background information research was on the Maccabees. Through reading of multiple sources, we concluded that Macabea’s relation to this group was one that parodied their existence, their rebellion. They led the Jewish in their struggle for freedom against the Syrian government, had a constant rebellious attitude, and fought and died gloriously
Macabea’s death was relatively lonesome and sad, for she had just been told that her life was about to turn around for the better and in a twist of ‘fate’, she got ran over by a foreign man, a person that she was foretold to marry. Macabea’s death parodies that of the Maccabees by being silent, unannounced, and unglorified. Her death scene was described as follows: “Macabea is dead. The bells were ringing without making any sound” (85). She was not given the ability to protest in her life, for she was written by Rodrigo as a complacent being, perfectly happy and naive with her way of life, and either did not realise or did not care enough to escape her misery.
Is Rodrigo the protagonist of this novel? Or Macabea?
Rodrigo is the most prominent character of this novel, as readers get an insight into his thoughts,
his feelings, and his difficulties, as well as his purpose in writing the story of Macabea. In the middle of the book, we find that Macabea is not even a real character, for Rodrigo invented her, inspired upon a girl from the Northeast that he spotted on the street. Macabea then, is only a device for both Lispector and Rodrigo to transmit philosophical ideas and thoughts. Since the novel is very meta analytical, I believe Lispector inserted herself into the role of Rodrigo for most of the book, and is therefore transmitting some of her most important revelations and thoughts through their conjunctive writing, but also through the telling of the story of the poor girl from the Northeast.
What is the significance to the reference to Julius Caesar (“Et tu, Brute? 84)?
This phrase is believed to be the last that Julius uttered before his death. It is meant to symbolize betrayal and disbelief, as he discovered one of his best friends, Brutus, amongst those senators that were surrounding him in his assassination, and so it is an exclamation of both disbelief and pure betrayal. The sentence spoken by Rodrigo directly after, “Yes, this was the way that I hoped to announce that- that Macabea was dead” (84), is a complete betrayal from his part as a narrator to Macabea. His actions throughout the book lamented her life, they were taking pity on her, and he treated and wrote about her as if she were a living, breathing woman. His character grew to embrace her being, even going so far as to claiming he loves her, and with her name evolving from “the girl from the Northeast”, to “Macabea”, and then to the more endearing “Maca”. When Rodrigo murders his character in this way, after trying to explain the funereal state of her life, and when he sets her to go to a fortune teller that predicts a complete life change for her, he ultimately ends up murdering her in the most ironic way possible, warranting a claim from Macabea calling him a traitor.
Blog Number 4 - Biblical References
ReplyDelete“This God of yours who commanded us to invent” (17)
“When I make contact with my spiritual forces, I find your God within myself. Why do I write?...” (36)
In the Bible, God created the world in six days, making something new each day. When he made people, he put them in charge of naming the animals, of naming the plants, and then put them on a pedestal as they were sent to paradise: the Garden of Eden. Here, Rodrigo is indirectly comparing himself to God. Although it is not known at this point in the book, he is creating a world of his own, where Macabea lives and thrives (not really), and where he can control their every move. God commanded people to create, to name, and so Rodrigo is naming and creating characters to serve the purpose that he wants them to serve.
“I want to experience at least once the insipid flavour of the Host. To eat communion bread will be to taste the world’s indifference, and to immerse myself in nothingness” (19)
Communion bread has the religious connotation of being infused with the Holy Spirit, as being the Body of Christ, which he shared with the disciples at the Last Supper. It is, especially in Catholic belief, denoted as one of the first covenants into full belief in the Church, for the ingestion of the communion bread is to be one with Christ, as he wanted it to be before his death. Rodrigo’s comments of it being insipid and as tasting the world’s indifference is an indication that he is mocking or blatantly disencouraging the beliefs of the Christian Church. This is similar to the Absurdist point of view of Albert Camus, saying that a reliance on religion would be considered suicide. I believe this relates because what Rodrigo is searching for is answers to complex questions, including some about God, so an easy and frankly unbelievable answer to him would not suffice his knowledge.
“Whom was she questioning? God? She did not think about God, nor did God think about her” (26)
This goes in direct opposite belief of what the Bible states about God. God is believed to be a loving entity, regardless of sex, religion, social status, or anything. He loves everyone, regardless of their sins committed. That Rodrigo states that God is not thinking about Macabea is a statement that expounds upon his descriptions of how little she truly matters in the world, although it is not in accord with the Christian teachings.
“Repent in Christ and he will give you great joy” (37)
Confession is a ritual in many Christian churches. This is done to rid oneself of sin in order to renew the closeness to God. Although Macabea is painted as happy and content with her life, that she repented to Christ after hearing the message on television is an indicator that she was not truly living the joyful life that Rodrigo makes her out to have. She must be aware of some sort of misery, for her naivete is not blatant in this passage. She is promised joy when she repents, and she does so. In later instances of the novel she also seeks betterment of her life, such as when she goes to the fortuneteller. Macabea will believe in anything, God or fate, that could promise her a brighter future.
Blog Number 6 - Instances of the Experimental Novel
ReplyDeleteThe Anti-Hero
Macabea is an unconventional main character, for it can be argued that either she or Rodrigo are the protagonists of this story. She is presented as having a monotone and boring life, nothing out of the ordinary, taking simple pleasure in doing things like eating body lotions (which is a little out of the ordinary, but still, nothing impressive). Antiheroes are presented without many likeable characteristics, and Rodrigo constantly belittles and dehumanizes Macabea, such as calling her “as appetizing as cold coffee” (21). These and other constant interjectory descriptions of the character, such as valuing her only for her virgin vagina, and other such trivialities show Macabea to be a fairly i=unnoticed and uninteresting character, unlike the heroism displayed in typical novels like Harry Potter or The Iliad.
Stream of Consciousness
The majority of this book comprises of Rodrigo explaining his thoughts about the subject at hand, and about the writing of the book itself. The book does not seem to be about Macabea, but about the art of writing, about the process that came about with creating and developing this character. The reader is as present as the author is, for although the chronology of the story is atypical, the delving into the plot and the constant interjectory statements that the narrator makes feels like the reader is there in the present, also experiencing these thoughts and realizations at the same time as Rodrigo makes them. The development of attachment between the narrator, who at first vowed to be cold and impartial, and ending with calling her his dear Maca, is experienced firsthand by the reader also. Just like one attaches themselves and immerses themselves in a fictional world when there is a well written story or movie, so does the narrator immerse himself in his own world, which is presented as within the world we are reading.
Not Plot Driven
Although this book does have a plot, and a fairly simple one at that, the way in which the story is told reveals that the telling of the plot is not the main contention of the story. What the reader is supposed to focus on instead is the process of the writing, the philosophy that is being revealed, the musings about God, creation, the purpose of man, and the voice given to those oppressed. The plot is presented after a large introduction by Rodrigo, in which he explains his purposes of writing (not because he wants to, but because he needs to), and the character that is Macabea. He then delves into the middle and early life of her, and ends with her death, but continues past that, describing his thoughts and feelings on death and how it is a moment of glory, a moment where one becomes a star.
Philosophical Theme
A common facet of the experimental novel is where the characters ask a lot of searching questions to the universe, to the world. These are often rhetorical, however, they serve as an exposition to the theme of the exploration of the meaning of life within this story. Even when Rodrigo is first introducing the story, he begins by explaining the world with molecules, and how everything started with a yes. This is a headache causing subject matter however, because if it all started with molecules saying yes, then what was the prehistory to the prehistory? And then when Rodrigo poses the question “...am I a monster or is this what it means to be a person?” (15) it could be seen as the questioning of the actual purpose of living. Sofia’s insight really piqued my interest, and I cannot stop thinking about it; the possibility that humans could be parasites is alive in my brain. This could also be reflected in the ending, when Rodrigo writes in the murder of Macabea, does that effectively make him a monster, or is it just the role of a writer to further the themes and messages of a story?
Macabea is not an interesting girl, but her life is beautiful. She lacks social awareness and does not have an adept understanding of the world around her. She does not even understand herself. There seems to be nothing of interest about this girl when you scrape the very surface of her life: she has no friends, she barely has a love life, she has no family alive, and she is not attractive, but if you look into anyones life deep enough you will find beauty. That is what this novel is ‘shouting’. Every person has internal struggles and thoughts that they feel alone in, yet share these very feelings with everyone else. Macabea is unique in the sense that she does not have these feelings or thoughts. She is completely numb, she never experiences joy, so she thinks everything is joy. If everything is joy, nothing is joy.
ReplyDeleteShe did feel true happiness one time. “At this point, i must record one happy event. One distressing sunday without mandioca, the girl experienced a strange happiness: at the quayside, she saw a rainbow.” (35) She was baffled by this feeling. It even calls it a “strange happiness”. It was strange because it might have been the only time she actually felt happiness.
The girl, just like us, is determined to do things for absolutely no reason. We go through our day to day lives like it has the utmost importance. It is the most pressing thing in the entire world, but only to us. The rest of the world is completely indifferent to our existence. “On sundays, she always woke up early in order to be able to spend more time doing absolutely nothing.” (34) “only then did she get dressed, and then spend the rest of the day passively enacting the role of being.” (35)
“I get the impression that her life was one long meditation about nothingness, except that she needed others in order to believe in herself, otherwise she would become lost in the continuous, spiralling vacuum inside her.” (37-38) Most of our lives are spent doing nothing. If you think about it most things have no purpose other than the fact that we are doing them. Like this blog. This book delves into the deep dark abyss that is the human mind. It sheds light on the incomprehensible madness that cannot be unseen. Once a person accepts these thoughts as truths they cannot look, see, smell, taste, or feel anything the same again. They can only acknowledge the unknown 6th. Once they acknowledge the 6th they will see the beauty of nothing.