Reflections on a Year of Reading Brazilian Literature
1. Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands by Jorge Amado
2. The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho
3. The Passion According to G.H. by Clarice Lispector
4. Dom Casmurro by Machado De Assis
The literature in Brazil reflects its multi-dimensional nature. Writers use their styles to communicate with others, record history, convey ideas and depict an identity. Brazilian literature is an important part of the country’s complex culture by making it a fascinating record of people, places and times. The literary community of Brazil includes romantic novels, religious text and a fair amount of the satirical and secular genres. Romanticism was mostly used in Brazilian literature in the 1800s. This era encouraged society to consider the way in which they had been viewing themselves, others and the world around them. They were encouraged to use their imagination, to interpret symbolism and differentiate between myth and fact, a lot of what is seen in the Alchemist. As Romanticism declined in the mid-1800’s, Realism became popular in literature. This style depicted the world in its most natural, raw forms. In fact, Machado de Assis was one of the most important writers in the Realism era. He was known for his pessimism and dark sense of humor. Along with Realism came Naturalism, which implied that the social and natural environments shaped the type of person one became which is seen in The Passion According to G.H. After 1922, Modernism began and was characterised by an exploration of one’s self, a questioning of what others said or did, a sense of individualism, a doubt of absolute truths and a sense of randomness. Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands capture Modernism along with the sense of humor Brazil has.
Starting from what I read first, Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands set an example for me of what to be and how to act, and what not to be and how not to act as a boyfriend and a future husband. Her first husband gave her terrible attention in public but great attention in private where as her second husband gave her great attention in public and poor attention in private. It showed me that in my relationship I have to be the best in both to my woman, both public and private.
The Alchemist was by far the most influential towards my life. It grew my faith in God, to know that options are determined by God to exist in the world but that we have free will to make a choice. The boy in the book is brought to many places by a greater force (God) because of his desire to find treasure and he is given the choice to pursue his dream or settle for hat he has. God continuously pushes him to chase his goal when he starts to give up on it. In the story is says something like, when we start ignoring God he stops motivating us our goals and eventually leaves us out of our free will to regret our actions until we start dreaming again. The Alchemist appealed to me because experienced and experience the same thing the protagonist did, a relationship with a greater force.
The Passion According to G.H. was also appealing to me somewhere in the middle of the novel because the main character goes through an internal dilemma that cause her to self-evaluate herself and what she has done with her life. In my life I’ve prepared my self and am working so that I never have to go through that financially or physically, but everyday I do spiritually. I’m always checking myself when I find myself acting immorally through arrogance or ignorance. G.H testifies that it was God who brought her out into the light and transformed her into someone better for herself and the people around her.
I actually didn’t finish reading Dom Casmurro, but it begins introductory from Dom beginning from when he was younger, in which I assume leads up to the present where he is narrating from. But he introduces how he met this girl and how the began going out at a young age. Sadly from the summary on the back of the book, this girl that he met eventually married to him but ended up cheating on him with his best friend... Now thats just my worst nightmare, I think I would lose all morality and murder the two, God forgive me! (Humor). But it’s a painful thing to imagine.
I learned that I, myself, am exactly where I should be in life. I learned that I have nothing to fear but procrastination and lack of effort. Glory to God, I was taught prudence and and good work ethics, and to not slack beyond the limit that leads to failure. From the time I’ve been working on these reading assignments, I’ve been accepted to my #1 pick school, Gordon College, in which I planned on going to since my sophomore year. I competed for a full-ride and unfortunately did not receive it, but I did receive a great opportunity in which I can get great training inside my field of study. From an estimate of a $37,000 tuition fee per year, I received an estimate of $22,000 per year, in which only $5,500 per year are loans, leaving the majority as grants and awards. As of right now, since I didn't receive local scholarship awards yet, I'm only paying a total estimate of $60,000 + loan fees for my four years in college, which to me, IS A BLESSING, because I believe I am capable, and most importantly I am willing to be successful in all aspects of life! This is the type of attitude The Alchemist encourages us to have, and I’m grateful for Paolo Coelho’s life. One thing I’ve learned about reading is that everything positive word that is read should be lived, leaving us to live a story of our own.