There are many complex and interesting aspects to "The Hour of the Star" by Clarice Lispector. During the close reading assignment in class, my group analyzed the fifth section of the first 21 pages. We discovered a lot of existential ideas and comments throughout he passage. For example, Lispector writes: "the question 'Who am I?' creates a need a need. And how does one satisfy that need?". Lispector also writes, "Three is no way of escaping facts.". These are very philosophical questions that could come with very complex answers. In all reality, there is a legitimate reason this would have come to the authors mind. With Her death soon approaching, this makes the audience wonder if she had knowledge of her diagnosis or even her prognosis. When faced with death, it would make one question these things pertaining to their existence as a whole. Another instance of death prevailing in this passage was where Lispector wrote: "I shall yield to emotion and I know perfectly well and that every day is one more day stolen form death.". This is another place where the reader begins to wonder if the author new about her approaching death, or if it was just in her keen sense of self. Here, the quotation also supports the idea of existentialism, where death is the ultimatum in life. That there is nothing beyond that. Overall, a main idea of the passage is that it brings death to the audience in several different ways. This forces the reader to critically think about Lispector's knowledge, if any, about her up and coming death.
Clarice Lispector's novel, "The Hour of the Star", is one of the most complex book ever written. One of the complexities of the novel is the way Rodrigo describes Macabéa to the reader. From passage 7, it can be assumed that Rodrigo is quite wealthy, or at least well off, despite not being indulgent. However, he states that he wants to, "...[W]alk naked or in rags; I want to experience at least one insipid flavour of the Host... [A]nd perhaps one day I shall intone praises instead of the misfortunes of the girl from the North-east" (Lispector, "The Hour of the Star"). This passage tells the reader that despite being wealthy, Rodrigo must groom himself to act like one of the poor in order to truly feel like Macabéa in order to write about her. Lispector uses irony when writing here because she describes how Rodrigo belongs, "...[T]o no social category, marginal as I am" (Lispector, "The Hour of the Star"). Another use of irony that Lispector uses in when she describes Rodrigo thinking that he is, "Fully aware that I might have to present myself in a more convincing manner to societies who demand a great deal from someone who is typing at this very moment" (Lispector, "The Hour of the Star"). The irony in this is that Rodrigo describes how he must be presentable in society, despite preparing himself to look impoverished, something which is emphasized by Rodrigo deciding that he "mustn't shave for days" and "must acquire dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep" in order to put himself "on the same footing as the girl from the North-east." The use of visual imagery helps the reader see how impoverished Rodrigo must look, and from how humble of a background Macabéa comes from. Rodrigo going through a physical transformation solely for the purpose of writing about Macabéa is only the beginning of the novel's many complexities.
My group analyzed the fourth section. In this section, we were really introduced to the thoughts and characteristics of Rodrigo and the girl. A lot of juxtaposition is evident when Rodrigo compares himself to the girl. He used much more robust vocabulary when describing himself, and uses bland words when describing the girl. The meaning of the name Rodrigo is glory and rich. Throughout this passage it becomes evident that Rodrigo is not a very likeable person as he seems to often brag about himself in a somewhat humble way. My group caught on to an allusion to God when we noticed that he may have been a carpenter. The girl remains nameless up to this point, which seems to be the author’s way of telling the readers that she is just one of many ordinary girls. She seems to be dealing with a lot of internal conflict. Many existentialist views were also depicted in this passage. Lispector states “For surely words are actions? (15)”. This clearly goes along with existentials ideals that actions define and shape who you are. One of the most prominent lines in the entire book is “...am I a monster or is this what it means to be a person?” (15). This shows the extreme extent to which the girl is confused about this absurd world that she lives in. I think Lispector put those quote in in order to introduce the very complex story line that is soon to follow this passage.
I was assigned to the reading in section 7 for Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector. The section seems like the narrator is trying to prepare himself to write Macabea’s story and presenting reasons as to why he’s doing so. There were many things that stood out in this section and analysing them helped me understand the reading better. We found the lines, “I am a man who posses more money than those who go hungry, and this makes me in some ways dishonest. I only lie at the precise hour of lying. But when I write I do not lie.” (18). After a lot of discussion, we came to the conclusion that he thinks of himself as dishonest because he indulges himself while others do not have enough money to survive daily life. However, I would have expected him to feel guilty rather than dishonest. The line that follows is an allusion to the title, “I only lie at the precise hour of lying” followed by “But when I write I do not lie”, which supported our idea of him being indulgent. When he is writing this story, he seems to think of it as a duty or task. He is not writing this story for himself but rather as a favour to the reader, read in, “my mandate is simply to reveal her presence so that you may recognize her on the street…” (19). There is also irony present when he later says, “To eat communion bread will be to taste the world’s indifference, and to immerse myself in nothingness” (19). According to the maxim, “When people eat together, it’s communion”, it means that bonds and relationships are created between individuals. However, the narrator says that by being together will show him the indifference of the world. This reminds me of how people say that at smaller gatherings, there is no privacy because everyone finds out information too quickly whereas it is easier to be lost in a larger crowd because of the sheer amount of people. By eating communion bread, he could be implying that he wants to join the community Macabea is part of or any community so that he doesn't stand out. He feels like a stranger as he says in, “Yes, I belong to no social category, marginal as I am” (18). The effect this section has on the reader is as though the narrator is doing them a favour. He is approaching a topic that everyone else chooses to ignore, so he “must touch the invisible in its own squalor” (19). Not only is the narrator doing us a favour, he is doing Macabea a favour too because according to him he is creating a human being. He is giving her life meaning. It portrays the narrator as someone who thinks highly of himself and the irony depicts as someone who is at conflict/still discovering one’s own identity.
In the introduction of “The Hour of the Star” Clarice Lispector dedicates the novella to famous musicians, transitioning from baroque and classical, to the romantic and impressionistic. She alludes to these composers finding similarity of the joy and cruelty in creativity, comparing herself to the musician’s music to “What troubles my existence is writing.” In the second paragraph, she refers to the reader and insists that “we must never forget that if the atom’s structure is invisible, it is none the less real.” Despite the novel is a work of fiction and the characters are fictional, Lispector points out that this doesn’t make them less genuine. Macabéas, Rodrigo SMs, Olímpicos, and Glórias exist in reality. There are people who live in Macabéas poverty, and there are Rodrigos who all at one point in time ask themselves “Who am I?” She invokes a sense of urgency in the second paragraph, using words like “emergency” “essential” and “calamity” which prepares reader for the Macabéa’s story. Lispector explains the book is unfinished because she herself doesn’t know the answer, and the novella’s additional twelve titles support the ambiguity. Why of all the titles did Lispector choose “The Hour of the Star”? I interpreted this choice as emphasizing the existential principle that the most authentic moment in life is death. Later in the novella, Rodrigo ruminates that “For at the hour of death you become a celebrated film star” (28). The culmination of the novella of Macabéa’s absurd death is the only point where people acknowledge her existence. What’s also interesting of this title page is how Lispector pens her signature below “The Right to Protest”. This title is juxtaposed against several of the other titles: “She Doesn’t Know How to Protest” and “ I Can Do Nothing” causing it to stand out against the many names of the novella. I think Lispector makes a statement that she’s speaking up for those who can’t protest, and this goes back to the principle of revolt in existentialism.
Along with existentialist beliefs, I do think that Macabea’s death was her most authentic moment. The only time people really thought about her and talked about her was after she died. This proves that for Macabea, this was probably the most important moment in her life, since all her life she longed for some attention. Rodrigo is seemed to be the antagonist of the story. He does not seem to be like someone who is well liked. Macabea seems to be more of the protagonist as she is often portrayed as the underdog who is never talked about. Rodrigo always turns away from the story and talks about himself, making it seem like he is a selfish person who tends to humbly brag about himself. He seems to agonize about so many things in life that he never steps back to realize that he could be living a life much worse than the one that he currently has. I think that Clarice Lispector wrote this book to show readers a new and complex type of reading. This book takes dedication and a lot of effort to understand, and I think that is exactly what Lispector wanted from her audience. She posses complex concepts in her book such as existentialism and identity. I think that she wanted her readers to truly question the world and society that we live in, by writing this book. In writing this book, Lispector wanted the audience to question their surroundings, existence, and what it truly means to exist.
Q3) I do not think Macabéa was happy, it was merely an illusion she forced herself to believe. If she accepted the bleakness of her situation, she would have no hope. I don't think we are meant to feel sorry for Macabea because she doesn't feel sorry for herself. That doesn't take away our responsibility to help her because she too has ambitions and hopes, but she had to crush them herself, knowing it wasn't realistic. Rodrigo says that, “And so this became Macabea’s great ambition: to posses a house one day with its own well. Except she didn't know how to set about realising her ambition” (49) which is followed by, “She wasn't weeping because of the way she lived: never having known any other way of life, she accepted that her life was ‘so’ —just like Macabea’s herself” (51) on the next page. This is similar to the existentialist philosophy in The Stranger, where Meursault says that, “I had lived my life one way and I could just as well have lived it another.” (121). It’s interesting because by accepting her situation Macabea would be an existentialist hero but she simultaneously rejects her unhappiness too. Even though she accepts her situation, she denies herself of the unhappiness she should feel and then come to terms with. However, unlike Meursault she is poor. As the narrator says, “Sadness was a luxury” (61) which is very true.
Q7) Macabea’s death might be the physical representation of her accepting the reality of her situation, and wanting to start fresh. There’s a line which says that, “As she lay there, she felt the warmth of supreme happiness, for she had been born for death’s embrace.” (83), this illustrates the idea that through dying, Mcabaea has possibilities and hope for a new start which she may never have had in her present life. The fact that death and afterlife had more possibilities for her than her mortal life show the bleakness many people living in poverty like her face. Another line following that says, “ I don't believe that she was going to die, for she has so much will to live” (83), this line reflects the existentialist philosophy that your actions are what define you. The narrator has the power to let her survive the accident, yet he chooses to kill her. It can also have a metaphorical value that her existence, however small, will still be remembered by the likes of Olimpico and Gloria, and her will to live might just show through them.
Q16) In the novel, gender plays a prominent role. As we discussed in class, the quote “Another writer, of course, but it would have to be a man for a woman would weep her heart out.” (14) is commentary on Lispector’s behalf about the sexism she faced when she was trying to get her books published. It is also ironic because the narrator is supposed to be impartial but as he states very often, the story he is writing has a huge emotional impact on him. A line which reminded me of the gender roles discussed in Chronicle of a Death Foretold was, “For only now did she understand that a woman is born a woman from the first wail at birth. A woman’s density is to be a woman” (84),compared to “Any man will be happy with them because they've been raised to suffer.” (34) in Chronicle of a Death Foretold. The narrators, both males, justify the injustice of the cruelties inflicted upon Angela Vicario and Macabea by saying that they're meant to be miserable. Both of these stories were written by South American authors which reflects the society they were in during those times.
Sorry forgot to post last time. In the passage marked 2, Clarice Lispector uses allusions to sayings and Existential ideas to create a confused, disoriented feeling. Lispector writes, “Only I do not start with the ending that would justify the beginning - as death appears to comment on life - because I must record the preceding events”(12). The first part of the quote references the question ‘Do the ends justify the means’. Lispector starts with something familiar to many readers, but twists it in an unexpected fashion, forcing the reader to pay attention and think. Then, Lispector relates the first portion to death commenting on life, which relates to the existentialist idea that death is the only authentic moment in life. The comparison between ends justifying means and death commenting on life can be considered a comment on life because it is one of the only things that everyone experiences. Finally, Lispector writes that she must record the beginning before she can justify it with the end, which foreshadows for the reader that the beginning is not savory, and perhaps it is also not justifiable. Lispector creates a tone of confusion with sentences like these because they do not read smoothly and they are often complex in meaning. They bring familiar elements together in a manner that makes less sense than the familiar elements on their own. Later, Lispector writes, “... for we are all one and the same person, and he who is not poor in terms of money is poor in spirit or feeling for he lacks something more precious than gold - for there are those who do not possess that essential essence”(12). The essence that Clarice Lispector writes of could be the idea of essence, of meaning, in existentialism, that separates people from objects. Furthermore, Lispector says that people are all one, which relates to the maxim that there is only one true story, yet with people. There are common struggles to everyone, and if a person has not one struggle, they have another.
2) The start of the novel in which Rodrigo tells of the beginning of the world relates to how Macabéa's situation has neither a start nor an end. The way that Rodrigo tells of the start of the world also relates to themes of poverty with which there is no exact beginning to it. For example, some say that poverty is the result of too high of corruption while others say that it is the result of a lack of development in a country, but there is altogether no start to poverty.
8) Dying a virgin is significant because it is a symbol of an unfulfilled life as Macabéa never got married or anything. Sometimes, such as in the novel “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, a woman's virginity is practically considered her most valuable possession, and yet Macabéa went through her life without losing it. This fact of Macabéa shows how little the world valued her in some ways because nobody cared about the fact that she lived according to societal customs of not having sex before marriage and such, and nobody cared to marry her. In this, it is ironic that dying a virgin is considered a thing of purity, yet Macabéa was seen as filthy and bereft of any value in that matter.
11) I'm not sure. I think Macabéa is the protagonist because Rodrigo writes about her and feels compelled to do so because Rodrigo has learned from Macabéa. In many parts, Rodrigo puts Macabéa down but perhaps it is him not wanting to admit that he learned from such a simple person.
First blog post My group was in charge of analyzing passage 6 in Hour of the Star. This passage included many literary devices, but it mainly focused on Rodrigo himself, and not Macabea. Rodrigo seemed adamant about announcing his plan to write this story, not for Macabea, but for the 'force majuere.' He also felt compelled to include information about himself. This included, but was not limited to , his talent as a writer, his connection to Macabea, his detest for prostitutes, his strength, and his ex-girlfriend. None of this pertains, in full, to Macabea or the overall arching theme of his message; poverty is bad. Besides the strong presence of Rodrigo, there were also large hints at existential ideals, which we know to be an important part of the book.
3) I believe that Macabea was as happy as she could be in her situation. She realized she had limited benefits and experience, and that she wasn't the most beautiful or intelligent. However, she was able to find beauty and pleasure within the simple things, and this shows pure acceptance of fate. Therefore, it would be wrong to feel sorry for one who is happy, because an important and successful part of life is finding one's happiness. We can't feel sorry for someone who is happy, because then we fail as individuals to grasp the concept of satisfaction. In some eyes she is pitiful because she does not realize she lacks nice things, but it is again pointless to feel sorry for someone who themselves do not feel sorry. 8) Dying a virgin, in Macabea's case, might represent the pity Rodrigo felt for her when writing the story. She lacked so much experience in life, that her dying a virgin adds to the annoyance felt by the audience that she didn't get to live out a full life. Another way of looking at it is to compare her death to the death of an angel; she died pure and innocent, and this adds beauty to Macabea that many readers are unable to see. Lastly, her death can be symbolic of tragedy, which connects to the overreaching problem of poverty in Brazil, particularly Rio. 17) What is the significance of Rodrigo throughout the story? Is he there to provide another perspective throughout the story, does he act as an antagonist, or is he a voice of existentialism? Why didn't Lispector narrate the story herself? Why the importance of choosing Macabea as the protagonist of the story?
4) I think Macabéa only "loved" Olímpico because he was the only person who Macabéa really had in the world. Despite being a terrible person, Olímpico was the only person who Macabéa really had a relationship with after both her parents and her aunt died. Although he treated Macabéa terribly, in a way, Olímpico was the only person who gave Macabéa a sense of family because, as is emphasized in the beginning of the novel, Macabéa is not the kind of person who people would pay much attention to in the street, and therefore, she is willing to take any relationship that will end her isolation to make her feel that she is happy.
10) Rodrigo's introduction has a lot of significance to the novel. Rodrigo introduces Macabéa's story because he wants the reader to be able to feel the pain she went through, being impoverished, isolated, and ill-treated, so that if the reader were to see someone who resembled Macabéa on the street, they would be less likely to ignore them, the way Macabéa was ignored, and more willing to offer them any sort of aid. Rodrigo clearly feels some sympathy for her because, despite calling her a "vagrant bitch" in the narration, the recurring mention of Macabéa's origins from the North-east emphasize to the reader that the living conditions there are poor, and that more importantly, he mentions that he himself was also from the North-east, therefore showing the reader that he is able to feel Macabéa's pain first-hand by being able to fill himself in her shoes. As someone who was able to find success in his life, despite coming from an impoverished background, Rodrigo now feels a sense of duty to tell others about the harsh realities of living an impoverished life in the North-east so that more people will be less quick to judge the poor and will be more aware about the struggles of life in the slums of Rio.
11) Personally, I believe that Macabéa is the protagonist of the novel. Rodrigo is merely a figurehead, established early on to tell Macabéa's story. Macabéa is the true protagonist of the novel because the story revolves around the struggle of her life as an impoverished woman living in the slums of Rio de Janeiro and how life treated her cruelly. Rodrigo is only present to tell the reader the story of Macabéa's miserable life, and how she never found the true bliss of life that she deserved. In addition to this, Rodrigo seems to have been captivated by Macabéa's story enough to be able to tell it, therefore showing that Macabéa's essence is strong enough to have an impact on somebody who usually would not seem to care much about a person in her position, which tells the reader that despite all of the defeat that Macabéa experienced in her life, she triumphs in being the protagonist of the novel.
In a way, Lispector uses this second section of her dedication to prove society wrong. Early she said that only a man could tell the story she is about to tell because it is so sorrowful. However, in this section of her dedication she writes, “Even as I write this I feel ashamed at pouncing on you with a narrative that is so open and explicit”. Although she said earlier that a women would not be strong enough to share the story of the girl from the North East, she does not actually believe this. Instead she is mocking the stereotype seen in society today that men are tougher than women. By writing such a explicit story, Lispector proved with “The Hour of the Star” that women can be just as mentally tough as men. Another thing Lispector wants to get across to the reader is that the story of the girl from the North East is extremely important. We know this because it is hard for Lispector to write the story, and she feels bad for forcing the reader to hear the sad story of the girl. It is interesting that in this section, Lispcetor is constantly saying that she does not want to write anything complicated, yet she seems to complicate things throughout the entire passage. For example, in the first section of the dedication, she made multiple references to existentialism. However in this passage, she writes, “ God is the world”. In conclusion, the two main things I learned after reading this passage are that the themes of confusion and gender roles will continue to play a big role throughout the novel.
At the beginning of the third section the narrator finally introduces himself as Rodrigo S.M. Not only is this the first time we hear his name, it is the only time! In addition, the narrator never actually met Macabea. The reader must question if anything Rodrigo says about Macabea is true. For example, if Macabea is even her real name. Another reason that suggests that Rodrigo may not be the most reliable narrator is that he practically says he does not even care about Macabea. He writes, “It is true that I, too, feel no pity for my main character, the girl from the North- East” (13). If he is saying he cares just as little about Macabea as everyone else why is he going to tell us her story? He says he is writing to make the reader aware of a problem that a large group of girls are struggling from the affects of poverty, just like Macabea. However, I am not sure how he could be concerned about the well being of the group as a whole, while not caring about Macabea. Rodrigo displays his arrogance as he writes, “I am warming up before making a start, rubbing my hands together to summon up my courage” (14). In addition to this sentence, he goes on for ever explaining why he is going to tell the story and apologizing for telling it, rather than simply telling the story. It is obvious that the narrator takes himself very seriously and believes that the story he is about to tell is very important.
There were five prominent biblical references that I found in Hour of the Star. First, Macabea was listening to a educational program on her radio, and the speaker said to, "Repent in Christ and he will give you great joy." (37) Macabea then promptly repents, even though she does not know what repenting is. This shows certain existential views that people blindly follow religion and that there is no God. She is simply blindly following orders. A second biblical reference is on page 14, when Rodrigo refers to his writing craft as that of a carpenter. In the bible, Jesus was supposed to become a carpenter, so this hints to how Rodrigo views himself; strong and with a higher value than most people. However, at the end of the book he references the Prince of darkness, which often times is another name for Satan. It becomes unclear of whether he is referring to himself as Jesus or Satan, and this is similar to how he changes his views throughout the story. A third reference I found was that there were four Marias in the book, and there are four Marys in the New Testament. I think the book was symbolizing all the Marias as a whole trait of the Virgin Mary, who symbolized purity and beauty. In the eyes ofMacabea, these girls were all beautiful, and held to a higher standard than she was. The last two biblical references are on page 60, when Macabea said," Three Our Fathers and two Hail Marys to gain composure." 'Our Fathers refers to a saying that helps with calming down; this refers to when she wants to gain her composure. She also says two Hail Marys, which is again similar to gaining composure and asking for forgiveness.
I liked how you pointed out that Macabea blindly follows the instructions to repent. Does this relates to how she also blindly follows Olimpico? yet the two items are very different..
Dear Mrs. Ballard, I'm very sorry but I am very unfamiliar with the bible as a whole.. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to go for obvious references or what but I haven't read the bible and such so I apologize anyways..
I noticed that Olimpico sculpts figures of saints that he sees as so beautiful, he shouldn't sell them. Lispector writes that Olimpico, "... sculpted everything on the Christ Child. He thought that the way things are is the way things are, and Christ had been besides a saint a man like him, though without the gold tooth"(37). Um yeah I don't know what's going on in the allusion.
In Clarice Lispector's "Hour of the Star", there were five allusions to the Bible that I found. Amongst them, one of them appears on page 19, when Rodrigo claims that he, "...[T]oo, is a man of hosannas and perhaps one day I shall intone praises instead of the misfortunes of the girl from the North-east" (Lispector, 19). The word "hosanna" is a Biblical allusion because it is a liturgical word, usually used to describe the ascension of Jesus Christ into Heaven, describing how he has reached "the highest." The significance of this allusion is that Rodrigo claims that he, too, would like to reach the highest, but the context he uses it refers to how he wants to reach the highest of writers, and therefore he compares the triumph of Christ to the success he wants for his career. On the same page, a second Biblical allusion is mentioned when Rodrigo states that he wants, "...[T]o experience the insipid flavour of the Host. To eat communion bread will be to taste the world's indifference..." (Lispector, 19). The allusion used in this passage is the Host, the bread offered during mass used to symbolize the body of Christ. This bread is usually taken during communion time at mass, when everyone in the congregation is expected to take it. However, Rodrigo mentions that tasting the Host would be to immerse himself into nothingness. This implies that Rodrigo does not believe in the religion, and that only the very poor adhere to religious beliefs, which is expressed when he mentions wanting to take the Host when he is donning the persona of an impoverished person from the North-east. Another Biblical allusion that confirms Rodrigo's lack of belief in religion is on page 14, when he states that, "As I prayed I emptied my soul - and this emptiness is everything that I can ever hope to possess" (Lispector, 14). Despite Rodrigo admitting to praying, praying in Christianity is meant to enrich the soul and form a fulfilling connection with God. Rodrigo, however, claims that praying empties his soul, the way he likes it, showing that he is rebelling against the traditional institutions of religion. A fourth Biblical allusion is seen on page 37, when Macabéa is listening to the radio, and hears a voice saying, "Repent in Christ and He will give you great joy" (Lispector, 37). This alludes to the traditional Christian belief that confessing ones sins to ask for forgiveness from Christ will allow people to rise to Heaven after death and live eternity in extreme bliss. Macabéa is described to not know what she should repent, so she repents everything, giving some insight to her character as a girl who does not seem to indulge in many (traditionally viewed) "sinful acts." Macabéa's (seemingly) sinless demeanor is also reflected later on in the same page, when Rodrigo describes how, "Most of the time, she possessed, without knowing it, the emptiness that replenishes the souls of saints. Was she a saint? It would seem so" (Lispector, 37). Contrary to the emptiness that Rodrigo feels, the emptiness of saints is typically the vows of poverty they take in order to live lives of dedication to God, to do charitable acts that will eventually result in sainthood. Although Macabéa is never described doing anything significant enough to be a saint, her impoverished living state paired along with her saintly demeanor shows that she is a nice girl, partially out of naïvety, who is capable of becoming a saint because she never does anything wrong. These are the five Biblical allusions that stood out to me in this book.
"She believed in angels, and, because she believed, they existed”. This goes back to the idea that if you believe in something so much, you can accept that it is real. This also goes back to existentialism beliefs claiming that people must see something in order to believe in it. Another biblical reference was when Rodrigo was compared to a carpenter. This was an allusion to the bible. “God is the world. The truth is always some inner power without explanation” (12). Although many existentialists do not believe in God, this quote clearly shows that Rodrigo is a religious person. He believes that since God determines the fate for everyone, he is the world. There is another quote later on in the book that may reference the bible. Lispector states “I ask myself: is every story that has ever been written in this world, a story of suffering and affliction?” In a sense, a large majority of the stories in the bible explain ways that prophets suffered and what they needed to do to overcome these sufferings. Suffering is a recurring idea in the book as Macabea faces starvation, abuse from her aunt, and criticism from her aunt. The idea of suffering is prevalent in both the Bible and the Hour of the Star.
“This was the first time she had ever spoken of herself to Olimpico de Jesus, accustomed as she was to forgetting about herself.” (49) The name Olimpico in Italian means Olympian, which is related to greek mythology, this is juxtaposed to the latter half of his name which is “de Jesus”. This could translate as Olympian of Jesus, which is a really powerful name. This could signify how the name itself is powerful but in actuality, the position his name denotes doesn't exist. I would also expect the character to be a lot more amiable and with good character, but Olimpico doesn't possess these qualities, creating irony.
“Transformed, moreover, by words - since the time of Moses the word had been acknowledged as being divine” (79) This may reference when Moses fought against the pharaoh against the policy of casting every boy born into the Nile. He also confronted the pharaoh about releasing the slaves. This may signify the importance of confrontation and using your voice for a good purpose if you are in a position of power. In this case however, Carlota misuses the trust and fate people have in her.
“(I am having a hellish time with this story. May the Gods never decree that I should write about a leper, for then I should become covered in leprosy)” (39) In the research I did, leprosy seems to be regarded as God’s curse. In this line, he compares him writing Macabea’s story to a disease. He thinks that if he gets too involved in the story, he may not be able to get out and in the process become like Macabea. He wouldn't want this because he sees her as ignorant in her nothingness, yet he wants to achieve that same nothingness.
“…the craft of carpentry” (14) Jesus was the son of a carpenter (from what I understood), and by the author comparing his trade and position to his, the author sees himself in really high regards. This contradicts his claims of being humble.
“Why is there so much God? At the expense of men.” (26) I found this quote interesting because it could mean that even though God may or may not exist, it causes conflict among humans.
In my passage, the patterns I noticed were the repetition of “word” in the second paragraph of my passage: “But knowing beforehand so as never to forget that the word is the fruit of the word. The word must resemble the word. To attain the word is my first duty to myself. The word must not be adorned and become aesthetically worthless; it must be simply itself,” (Lispector 11). This can be seen as an allusion to the bible: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Another pattern I noticed was the constant use of “I” in the last paragraph of my passage: “I write because I have nothing better to do in this world: I am superfluous and last in the world of men. I write because I am desperate and weary. I can no loner bear the routine of my existence and, were it not for the constant novelty of writing, I should die symbolically each day. Yet I am prepared to leave quietly by the back door. I have experienced almost everything, even passion and despair. Now I only wish to possess what might have been but never was,” (Lispector 12). I see this as narcissistic because the narrator is supposed to be talking about the poor girl from the North-east, but he keeps going on and on about himself. He whines about being “so little” and takes dozens of pages to get on with the story about the girl, so why doesn’t he just write an autobiography? (I realize this is an experimental novel and Ridrigo isn’t real, but he’s really annoying and I wish this story was told in Macabea’s perspective and not some entitled on-looker.)
3) Macabea’s happiness is like the saying, “ignorance is bliss.” She’s unaware that her life sucks because she has nothing to base it off of, due to lack of friends and family. I believe we are meant to feel sorry for her, no matter how self-content she is. No matter how happy she thinks she is, she is pitiful because she got abused by her aunt as a child, never stood up to her verbally abusive “boyfriend”, and died just after she got hope for her future. 5) I believe the only other point to Olimpico’s character was play the part in her death. He leaves Macabea for her co-worker, who feels bad and gives her money to go see the fortune teller, and then she dies. Besides that and adding to Macabea’s terrible life, I don’t see his character any more useful. 15) Latin American culture in this time was very male-centric, as was it in America (and still sort of is). I believe if Macabea were an American woman in this same time, she would probably have the same terrible life because she was a woman. Women in the mid-1950’s were most usually the ones who stayed home cooking and cleaning while the men were to get a job to support the family. These gender roles play a big part in Macabea’s poverty and life quality.
Biblical references: 1. The fact that Olimpico’s full name is Olimpico de Jesus, which translates to Olympics of Jesus/Jesus’s Olympics. 2. “To think is an act. To feel is a fact. Put the two together — it is me who is writing what I am writing. God is the world.” (Lispector 12). Although these sentences seemed like rambles to me at first, when I read them again I realized he’s trying to say that he has free will in his acts such as writing, but God is still the world. Some religious people believe in God and heaven and all that, and still believe in free will. Rodrigo seems to be one of those people. 3. “Everything in the world began with a yes,” (Lispector 3) / “…the word is the fruit of the word. The word must resemble the word. To attain the word is my first duty to myself. The word must not be adorned and become aesthetically worthless; it must simply be itself.” These two quotes go hand-in-hand as allusions to the Bible: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Also, the mention of the fruit reminds me of the fruit in Genesis that Eve wasn’t supposed to eat. 4. “As I prayed I emptied my soul—and this emptiness is everything that I can ever hope to possess,” (Lispector 14). Prayer is a big part of religion. I think praying helps people feel closer to God and puts their soul at peace, but for Rodrigo it empties him. 5. “The action of this story will result in my transfiguration into someone else and in my ultimate materialization into an object,” (Lispector 12). Although this quote probably isn’t intended to have religious symbolism, when I looked up the word “transfiguration,” I read it was Jesus’s transformation into a radiant light.
Rodrigo dehumanizes Macabea throughout the novel, making him to be a unlikeable character/narrator. Lispector does this to evoke pathos and pity towards Macabea, who represents the lowerclass, and a hatred towards Rodrigo, who represents the upperclass. Here are six examples of Rodrigo dehumanizing Macabea: 1. “But the person I’m going to talk about scarcely has a body to sell, nobody wants her, she’s a virgin and harmless, nobody would miss her,” (Lispector 5-6). 2. “…she’s stuck to my skin like some sticky treacle or black mud,” (Lispector 13). 3. “She sat there leaning her head n her shoulder like a sad dove,” (Lispector 40). 4. “…her voice was as crude and out of tune as she was,” (Lispector 42). 5. “For now Macabea was nothing but a vague feeling on the dirty cobble stones,” (Lispector 74). 6. “Was she suffering? I believe she was. Like a hen with its neck half-severed, running around in a panic and dripping blood,” (Lispector 80).
Throughout the book, Rodrigo dehumanizes both Macabea and poverty. On page 14, Rodrigo says, "...nobody desires her, she USA harmless virgin whom nobody needs. It strikes me that I don't need her either..." Rodrigo has just dehumanized Macabea, because he views her as undesirable, even at the level of prostitution, which he views as pitiful. He then asserts his dominance over her by saying that he doesn't need her either. By asserting himself, he's saying that everyone, even people she doesn't know, don't like her. A second reference to Macabea is seen on page 21. He refers to her as a contaminating mud that is stuck to him. He has reduced her importance to the tiniest amount, and actually makes her appear as though she is a burden on him. This can also be a reference to poverty, and how despite a societies best efforts, it cannot be removed. Also on oh 21, Rodrigo refers to poverty as ugly and promiscuous. Interestingly enough, by giving poverty human like qualities, Rodrigo is then able to dehumanize it. Poverty is now seen as highly undesirable. On page 23, Rodrigo refers to her existence as sparse. Having little existence means that there is not enough here to keep a person important. She therefore, is as important as an inanimate object. On page 25, Rodrigo says that, "the girl had not." He doesn't say specifically what she had not done, adding to the fact that she is so unimportant, that there is no point in knowing. Lastly, on page 46, Rodrigo calls Macabea a primitive creature.
Rodrigo dehumanizes Macabéa to show how little and unassuming she is and the degree to which she should be unhappy.
Rodrigo writes that Macabéa merely inhales and exhales, and he asks, “… why should she do anything more? Her existence is sparse”(15). At first, it seems that Rodrigo himself is not content because Macabéa does not want for more, but then he asks rhetorically what more would Macabéa be. Rodrigo feels bad, and wants for Macabéa to want more, and steps back to formalize his story as he sees he should as an author.
Rodrigo brings up Macabéa's profession, and says that Macabéa is, “… proud of being a typist, even though she earned less than minimum wage”(36). Ordinarily, it is a positive thing when someone takes pride in his or her work. However, with Macabéa, it is absurd to the reader because her job is not a proper job and her job is not something of which to be proud. Her job existing makes some people embarrassed, and yet Macabéa is proud of it.
Later, Rodrigo writes that, “she didn't know that she herself was a suicide although it had never crossed her mind to kill herself”(50). Suicide is a very extreme action. It is most often used to mean killing oneself, but Rodrigo clarifies that she has not done so. An alternate definition, according to Merriam Webster Dictionary, is an action that ruins or destroys one's career, social position, etc. This holds true to how Olímpico views Macabéa as not good enough for him. Although he is alright with their relationship at first, he sees her as killing his opportunities. Rodrigo writes that, “whereas Macabéa seemed to have in herself her own end”(51). Do the ends justify the means? Rodrigo writes that Macabéa is her own end, as if Macabéa is her own means. Thus, Rodrigo implies that Macabéa as a being has no hope for the future, not that she acknowledges or doesn't acknowledge her situation, but that hope and opportunity for the improvement of her position simply do not exist.
Rodrigo writes that, “it might have been one of the few times that Macabéa saw that for her there was no place in the world...”(57). It is interesting that Macabéa realizes this when Gloria takes pity for stealing her boyfriend. Perhaps this relates to how Macabéa fell in love with Olímpico and was described with more feelings when it was in relation to her passion for him. Clarice Lispector provides commentary on society in that the moment that Macabéa may have realized her position was when she had lost her love, her boyfriend, rather than when Macabéa was going hungry or eating hot dogs everyday because she had no money for anything much.
Rodrigo writes that, “her fall was nothing, just a shove”(78). Rodrigo further dehumanizes her by downgrading her death in saying that not much was needed for her to be done, just a shove. After all, she had the means in herself already, according to what he writes.
One of the most prominent quotes in the entire novel is “Who has not asked himself at some point or other: am I a monster or is this what is means to be a person?” (15). This clearly demonstrates the internal conflict that is felt within the characters. They question their entire existence as a whole, and try to identify their true purpose in life. Another example was the quote “I confine myself to narrating the unremarkable adventures of a girl living in a hostile city”(15). This quote shows that she is just one of many girls. By using the word “unremarkable” he degrades her self worth by saying she is a very ordinary girl with no excitement in her life. Also, he neglects to give the name of the girl for a large portion of the book which reiterates how little importance she pertains. Throughout the book there is the recurring idea that actions define who you are. This is shown through “Is it possible that actions exceed words?” (17). This idea also appears again when Lispector states “...we live exclusively in the present because forever and eternally it is the day of today, and the day of tomorrow will be a today. Eternity is the state of things at this very moment” (18). This goes to show that every decision you make has the potential of being consequential. It is rare that one gets by with their actions and decisions not having an effect on those around them.
Throughout this novel, despite trying to tell her story, Rodrigo constantly dehumanizes Macabéa because of her impoverished state. Lispector's reason for this is to show the reader how the highest members of society, men who are well-off, constantly degrade the lowest members of society, in this case, impoverished women, for being in the state that they are. The first time Rodrigo dehumanizes her is on page 14, when he states, "...[N]obody desires her, she is a harmless virgin whom nobody needs. It strikes me that I don't need her either and that what I am writing can be written by another" (Lispector, 14). Rodrigo dehumanizes Macabéa here by demeaning her worth and by saying how just anybody could write about her because she is not anything special. Rodrigo also demeans her once again on the same page by describing how, "There are thousands of girls like this from the North-east to be found in the slums of Rio de Janeiro...[N]obody gives a damn about their existence" (Lispector, 14). Although this quote does not pertain specifically to Macabéa, Rodrigo dehumanizes all of the girls who are in her situation by stating that nobody cares whether or not they're in the world, as if they're just some object that someone threw out or cast aside. This dehumanizing of all girls in a bad situation also show Rodrigo's lack of care towards Macabéa and any of the poor people around him. A third example of Rodrigo dehumanizing Macabéa is when he says that, "...[S]he's stuck to my skin like some sticky treacle or black mud" (Lispector, 13). Rodrigo not only talks about her as if she is bound to him, but he also compares her to the most unpleasant things. Due to her poverty, Rodrigo feels that he can describe Macabéa how ever he wants because she is of no concern to anybody. For all he cares, she is just something that happened to catch his attention in the moment that will be forgotten by society soon after. On the same page, Rodrigo also states that, "...I feel no pity for my main character, the girl from the North-east: I want my story to be cold and impartial" (Lispector, 13). At this point, Rodrigo doesn't even treat Macabéa like a physical entity, but rather just an aspect of the story that he must write for his own personal benefit. The way that he does not feel anything for Macabéa, despite describing how horrible her life is, shows that he only wants to write the story to establish himself as a writer; he doesn't care if Macabéa leaves any impression on the reader. A fifth example of Rodrigo dehumanizing Macabéa is when he says that she is, "...[S]ome vagrant bitch...guided entirely by her own remote control" (Lispector, 18). Here, Rodrigo generalizes the state of being impoverished because he makes Macabéa, and poor people in general, seem idle, as if they are simply lazy, stupid, and not caring about anything in the world. Rodrigo does not acknowledge the fact that Macabéa has no family, and therefore has nowhere to go between her typing job and her horrible living quarters. Rodrigo is an example of how the well-off do not acknowledge the status of the poor not really being their fault because people like him are too quick to judge people like her. A final example of how Rodrigo dehumanizes Macabéa is when he says that, "...[S]he exists in an impersonal limbo, untouched by what is worst or best. She merely exists, inhaling and exhaling, inhaling and exhaling" (Lispector, 23). Once again, Rodrigo only acknowledges Macabéa as if she is just some dust in the wind. He sees her, but he does not really notice her, and therefore, had she not died, he would have merely brushed her off had they ever met during her short lifetime. These six quotes from the book are examples of Macabéa's dehumanization at the hands of Rodrigo.
I noticed that at the beginning of the book that whenever Rodrigo spoke about Macabea, he called her “the girl” or “she” but as the book progressed he started using her name. It also stood out to me that whenever he used her name, it was to describe something negative or the misery of her situation.
“And since I have discovered almost everything about her, she has clung to my skin like some vicious glue or contaminating mud” (21) Rodrigo uses similes to compare her to mud and thick glue, this could be a metaphor for the dehumanising impact of the urban world. Macabea is of lower class and in many places, poor people are looked down upon and harsh judgement is passed upon them. They aren't seen as human but rather objects, or as Lispector says it in the quote. Macabea has had a haunting effect on Rodrigo but he articulates it by making it sound like she's a disease he has been infected with.
“The illusion soon passed and she saw her entire face distorted by the tarnished mirror; her nose had grown as huge as those false noses made of papier mâché donned by circus clowns.” (25) In this quote he compares her physical appearance to appear clown like. This can be social commentary because she is looking into a mirror which can be a metaphor for society itself and its unreal expectations and ideals. Her face doesn't actually look like a clown, but it was the mirror that changed it which is similar to the mirror symbolism in No Exit. Estelle was largely dependent on mirrors to dictate her life because they provided her with a physical representation but maybe Macabea was content because in her mind she knew she existed.
“Her aunt would use her knuckles to rap that head of skin and bones which suffered from calcium deficiency” (27) Rodrigo doesn't specify Macabea directly, but just uses “that” making it applicable for many people in a similar situation to her. He reduces her to a human skeleton or organism rather than a being with a personality. Through this diction and narration, Lispector makes the reader realise that Macabea is not the only one who is in this situation and even after the story is over, they are many others just like her who could use some assistance to get through life.
“Leaving God aside, I have just discovered that reality made little sense to the girl.” (34) Rodrigo uses “the girl” to address Macabea, and in this quote he seems to emphasise the fact that without fate, people often seems to be lost because they don't know what to believe in anymore. This is similar to the existentialist views of having the find your own truth.
Macabéa was undeniably a primitive creature while Olímpico de Jesus saw himself as a man about town, the type of man for whom all doors open” (46) In the 4th quote Rodrigo reduces Macabea to plainly a skeleton and in this example she is a “primitive creature”. He doesn't see her as a complicated being, he sees her as someone he needs to dissect in order to get to the truth. This quote is also illustrates that we are what we make of ourselves. Olimipico didn't didn't garner much respect but he did have a lot of confidence which made him stand out. The way a person carries themselves around in society is such a big deal because a person’s appearance creates their first impression.
“Yes, I adore Macabéa, my darling Maca. I adore her ugliness and her total anonymity for she belongs to no one.” (68) In this quote Rodrigo again dehumanises her in a way that she lacks personality and all she is left with is her appearance. In all these quotes he is very critical or her appearance and this would make sense because even though he thinks he's understood her, he never will because he doesn't seem to accept her as an equal. He reduces her to nothing but yet cannot understand where she is coming from or her inner workings. Society too places a huge importance on physical appearance, and if this is the sole focus, everyone is anonymous because I believe that it is our experiences and behaviour that make us truly unique.
Throughout the novel, Macabea is constantly dehumanized by Rodrigo. This makes him a very unlikeable narrator and causes the reader to question why he is writing about her. Perhaps he feels that he must act as if her situation is worse than it really is, in order to exaggerate the negative effects of poverty on a young girl. Rodrigo writes, “Yes, I adore Macabéa, my darling Maca. I adore her ugliness and her total anonymity for she belongs to no one.” (68) For example, Rodrigo might adore Macabea’s ugliness because her problems are what makes his story possible. Another example is when Rodrigo says, "...I feel no pity for my main character, the girl from the North-east: I want my story to be cold and impartial" (Lispector, 13) Once again the reader must wonder if Rodrigo even cares about Macabea. It seems that he is telling her story to bring fame to himself. Granted, he says he wants to bring awareness to poverty in general, which would explain why Macabea is not his main focus. Rodrigo later writes this, “it might have been one of the few times that Macabéa saw that for her there was no place in the world...”(57). This passage should confuse the reader because Rodrigo is essentially saying that Macabea is irrelevant. However, another way this could be viewed is that Rodrigo thinks that poverty should have no place in the world and must be taken care of. Regardless, Rodrigo’s dehumanization of Macabea keeps the reader’s eyebrows raised and tells the story from the point of view of someone who does not understand the position Macabea is in.
One of the traits that makes an experimental novel is having unlikeable characters, or anti-heros. The Hour of the Star is a great example of an experimental novel because both the narrator and the main character are rather unlikeable. The narrator Rodrigo is the least likable for me. I find him very snobbish, and he’s very insensitive towards Macabea, and even states, “…it’s true that I too have no pity for my main character, the northeastern girl…” (Lispector 5). I had a distaste for him from just the very first couple of pages of the book due to his lack of empathy and superfluous amount of narcissism. He goes on rambling about this tragic story he’s going to write, but keeps bringing the story back to himself. Just as he’s giving more information about Macabea, who he still yet hasn’t named in this part of the story, he interrupts his narration and goes, “Forgive me but I’m going to keep talking abut me who am unknown to myself…” (Lispector 7). I don’t know about you, but I found this really annoying because I was just getting some tidbits of Macabea’s life and he had to bring it back to himself. Regarding Macabea, although I pitied her poverty and blissful ignorance, I still found her irritating (but not as irritating as Rodrigo). When Macabea meets her boyfriend, one of the first things he says to her is that her name sounds like a skin disease. Despite his obvious rudeness, Macabea “already loved him so much that she could no longer do without him, she was desperately in love,” (Lispector 35). She didn’t even know his name yet and she was already in love with him, which began to grow my disliking towards her. Later Macabea’s “boyfriend” tries to prove his strength by picking her up, only to drop her on her face and give her a nose bleed. He didn’t apologize and she brushed it off by saying, “Don’t worry it was just a little fall, “ (Lispector 44). Her indifference towards her boyfriend’s cruelness makes me pity her, but also aggravates me because she never stands up for herself.
Rodrigo repeatedly dehumanizes Macabea throughout the Hour of the Star. The dehumanization of Macabea is introduced very early in the book. He states “...like some flagrant bitch she was guided by her own remote control” (18). Rodrigo completely dehumanized her by using extreme profanity when describing her. He consistently says that he is here to tell her story and will not bring her down, however he always gets sidetracked and just ends up talking about himself. He then proceeds to say “I am a man who posses more money than those who go hungry, and this makes me in some ways dishonest. I only lie at the precise hour of lying” (18). This makes the readers wonder why he is telling the story if he does not know the whole thing and also doesn’t know both sides of the story. “No one acknowledges her for they don’t even notice her” (16). Here, Rodrigo is simply trying to take away all exciting things about Macabea and implies that she is just one of many other girls living in Brazil. Another quote that supports this idea is “There are thousands of girls like this girl from the North-east to be found in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, living in bedsitters or toiling behind counters for all they are worth. They aren’t even aware of the fact that they are superfluous and that nobody cares a damn about their existence” (14). He brutally states that a women in Brazil have little meaning and purpose in life. This also shows Rodrigo’s ignorant view of poverty. “She was hopelessly rachitic at birth, the inheritance of the backwoods-the legacy of misfortune I mentioned earlier” (27). This relates back to some early philosophical views believing that one is either born good or evil. In this instance, Rodrigo is saying that Macabea was born hopeless and because of that she will remain rachitic. “As for the girl, she exists in an impersonal limbo, untouched by what is worst or best. She merely exists., inhaling and exhaling, inhaling and exhaling” (23). Lastly, Rodrigo truly emphasizes that Macabea has no impact on the world. She just gets by “inhaling and exhaling” and has no sense of feeling or emotion.
“I forgot to mention that sometimes this typist is nauseated by the thought of food. This dates from her childhood when she discovered that she had eaten a fried cat” (39) This quote stuck out because Macabea’s experiences are her own source of conflict. Even though she barely has enough food to eat sometimes, her experience or fear is strong enough to create nausea. It shows how deeply experiences are ingrained into us and however hard we try, somethings cannot be forgotten. Few lines later in the same paragraph it says that, “She believed in angels, and because she believed in them, they existed” (39), once something in the past has occurred, it cannot be repeated so it simply becomes a memory. It isn't quantifiable therefore its only remains are what we make of it. They can be used to elicit fear, happiness, anger but it is the effect believing can have.
“She had been born with a legacy of misfortune, a creature from nowhere with the expression of someone who apologises for occupying too much space” (26) Macabea’s existence and many others like her are viewed by people of better socioeconomic status as being worthless. They are seen as inferiors and that they are indeed occupying space. Lispector depicts Macabea as someone who is aware of her apparent worthlessness but is still trying her best to live. It creates conflict within Macabea because she knows she isn't wanted and the only way she can compensate is by being apologetic. Lispector also says, “legacy of misfortune” which can represent the cycle of poverty people in her status are born into and how it is almost impossible to break out of it.
“I also believe she was weeping because the music helped her to perceive that there were other ways of feeling; that there were more delicate forms of existence and certain spiritual refinements.” (51) In my understanding of what I understood from the definition of an experimental novel is the exploration of human personality and its layers. Throughout the book, Lispector places a huge importance on music from many different movements but mostly instrumental, she shows a great appreciation for it. Instrumental music can be perceived as universal because words aren't necessary to understand the emotion that is trying to be conveyed. People listen or createmusic to comfort themselves, it often serves as an escape from reality. Lispector treats music as some sort of transcendentalist experience.
“His dream was to earn enough money to do exactly what he pleased: nothing.” (67) I found this really interesting because it creates a paradox. His goal was to do nothing yet he worked hard as a doctor, how much ever he disliked it, in order to gain money to do nothing. He wasn't doing nothing because he still had a job but it raises existentialist ideas of finding meaning and purpose. His life was devoid of meaning because he didn't find happiness in what he was doing. It is important to have some sort of passion or motivation in life which makes life worth living.
“…it’s true that I too have no pity for my main character, the northeastern girl…” (Lispector 5) Once again, this quote changes the reader's view of Rodrigo, the narrator. We have already become aware that this is not his story to tell due to the variation among the two characters social classes. Now, the reader must wonder why he wants to tell the story anyways. If he does not care about Macabea, why does he feel it is his duty to make her story known and compare her to a movie star at her death? Later on Rodrigo writes, “...like some flagrant bitch she was guided by her own remote control” (18). He continues to dehumanize Macabea with this passage. In calling her a flagrant bitch he has proved his point that he feels no pity for her. If his purpose in writing about Macabea is to create awareness for people living in poverty and urge the reader to take action, he is not going to get anywhere by characterizing his main character the way he does. We also know that Rodrigo does not even know Macabea so it is interesting to see him make such strong assumptions about her. Together these passages contribute to make Rodrigo an unreliable and unlikable narrator.
Okay, I realized that I've been blogging in the WRONG group this whole time, so I'm just going to leave my posts over here.
#1 In my group discussion, we analyzed passage 6. In this passage, Rodrigo repeated multiple times that he is writing this story to prove a point, to gave voice to those who doesn't have a voice in the poorly established society of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This was shown in the quote "I must write about this girl from the North-east otherwise I shall choke"(17) and "I write not for the girl from the North-east but for the much more serious reason of force majeure"(18) I didn't know what "force majeure" was so I looked it up, it means superior force. I interpenetrate this as the invisible effects caused by poverty. My group also talked about the existential quotes that was in the passage, "we live exclusively in the present because forever and eternally it is the day of today, and the day tomorrow will be a today. Eternity is the state of things at this very moment."(18) I think this quote meant that nothing matters as much as today because everything from your past is what made you who you are today, and everything you do today will shape who you are in the future. There is also a quote my group did not understand "The event remains branded on one's flesh like a tattoo and all who witness the stigma take flight in horror."(18) What do you guys think the author meant by "the event"?
#2 2. The introduction to this story seems very confusing and unconventional, but it actually does have significance in the story. In my opinion, Lispector’s purpose for the beginning of the novel and mentioning how the world began was to communicate how everything is interconnected and many things do not happen on purpose. When Lispector wrote, “All the world began with a yes” (3), Lispector communicated that there is rarely a purpose behind actions. This message is extremely applicable to the life of Macabea. It is extremely evident that she lives an extremely undesirable life. The principles that Lispector communicated in the beginning of the story works to develop the idea that Macabea’s life is due to a combination of circumstances that are not necessarily in her control.
11. In Hour of the star, readers can debate who is the protagonist or main character in the story: Rodrigo or Macabea. In my opinion, they are both the protagonist because Macabea is just an extension of Rodrigo. Rodrigo, who is the author of Macabea’s story created her and invents her story. Although it is unconventional to think of a character as a part of the author, I feel this was communicated through Rodrigo’s extreme insight into her character and his fondness for her. He says, “Only I, her author, love her. I suffer for her.” (19). This illustrates hoe Lispector wanted to highlight the emotional connection between these two characters. Macabea is a reflection of Rodrigo and for this reason, they are both the protagonist.
4. There are many reasons why Macabea loved Olimpico despite his severe mistreatment of her. Most importantly, she my have loved Olimpico due to the fact that he gave her some form of attention. Early in the novel, Rodrigo communicates that “nobody wants her, she’s a virgin and harmless, nobody would miss her.” (6). This makes the reader feel that Macabea may be desperate for an form of affection despite that it may not be a healthy relationship. Throughout the relationship, it is evident that Macabea is infatuated with the idea of having a companion. When describing Olimpico, she says, “’She thought Olimpico knew a lot of things” (43). This shows how she doesn’t care that he treats her like dirt, but she loves him because he gives her attention, no matter how negative it is.
#3 1.) "God is the world" (8). This reference is depicting the world's history as having been created by God. This could be representative of Lispector's true feelings, or added as a trait of Rodrigo, to give the reader a little more information about who he is and what his beliefs are.
2.) "As I prayed I emptied my soul- and this emptiness is everything that I can ever hope to possess" (14) This reference shows Rodrigo's belief in prayer, and his belief that through prayer he can find release from his sins. He describes an "emptiness" that he gets from praying, which is the best possible thing he can have. The strange thing, however, is that prayer is meant to fill up the soul with God, not empty it.
3.) “Everything in the world began with a yes.” (11) I believe this is a biblical allusion to the creation of the world, where God created everything in existence during a period of seven days. This is further evidence that Rodrigo is Christian, and shows his beliefs about the creation of the world. It's mysterious tone helps make the reader wonder what exactly Rodrigo is referring to, but ultimately is proven to be biblical in nature.
4.) "Maria de Penha, Maria Aparecida, Maria Jose and plain Maria – paid no attention” (31) Her roommates are all named Maria, which is an allusion the Virgin Mary. There is little information given on them, but they all act as if Macabea and her incessant cough is non-existent. The Virgin Mary is representative of purity and innocence, and the Marias all ignore Macabea's cough, which could be symbolic of the impure. It is almost as if they are above the impurity of her cough, which is possibly symbolic of the middle-class ignoring the fact that there are "impure" people like Macabea that are struggling to survive.
5.)To eat communion bread will be to taste the world's indifference, and to immerse myself in nothingness" (19) Communion in Christianity is a time of remembrance and forgiveness. Bread is served as a symbol of the body of Jesus, while wine is served as a symbol of the blood of Jesus. Perhaps by referring to the bread as "the world's indifference", Rodrigo is trying to show that the world is caring less and less about Christianity and God, and this is something that brings him sorrow.
#4 "She makes me so uncomfortable that I feel hollow" (18). "For now Macabéa was nothing but a vague feeling on the dirty cobble stones"(74). "And even sadness was also something for rich people, for people who could afford it."(52) "That girl didn't know she was what she was, just as a dog doesn't know it's a dog."(19) "...because this drink which contains coca is today. It's a way for a person to be up-to-date and in the now."(15) "Come in my pet."(63)
The world has always had its rich and poor class which Lispector very well exemplifies in her book "The Hour of the Star." Through out the book Lispector establishes a dominant effect of desolation as she further shows how the rich and poor perceive one another through the use of metaphors and diction. On the quotes above one can see that it seems that the rich don't see the poor as being anything more that this object that just breaths and eats. When Macabea was at the fortune teller she was dehumanized because of the way the fortune teller called for her. In many spots of the fortune telling the fortune teller calls to Macabea by saying," Come in pet" or "Here my dog." By metaphorically comparing Macabea to a pet one can see it shows that the fortune teller is just using the poor to make money. When poor people are in the need of help they tend to take whatever is given to them, well in the case of Macabea she wanted to finally see if her future would change for the better so she goes to this fortune teller who not surprisingly enough tells her only good things are to come. By telling poor people what they want to hear you are only using them because you are just making them have false hope which is what happen to Macabea. Lispector makes it clear that the poor are there for the rich because of her repeated use of the word coca. Coca Cola is basically showing how our capitalist society takes advantage of the poor by getting them addicted to a certain thing in a way and then making them by it repeatedly to take the poor peoples money and get even richer. These ways of dehumanizing the poor are what sadden the reader and make him/her want to somehow help which is the exact feeling Lispector is trying to arise in the reader. The world must realize that every human being is important no matter how rich or poor.
#5 After reading the description of an experimental novel, I believe Rodrigo represents the anti-hero. He constantly has conflicts between helping the girl and going on living his lavish life. He goes back and forth between wanting to continue her story and ending it. Rodrigo states at the beginning of the novel, "... I who carry the world and there is lack of happiness. Happiness? I never saw a dumber word..." (4). This sets up Rodrigo as a character that can be easily disliked. He seems to only think on the negative side of things and his tone and wording only comes off as arrogant. Immediately, the reader develops a disliking to him. Also, he says, "I do not intend for what I'm about to write to be complex, though I'll have to use words that sustain you" (4). This fits the description of an experimental novel because Rodrigo here seems ordinary. He does not speak in a fancy manner and wishes to keep everything as simple as possible. He is making himself out to be just like Macabea, a person like any other, yet more important. He does not aim to create a complex or elaborate story, but rather something familiar and painfully bland. Rodrigo also has a constant internal conflict regarding telling Macabea's story. He says, "I wonder if I should jump ahead and sketch out an ending. But it so happens that I myself have no idea how this thing will turn out" (8). Here Rodrigo has an internal conflict about giving an answer to the questino posed by the story. He wants to tell the reader how it is all resolved, but he, himself, hardly knows the answer. He is impatient to reveal the ending, but struggles with it knowing the story in its entirety needs to be told. This is brought up again later when Rodrigo states, "The fact is I hold a destiny in my hands yet don't feel powerful enough to invent freely" (12). Again, Rodrigo is torn between whether or not to tell Macabea's story. He knows it is all his choice and he has to do whatever it is he desires, but he is unsure of how and if this story should be told. He knows Macabea's story needs to be told to bring light to the situation, but his life is incredibly comfortable as it is without the need for a disturbance.
There are many complex and interesting aspects to "The Hour of the Star" by Clarice Lispector. During the close reading assignment in class, my group analyzed the fifth section of the first 21 pages. We discovered a lot of existential ideas and comments throughout he passage. For example, Lispector writes: "the question 'Who am I?' creates a need a need. And how does one satisfy that need?". Lispector also writes, "Three is no way of escaping facts.". These are very philosophical questions that could come with very complex answers. In all reality, there is a legitimate reason this would have come to the authors mind. With Her death soon approaching, this makes the audience wonder if she had knowledge of her diagnosis or even her prognosis. When faced with death, it would make one question these things pertaining to their existence as a whole. Another instance of death prevailing in this passage was where Lispector wrote: "I shall yield to emotion and I know perfectly well and that every day is one more day stolen form death.". This is another place where the reader begins to wonder if the author new about her approaching death, or if it was just in her keen sense of self. Here, the quotation also supports the idea of existentialism, where death is the ultimatum in life. That there is nothing beyond that. Overall, a main idea of the passage is that it brings death to the audience in several different ways. This forces the reader to critically think about Lispector's knowledge, if any, about her up and coming death.
ReplyDeleteClarice Lispector's novel, "The Hour of the Star", is one of the most complex book ever written. One of the complexities of the novel is the way Rodrigo describes Macabéa to the reader. From passage 7, it can be assumed that Rodrigo is quite wealthy, or at least well off, despite not being indulgent. However, he states that he wants to, "...[W]alk naked or in rags; I want to experience at least one insipid flavour of the Host... [A]nd perhaps one day I shall intone praises instead of the misfortunes of the girl from the North-east" (Lispector, "The Hour of the Star"). This passage tells the reader that despite being wealthy, Rodrigo must groom himself to act like one of the poor in order to truly feel like Macabéa in order to write about her. Lispector uses irony when writing here because she describes how Rodrigo belongs, "...[T]o no social category, marginal as I am" (Lispector, "The Hour of the Star"). Another use of irony that Lispector uses in when she describes Rodrigo thinking that he is, "Fully aware that I might have to present myself in a more convincing manner to societies who demand a great deal from someone who is typing at this very moment" (Lispector, "The Hour of the Star"). The irony in this is that Rodrigo describes how he must be presentable in society, despite preparing himself to look impoverished, something which is emphasized by Rodrigo deciding that he "mustn't shave for days" and "must acquire dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep" in order to put himself "on the same footing as the girl from the North-east." The use of visual imagery helps the reader see how impoverished Rodrigo must look, and from how humble of a background Macabéa comes from. Rodrigo going through a physical transformation solely for the purpose of writing about Macabéa is only the beginning of the novel's many complexities.
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ReplyDeleteMy group analyzed the fourth section. In this section, we were really introduced to the thoughts and characteristics of Rodrigo and the girl. A lot of juxtaposition is evident when Rodrigo compares himself to the girl. He used much more robust vocabulary when describing himself, and uses bland words when describing the girl. The meaning of the name Rodrigo is glory and rich. Throughout this passage it becomes evident that Rodrigo is not a very likeable person as he seems to often brag about himself in a somewhat humble way. My group caught on to an allusion to God when we noticed that he may have been a carpenter. The girl remains nameless up to this point, which seems to be the author’s way of telling the readers that she is just one of many ordinary girls. She seems to be dealing with a lot of internal conflict. Many existentialist views were also depicted in this passage. Lispector states “For surely words are actions? (15)”. This clearly goes along with existentials ideals that actions define and shape who you are. One of the most prominent lines in the entire book is “...am I a monster or is this what it means to be a person?” (15). This shows the extreme extent to which the girl is confused about this absurd world that she lives in. I think Lispector put those quote in in order to introduce the very complex story line that is soon to follow this passage.
ReplyDeleteI was assigned to the reading in section 7 for Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector. The section seems like the narrator is trying to prepare himself to write Macabea’s story and presenting reasons as to why he’s doing so. There were many things that stood out in this section and analysing them helped me understand the reading better.
ReplyDeleteWe found the lines, “I am a man who posses more money than those who go hungry, and this makes me in some ways dishonest. I only lie at the precise hour of lying. But when I write I do not lie.” (18). After a lot of discussion, we came to the conclusion that he thinks of himself as dishonest because he indulges himself while others do not have enough money to survive daily life. However, I would have expected him to feel guilty rather than dishonest. The line that follows is an allusion to the title, “I only lie at the precise hour of lying” followed by “But when I write I do not lie”, which supported our idea of him being indulgent. When he is writing this story, he seems to think of it as a duty or task. He is not writing this story for himself but rather as a favour to the reader, read in, “my mandate is simply to reveal her presence so that you may recognize her on the street…” (19).
There is also irony present when he later says, “To eat communion bread will be to taste the world’s indifference, and to immerse myself in nothingness” (19). According to the maxim, “When people eat together, it’s communion”, it means that bonds and relationships are created between individuals. However, the narrator says that by being together will show him the indifference of the world. This reminds me of how people say that at smaller gatherings, there is no privacy because everyone finds out information too quickly whereas it is easier to be lost in a larger crowd because of the sheer amount of people. By eating communion bread, he could be implying that he wants to join the community Macabea is part of or any community so that he doesn't stand out. He feels like a stranger as he says in, “Yes, I belong to no social category, marginal as I am” (18).
The effect this section has on the reader is as though the narrator is doing them a favour. He is approaching a topic that everyone else chooses to ignore, so he “must touch the invisible in its own squalor” (19). Not only is the narrator doing us a favour, he is doing Macabea a favour too because according to him he is creating a human being. He is giving her life meaning. It portrays the narrator as someone who thinks highly of himself and the irony depicts as someone who is at conflict/still discovering one’s own identity.
In the introduction of “The Hour of the Star” Clarice Lispector dedicates the novella to famous musicians, transitioning from baroque and classical, to the romantic and impressionistic. She alludes to these composers finding similarity of the joy and cruelty in creativity, comparing herself to the musician’s music to “What troubles my existence is writing.” In the second paragraph, she refers to the reader and insists that “we must never forget that if the atom’s structure is invisible, it is none the less real.” Despite the novel is a work of fiction and the characters are fictional, Lispector points out that this doesn’t make them less genuine. Macabéas, Rodrigo SMs, Olímpicos, and Glórias exist in reality. There are people who live in Macabéas poverty, and there are Rodrigos who all at one point in time ask themselves “Who am I?” She invokes a sense of urgency in the second paragraph, using words like “emergency” “essential” and “calamity” which prepares reader for the Macabéa’s story. Lispector explains the book is unfinished because she herself doesn’t know the answer, and the novella’s additional twelve titles support the ambiguity.
ReplyDeleteWhy of all the titles did Lispector choose “The Hour of the Star”? I interpreted this choice as emphasizing the existential principle that the most authentic moment in life is death. Later in the novella, Rodrigo ruminates that “For at the hour of death you become a celebrated film star” (28). The culmination of the novella of Macabéa’s absurd death is the only point where people acknowledge her existence. What’s also interesting of this title page is how Lispector pens her signature below “The Right to Protest”. This title is juxtaposed against several of the other titles: “She Doesn’t Know How to Protest” and “ I Can Do Nothing” causing it to stand out against the many names of the novella. I think Lispector makes a statement that she’s speaking up for those who can’t protest, and this goes back to the principle of revolt in existentialism.
Along with existentialist beliefs, I do think that Macabea’s death was her most authentic moment. The only time people really thought about her and talked about her was after she died. This proves that for Macabea, this was probably the most important moment in her life, since all her life she longed for some attention. Rodrigo is seemed to be the antagonist of the story. He does not seem to be like someone who is well liked. Macabea seems to be more of the protagonist as she is often portrayed as the underdog who is never talked about. Rodrigo always turns away from the story and talks about himself, making it seem like he is a selfish person who tends to humbly brag about himself. He seems to agonize about so many things in life that he never steps back to realize that he could be living a life much worse than the one that he currently has. I think that Clarice Lispector wrote this book to show readers a new and complex type of reading. This book takes dedication and a lot of effort to understand, and I think that is exactly what Lispector wanted from her audience. She posses complex concepts in her book such as existentialism and identity. I think that she wanted her readers to truly question the world and society that we live in, by writing this book. In writing this book, Lispector wanted the audience to question their surroundings, existence, and what it truly means to exist.
ReplyDeleteQ3)
ReplyDeleteI do not think Macabéa was happy, it was merely an illusion she forced herself to believe. If she accepted the bleakness of her situation, she would have no hope. I don't think we are meant to feel sorry for Macabea because she doesn't feel sorry for herself. That doesn't take away our responsibility to help her because she too has ambitions and hopes, but she had to crush them herself, knowing it wasn't realistic. Rodrigo says that, “And so this became Macabea’s great ambition: to posses a house one day with its own well. Except she didn't know how to set about realising her ambition” (49) which is followed by, “She wasn't weeping because of the way she lived: never having known any other way of life, she accepted that her life was ‘so’ —just like Macabea’s herself” (51) on the next page. This is similar to the existentialist philosophy in The Stranger, where Meursault says that, “I had lived my life one way and I could just as well have lived it another.” (121). It’s interesting because by accepting her situation Macabea would be an existentialist hero but she simultaneously rejects her unhappiness too. Even though she accepts her situation, she denies herself of the unhappiness she should feel and then come to terms with. However, unlike Meursault she is poor. As the narrator says, “Sadness was a luxury” (61) which is very true.
Q7)
Macabea’s death might be the physical representation of her accepting the reality of her situation, and wanting to start fresh. There’s a line which says that, “As she lay there, she felt the warmth of supreme happiness, for she had been born for death’s embrace.” (83), this illustrates the idea that through dying, Mcabaea has possibilities and hope for a new start which she may never have had in her present life. The fact that death and afterlife had more possibilities for her than her mortal life show the bleakness many people living in poverty like her face. Another line following that says, “ I don't believe that she was going to die, for she has so much will to live” (83), this line reflects the existentialist philosophy that your actions are what define you. The narrator has the power to let her survive the accident, yet he chooses to kill her. It can also have a metaphorical value that her existence, however small, will still be remembered by the likes of Olimpico and Gloria, and her will to live might just show through them.
Q16)
In the novel, gender plays a prominent role. As we discussed in class, the quote “Another writer, of course, but it would have to be a man for a woman would weep her heart out.” (14) is commentary on Lispector’s behalf about the sexism she faced when she was trying to get her books published. It is also ironic because the narrator is supposed to be impartial but as he states very often, the story he is writing has a huge emotional impact on him. A line which reminded me of the gender roles discussed in Chronicle of a Death Foretold was, “For only now did she understand that a woman is born a woman from the first wail at birth. A woman’s density is to be a woman” (84),compared to “Any man will be happy with them because they've been raised to suffer.” (34) in Chronicle of a Death Foretold. The narrators, both males, justify the injustice of the cruelties inflicted upon Angela Vicario and Macabea by saying that they're meant to be miserable. Both of these stories were written by South American authors which reflects the society they were in during those times.
Sorry forgot to post last time.
ReplyDeleteIn the passage marked 2, Clarice Lispector uses allusions to sayings and Existential ideas to create a confused, disoriented feeling. Lispector writes, “Only I do not start with the ending that would justify the beginning - as death appears to comment on life - because I must record the preceding events”(12). The first part of the quote references the question ‘Do the ends justify the means’. Lispector starts with something familiar to many readers, but twists it in an unexpected fashion, forcing the reader to pay attention and think. Then, Lispector relates the first portion to death commenting on life, which relates to the existentialist idea that death is the only authentic moment in life. The comparison between ends justifying means and death commenting on life can be considered a comment on life because it is one of the only things that everyone experiences. Finally, Lispector writes that she must record the beginning before she can justify it with the end, which foreshadows for the reader that the beginning is not savory, and perhaps it is also not justifiable. Lispector creates a tone of confusion with sentences like these because they do not read smoothly and they are often complex in meaning. They bring familiar elements together in a manner that makes less sense than the familiar elements on their own. Later, Lispector writes, “... for we are all one and the same person, and he who is not poor in terms of money is poor in spirit or feeling for he lacks something more precious than gold - for there are those who do not possess that essential essence”(12). The essence that Clarice Lispector writes of could be the idea of essence, of meaning, in existentialism, that separates people from objects. Furthermore, Lispector says that people are all one, which relates to the maxim that there is only one true story, yet with people. There are common struggles to everyone, and if a person has not one struggle, they have another.
2) The start of the novel in which Rodrigo tells of the beginning of the world relates to how Macabéa's situation has neither a start nor an end. The way that Rodrigo tells of the start of the world also relates to themes of poverty with which there is no exact beginning to it. For example, some say that poverty is the result of too high of corruption while others say that it is the result of a lack of development in a country, but there is altogether no start to poverty.
ReplyDelete8) Dying a virgin is significant because it is a symbol of an unfulfilled life as Macabéa never got married or anything. Sometimes, such as in the novel “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, a woman's virginity is practically considered her most valuable possession, and yet Macabéa went through her life without losing it. This fact of Macabéa shows how little the world valued her in some ways because nobody cared about the fact that she lived according to societal customs of not having sex before marriage and such, and nobody cared to marry her. In this, it is ironic that dying a virgin is considered a thing of purity, yet Macabéa was seen as filthy and bereft of any value in that matter.
11) I'm not sure. I think Macabéa is the protagonist because Rodrigo writes about her and feels compelled to do so because Rodrigo has learned from Macabéa. In many parts, Rodrigo puts Macabéa down but perhaps it is him not wanting to admit that he learned from such a simple person.
First blog post
ReplyDeleteMy group was in charge of analyzing passage 6 in Hour of the Star. This passage included many literary devices, but it mainly focused on Rodrigo himself, and not Macabea. Rodrigo seemed adamant about announcing his plan to write this story, not for Macabea, but for the 'force majuere.' He also felt compelled to include information about himself. This included, but was not limited to , his talent as a writer, his connection to Macabea, his detest for prostitutes, his strength, and his ex-girlfriend. None of this pertains, in full, to Macabea or the overall arching theme of his message; poverty is bad. Besides the strong presence of Rodrigo, there were also large hints at existential ideals, which we know to be an important part of the book.
3) I believe that Macabea was as happy as she could be in her situation. She realized she had limited benefits and experience, and that she wasn't the most beautiful or intelligent. However, she was able to find beauty and pleasure within the simple things, and this shows pure acceptance of fate. Therefore, it would be wrong to feel sorry for one who is happy, because an important and successful part of life is finding one's happiness. We can't feel sorry for someone who is happy, because then we fail as individuals to grasp the concept of satisfaction. In some eyes she is pitiful because she does not realize she lacks nice things, but it is again pointless to feel sorry for someone who themselves do not feel sorry.
ReplyDelete8) Dying a virgin, in Macabea's case, might represent the pity Rodrigo felt for her when writing the story. She lacked so much experience in life, that her dying a virgin adds to the annoyance felt by the audience that she didn't get to live out a full life. Another way of looking at it is to compare her death to the death of an angel; she died pure and innocent, and this adds beauty to Macabea that many readers are unable to see. Lastly, her death can be symbolic of tragedy, which connects to the overreaching problem of poverty in Brazil, particularly Rio.
17) What is the significance of Rodrigo throughout the story? Is he there to provide another perspective throughout the story, does he act as an antagonist, or is he a voice of existentialism? Why didn't Lispector narrate the story herself? Why the importance of choosing Macabea as the protagonist of the story?
4) I think Macabéa only "loved" Olímpico because he was the only person who Macabéa really had in the world. Despite being a terrible person, Olímpico was the only person who Macabéa really had a relationship with after both her parents and her aunt died. Although he treated Macabéa terribly, in a way, Olímpico was the only person who gave Macabéa a sense of family because, as is emphasized in the beginning of the novel, Macabéa is not the kind of person who people would pay much attention to in the street, and therefore, she is willing to take any relationship that will end her isolation to make her feel that she is happy.
ReplyDelete10) Rodrigo's introduction has a lot of significance to the novel. Rodrigo introduces Macabéa's story because he wants the reader to be able to feel the pain she went through, being impoverished, isolated, and ill-treated, so that if the reader were to see someone who resembled Macabéa on the street, they would be less likely to ignore them, the way Macabéa was ignored, and more willing to offer them any sort of aid. Rodrigo clearly feels some sympathy for her because, despite calling her a "vagrant bitch" in the narration, the recurring mention of Macabéa's origins from the North-east emphasize to the reader that the living conditions there are poor, and that more importantly, he mentions that he himself was also from the North-east, therefore showing the reader that he is able to feel Macabéa's pain first-hand by being able to fill himself in her shoes. As someone who was able to find success in his life, despite coming from an impoverished background, Rodrigo now feels a sense of duty to tell others about the harsh realities of living an impoverished life in the North-east so that more people will be less quick to judge the poor and will be more aware about the struggles of life in the slums of Rio.
11) Personally, I believe that Macabéa is the protagonist of the novel. Rodrigo is merely a figurehead, established early on to tell Macabéa's story. Macabéa is the true protagonist of the novel because the story revolves around the struggle of her life as an impoverished woman living in the slums of Rio de Janeiro and how life treated her cruelly. Rodrigo is only present to tell the reader the story of Macabéa's miserable life, and how she never found the true bliss of life that she deserved. In addition to this, Rodrigo seems to have been captivated by Macabéa's story enough to be able to tell it, therefore showing that Macabéa's essence is strong enough to have an impact on somebody who usually would not seem to care much about a person in her position, which tells the reader that despite all of the defeat that Macabéa experienced in her life, she triumphs in being the protagonist of the novel.
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ReplyDeleteIn a way, Lispector uses this second section of her dedication to prove society wrong. Early she said that only a man could tell the story she is about to tell because it is so sorrowful. However, in this section of her dedication she writes, “Even as I write this I feel ashamed at pouncing on you with a narrative that is so open and explicit”. Although she said earlier that a women would not be strong enough to share the story of the girl from the North East, she does not actually believe this. Instead she is mocking the stereotype seen in society today that men are tougher than women. By writing such a explicit story, Lispector proved with “The Hour of the Star” that women can be just as mentally tough as men. Another thing Lispector wants to get across to the reader is that the story of the girl from the North East is extremely important. We know this because it is hard for Lispector to write the story, and she feels bad for forcing the reader to hear the sad story of the girl. It is interesting that in this section, Lispcetor is constantly saying that she does not want to write anything complicated, yet she seems to complicate things throughout the entire passage. For example, in the first section of the dedication, she made multiple references to existentialism. However in this passage, she writes, “ God is the world”. In conclusion, the two main things I learned after reading this passage are that the themes of confusion and gender roles will continue to play a big role throughout the novel.
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of the third section the narrator finally introduces himself as Rodrigo S.M. Not only is this the first time we hear his name, it is the only time! In addition, the narrator never actually met Macabea. The reader must question if anything Rodrigo says about Macabea is true. For example, if Macabea is even her real name. Another reason that suggests that Rodrigo may not be the most reliable narrator is that he practically says he does not even care about Macabea. He writes, “It is true that I, too, feel no pity for my main character, the girl from the North- East” (13). If he is saying he cares just as little about Macabea as everyone else why is he going to tell us her story? He says he is writing to make the reader aware of a problem that a large group of girls are struggling from the affects of poverty, just like Macabea. However, I am not sure how he could be concerned about the well being of the group as a whole, while not caring about Macabea. Rodrigo displays his arrogance as he writes, “I am warming up before making a start, rubbing my hands together to summon up my courage” (14). In addition to this sentence, he goes on for ever explaining why he is going to tell the story and apologizing for telling it, rather than simply telling the story. It is obvious that the narrator takes himself very seriously and believes that the story he is about to tell is very important.
ReplyDeleteThere were five prominent biblical references that I found in Hour of the Star. First, Macabea was listening to a educational program on her radio, and the speaker said to, "Repent in Christ and he will give you great joy." (37) Macabea then promptly repents, even though she does not know what repenting is. This shows certain existential views that people blindly follow religion and that there is no God. She is simply blindly following orders. A second biblical reference is on page 14, when Rodrigo refers to his writing craft as that of a carpenter. In the bible, Jesus was supposed to become a carpenter, so this hints to how Rodrigo views himself; strong and with a higher value than most people. However, at the end of the book he references the Prince of darkness, which often times is another name for Satan. It becomes unclear of whether he is referring to himself as Jesus or Satan, and this is similar to how he changes his views throughout the story. A third reference I found was that there were four Marias in the book, and there are four Marys in the New Testament. I think the book was symbolizing all the Marias as a whole trait of the Virgin Mary, who symbolized purity and beauty. In the eyes ofMacabea, these girls were all beautiful, and held to a higher standard than she was. The last two biblical references are on page 60, when Macabea said," Three Our Fathers and two Hail Marys to gain composure." 'Our Fathers refers to a saying that helps with calming down; this refers to when she wants to gain her composure. She also says two Hail Marys, which is again similar to gaining composure and asking for forgiveness.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you pointed out that Macabea blindly follows the instructions to repent. Does this relates to how she also blindly follows Olimpico? yet the two items are very different..
Deleteahah sorry I have no clue about this
DeleteDear Mrs. Ballard,
ReplyDeleteI'm very sorry but I am very unfamiliar with the bible as a whole.. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to go for obvious references or what but I haven't read the bible and such so I apologize anyways..
I noticed that Olimpico sculpts figures of saints that he sees as so beautiful, he shouldn't sell them. Lispector writes that Olimpico, "... sculpted everything on the Christ Child. He thought that the way things are is the way things are, and Christ had been besides a saint a man like him, though without the gold tooth"(37). Um yeah I don't know what's going on in the allusion.
In Clarice Lispector's "Hour of the Star", there were five allusions to the Bible that I found. Amongst them, one of them appears on page 19, when Rodrigo claims that he, "...[T]oo, is a man of hosannas and perhaps one day I shall intone praises instead of the misfortunes of the girl from the North-east" (Lispector, 19). The word "hosanna" is a Biblical allusion because it is a liturgical word, usually used to describe the ascension of Jesus Christ into Heaven, describing how he has reached "the highest." The significance of this allusion is that Rodrigo claims that he, too, would like to reach the highest, but the context he uses it refers to how he wants to reach the highest of writers, and therefore he compares the triumph of Christ to the success he wants for his career. On the same page, a second Biblical allusion is mentioned when Rodrigo states that he wants, "...[T]o experience the insipid flavour of the Host. To eat communion bread will be to taste the world's indifference..." (Lispector, 19). The allusion used in this passage is the Host, the bread offered during mass used to symbolize the body of Christ. This bread is usually taken during communion time at mass, when everyone in the congregation is expected to take it. However, Rodrigo mentions that tasting the Host would be to immerse himself into nothingness. This implies that Rodrigo does not believe in the religion, and that only the very poor adhere to religious beliefs, which is expressed when he mentions wanting to take the Host when he is donning the persona of an impoverished person from the North-east. Another Biblical allusion that confirms Rodrigo's lack of belief in religion is on page 14, when he states that, "As I prayed I emptied my soul - and this emptiness is everything that I can ever hope to possess" (Lispector, 14). Despite Rodrigo admitting to praying, praying in Christianity is meant to enrich the soul and form a fulfilling connection with God. Rodrigo, however, claims that praying empties his soul, the way he likes it, showing that he is rebelling against the traditional institutions of religion. A fourth Biblical allusion is seen on page 37, when Macabéa is listening to the radio, and hears a voice saying, "Repent in Christ and He will give you great joy" (Lispector, 37). This alludes to the traditional Christian belief that confessing ones sins to ask for forgiveness from Christ will allow people to rise to Heaven after death and live eternity in extreme bliss. Macabéa is described to not know what she should repent, so she repents everything, giving some insight to her character as a girl who does not seem to indulge in many (traditionally viewed) "sinful acts." Macabéa's (seemingly) sinless demeanor is also reflected later on in the same page, when Rodrigo describes how, "Most of the time, she possessed, without knowing it, the emptiness that replenishes the souls of saints. Was she a saint? It would seem so" (Lispector, 37). Contrary to the emptiness that Rodrigo feels, the emptiness of saints is typically the vows of poverty they take in order to live lives of dedication to God, to do charitable acts that will eventually result in sainthood. Although Macabéa is never described doing anything significant enough to be a saint, her impoverished living state paired along with her saintly demeanor shows that she is a nice girl, partially out of naïvety, who is capable of becoming a saint because she never does anything wrong. These are the five Biblical allusions that stood out to me in this book.
ReplyDelete"She believed in angels, and, because she believed, they existed”. This goes back to the idea that if you believe in something so much, you can accept that it is real. This also goes back to existentialism beliefs claiming that people must see something in order to believe in it. Another biblical reference was when Rodrigo was compared to a carpenter. This was an allusion to the bible. “God is the world. The truth is always some inner power without explanation” (12). Although many existentialists do not believe in God, this quote clearly shows that Rodrigo is a religious person. He believes that since God determines the fate for everyone, he is the world. There is another quote later on in the book that may reference the bible. Lispector states “I ask myself: is every story that has ever been written in this world, a story of suffering and affliction?” In a sense, a large majority of the stories in the bible explain ways that prophets suffered and what they needed to do to overcome these sufferings. Suffering is a recurring idea in the book as Macabea faces starvation, abuse from her aunt, and criticism from her aunt. The idea of suffering is prevalent in both the Bible and the Hour of the Star.
ReplyDelete“This was the first time she had ever spoken of herself to Olimpico de Jesus, accustomed as she was to forgetting about herself.” (49)
ReplyDeleteThe name Olimpico in Italian means Olympian, which is related to greek mythology, this is juxtaposed to the latter half of his name which is “de Jesus”. This could translate as Olympian of Jesus, which is a really powerful name. This could signify how the name itself is powerful but in actuality, the position his name denotes doesn't exist. I would also expect the character to be a lot more amiable and with good character, but Olimpico doesn't possess these qualities, creating irony.
“Transformed, moreover, by words - since the time of Moses the word had been acknowledged as being divine” (79)
This may reference when Moses fought against the pharaoh against the policy of casting every boy born into the Nile. He also confronted the pharaoh about releasing the slaves. This may signify the importance of confrontation and using your voice for a good purpose if you are in a position of power. In this case however, Carlota misuses the trust and fate people have in her.
“(I am having a hellish time with this story. May the Gods never decree that I should write about a leper, for then I should become covered in leprosy)” (39)
In the research I did, leprosy seems to be regarded as God’s curse. In this line, he compares him writing Macabea’s story to a disease. He thinks that if he gets too involved in the story, he may not be able to get out and in the process become like Macabea. He wouldn't want this because he sees her as ignorant in her nothingness, yet he wants to achieve that same nothingness.
“…the craft of carpentry” (14)
Jesus was the son of a carpenter (from what I understood), and by the author comparing his trade and position to his, the author sees himself in really high regards. This contradicts his claims of being humble.
“Why is there so much God? At the expense of men.” (26)
I found this quote interesting because it could mean that even though God may or may not exist, it causes conflict among humans.
In my passage, the patterns I noticed were the repetition of “word” in the second paragraph of my passage: “But knowing beforehand so as never to forget that the word is the fruit of the word. The word must resemble the word. To attain the word is my first duty to myself. The word must not be adorned and become aesthetically worthless; it must be simply itself,” (Lispector 11). This can be seen as an allusion to the bible: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
ReplyDeleteAnother pattern I noticed was the constant use of “I” in the last paragraph of my passage: “I write because I have nothing better to do in this world: I am superfluous and last in the world of men. I write because I am desperate and weary. I can no loner bear the routine of my existence and, were it not for the constant novelty of writing, I should die symbolically each day. Yet I am prepared to leave quietly by the back door. I have experienced almost everything, even passion and despair. Now I only wish to possess what might have been but never was,” (Lispector 12). I see this as narcissistic because the narrator is supposed to be talking about the poor girl from the North-east, but he keeps going on and on about himself. He whines about being “so little” and takes dozens of pages to get on with the story about the girl, so why doesn’t he just write an autobiography? (I realize this is an experimental novel and Ridrigo isn’t real, but he’s really annoying and I wish this story was told in Macabea’s perspective and not some entitled on-looker.)
3) Macabea’s happiness is like the saying, “ignorance is bliss.” She’s unaware that her life sucks because she has nothing to base it off of, due to lack of friends and family. I believe we are meant to feel sorry for her, no matter how self-content she is. No matter how happy she thinks she is, she is pitiful because she got abused by her aunt as a child, never stood up to her verbally abusive “boyfriend”, and died just after she got hope for her future.
ReplyDelete5) I believe the only other point to Olimpico’s character was play the part in her death. He leaves Macabea for her co-worker, who feels bad and gives her money to go see the fortune teller, and then she dies. Besides that and adding to Macabea’s terrible life, I don’t see his character any more useful.
15) Latin American culture in this time was very male-centric, as was it in America (and still sort of is). I believe if Macabea were an American woman in this same time, she would probably have the same terrible life because she was a woman. Women in the mid-1950’s were most usually the ones who stayed home cooking and cleaning while the men were to get a job to support the family. These gender roles play a big part in Macabea’s poverty and life quality.
Biblical references:
ReplyDelete1. The fact that Olimpico’s full name is Olimpico de Jesus, which translates to Olympics of Jesus/Jesus’s Olympics.
2. “To think is an act. To feel is a fact. Put the two together — it is me who is writing what I am writing. God is the world.” (Lispector 12). Although these sentences seemed like rambles to me at first, when I read them again I realized he’s trying to say that he has free will in his acts such as writing, but God is still the world. Some religious people believe in God and heaven and all that, and still believe in free will. Rodrigo seems to be one of those people.
3. “Everything in the world began with a yes,” (Lispector 3) / “…the word is the fruit of the word. The word must resemble the word. To attain the word is my first duty to myself. The word must not be adorned and become aesthetically worthless; it must simply be itself.” These two quotes go hand-in-hand as allusions to the Bible: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Also, the mention of the fruit reminds me of the fruit in Genesis that Eve wasn’t supposed to eat.
4. “As I prayed I emptied my soul—and this emptiness is everything that I can ever hope to possess,” (Lispector 14). Prayer is a big part of religion. I think praying helps people feel closer to God and puts their soul at peace, but for Rodrigo it empties him.
5. “The action of this story will result in my transfiguration into someone else and in my ultimate materialization into an object,” (Lispector 12). Although this quote probably isn’t intended to have religious symbolism, when I looked up the word “transfiguration,” I read it was Jesus’s transformation into a radiant light.
Rodrigo dehumanizes Macabea throughout the novel, making him to be a unlikeable character/narrator. Lispector does this to evoke pathos and pity towards Macabea, who represents the lowerclass, and a hatred towards Rodrigo, who represents the upperclass. Here are six examples of Rodrigo dehumanizing Macabea:
ReplyDelete1. “But the person I’m going to talk about scarcely has a body to sell, nobody wants her, she’s a virgin and harmless, nobody would miss her,” (Lispector 5-6).
2. “…she’s stuck to my skin like some sticky treacle or black mud,” (Lispector 13).
3. “She sat there leaning her head n her shoulder like a sad dove,” (Lispector 40).
4. “…her voice was as crude and out of tune as she was,” (Lispector 42).
5. “For now Macabea was nothing but a vague feeling on the dirty cobble stones,” (Lispector 74).
6. “Was she suffering? I believe she was. Like a hen with its neck half-severed, running around in a panic and dripping blood,” (Lispector 80).
Throughout the book, Rodrigo dehumanizes both Macabea and poverty. On page 14, Rodrigo says, "...nobody desires her, she USA harmless virgin whom nobody needs. It strikes me that I don't need her either..." Rodrigo has just dehumanized Macabea, because he views her as undesirable, even at the level of prostitution, which he views as pitiful. He then asserts his dominance over her by saying that he doesn't need her either. By asserting himself, he's saying that everyone, even people she doesn't know, don't like her. A second reference to Macabea is seen on page 21. He refers to her as a contaminating mud that is stuck to him. He has reduced her importance to the tiniest amount, and actually makes her appear as though she is a burden on him. This can also be a reference to poverty, and how despite a societies best efforts, it cannot be removed. Also on oh 21, Rodrigo refers to poverty as ugly and promiscuous. Interestingly enough, by giving poverty human like qualities, Rodrigo is then able to dehumanize it. Poverty is now seen as highly undesirable. On page 23, Rodrigo refers to her existence as sparse. Having little existence means that there is not enough here to keep a person important. She therefore, is as important as an inanimate object. On page 25, Rodrigo says that, "the girl had not." He doesn't say specifically what she had not done, adding to the fact that she is so unimportant, that there is no point in knowing. Lastly, on page 46, Rodrigo calls Macabea a primitive creature.
ReplyDeleteRodrigo dehumanizes Macabéa to show how little and unassuming she is and the degree to which she should be unhappy.
ReplyDeleteRodrigo writes that Macabéa merely inhales and exhales, and he asks, “… why should she do anything more? Her existence is sparse”(15). At first, it seems that Rodrigo himself is not content because Macabéa does not want for more, but then he asks rhetorically what more would Macabéa be. Rodrigo feels bad, and wants for Macabéa to want more, and steps back to formalize his story as he sees he should as an author.
Rodrigo brings up Macabéa's profession, and says that Macabéa is, “… proud of being a typist, even though she earned less than minimum wage”(36). Ordinarily, it is a positive thing when someone takes pride in his or her work. However, with Macabéa, it is absurd to the reader because her job is not a proper job and her job is not something of which to be proud. Her job existing makes some people embarrassed, and yet Macabéa is proud of it.
Later, Rodrigo writes that, “she didn't know that she herself was a suicide although it had never crossed her mind to kill herself”(50). Suicide is a very extreme action. It is most often used to mean killing oneself, but Rodrigo clarifies that she has not done so. An alternate definition, according to Merriam Webster Dictionary, is an action that ruins or destroys one's career, social position, etc. This holds true to how Olímpico views Macabéa as not good enough for him. Although he is alright with their relationship at first, he sees her as killing his opportunities. Rodrigo writes that, “whereas Macabéa seemed to have in herself her own end”(51). Do the ends justify the means? Rodrigo writes that Macabéa is her own end, as if Macabéa is her own means. Thus, Rodrigo implies that Macabéa as a being has no hope for the future, not that she acknowledges or doesn't acknowledge her situation, but that hope and opportunity for the improvement of her position simply do not exist.
Rodrigo writes that, “it might have been one of the few times that Macabéa saw that for her there was no place in the world...”(57). It is interesting that Macabéa realizes this when Gloria takes pity for stealing her boyfriend. Perhaps this relates to how Macabéa fell in love with Olímpico and was described with more feelings when it was in relation to her passion for him. Clarice Lispector provides commentary on society in that the moment that Macabéa may have realized her position was when she had lost her love, her boyfriend, rather than when Macabéa was going hungry or eating hot dogs everyday because she had no money for anything much.
Rodrigo writes that, “her fall was nothing, just a shove”(78). Rodrigo further dehumanizes her by downgrading her death in saying that not much was needed for her to be done, just a shove. After all, she had the means in herself already, according to what he writes.
One of the most prominent quotes in the entire novel is “Who has not asked himself at some point or other: am I a monster or is this what is means to be a person?” (15). This clearly demonstrates the internal conflict that is felt within the characters. They question their entire existence as a whole, and try to identify their true purpose in life. Another example was the quote “I confine myself to narrating the unremarkable adventures of a girl living in a hostile city”(15). This quote shows that she is just one of many girls. By using the word “unremarkable” he degrades her self worth by saying she is a very ordinary girl with no excitement in her life. Also, he neglects to give the name of the girl for a large portion of the book which reiterates how little importance she pertains. Throughout the book there is the recurring idea that actions define who you are. This is shown through “Is it possible that actions exceed words?” (17). This idea also appears again when Lispector states “...we live exclusively in the present because forever and eternally it is the day of today, and the day of tomorrow will be a today. Eternity is the state of things at this very moment” (18). This goes to show that every decision you make has the potential of being consequential. It is rare that one gets by with their actions and decisions not having an effect on those around them.
ReplyDeleteThroughout this novel, despite trying to tell her story, Rodrigo constantly dehumanizes Macabéa because of her impoverished state. Lispector's reason for this is to show the reader how the highest members of society, men who are well-off, constantly degrade the lowest members of society, in this case, impoverished women, for being in the state that they are. The first time Rodrigo dehumanizes her is on page 14, when he states, "...[N]obody desires her, she is a harmless virgin whom nobody needs. It strikes me that I don't need her either and that what I am writing can be written by another" (Lispector, 14). Rodrigo dehumanizes Macabéa here by demeaning her worth and by saying how just anybody could write about her because she is not anything special. Rodrigo also demeans her once again on the same page by describing how, "There are thousands of girls like this from the North-east to be found in the slums of Rio de Janeiro...[N]obody gives a damn about their existence" (Lispector, 14). Although this quote does not pertain specifically to Macabéa, Rodrigo dehumanizes all of the girls who are in her situation by stating that nobody cares whether or not they're in the world, as if they're just some object that someone threw out or cast aside. This dehumanizing of all girls in a bad situation also show Rodrigo's lack of care towards Macabéa and any of the poor people around him. A third example of Rodrigo dehumanizing Macabéa is when he says that, "...[S]he's stuck to my skin like some sticky treacle or black mud" (Lispector, 13). Rodrigo not only talks about her as if she is bound to him, but he also compares her to the most unpleasant things. Due to her poverty, Rodrigo feels that he can describe Macabéa how ever he wants because she is of no concern to anybody. For all he cares, she is just something that happened to catch his attention in the moment that will be forgotten by society soon after. On the same page, Rodrigo also states that, "...I feel no pity for my main character, the girl from the North-east: I want my story to be cold and impartial" (Lispector, 13). At this point, Rodrigo doesn't even treat Macabéa like a physical entity, but rather just an aspect of the story that he must write for his own personal benefit. The way that he does not feel anything for Macabéa, despite describing how horrible her life is, shows that he only wants to write the story to establish himself as a writer; he doesn't care if Macabéa leaves any impression on the reader. A fifth example of Rodrigo dehumanizing Macabéa is when he says that she is, "...[S]ome vagrant bitch...guided entirely by her own remote control" (Lispector, 18). Here, Rodrigo generalizes the state of being impoverished because he makes Macabéa, and poor people in general, seem idle, as if they are simply lazy, stupid, and not caring about anything in the world. Rodrigo does not acknowledge the fact that Macabéa has no family, and therefore has nowhere to go between her typing job and her horrible living quarters. Rodrigo is an example of how the well-off do not acknowledge the status of the poor not really being their fault because people like him are too quick to judge people like her. A final example of how Rodrigo dehumanizes Macabéa is when he says that, "...[S]he exists in an impersonal limbo, untouched by what is worst or best. She merely exists, inhaling and exhaling, inhaling and exhaling" (Lispector, 23). Once again, Rodrigo only acknowledges Macabéa as if she is just some dust in the wind. He sees her, but he does not really notice her, and therefore, had she not died, he would have merely brushed her off had they ever met during her short lifetime. These six quotes from the book are examples of Macabéa's dehumanization at the hands of Rodrigo.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that at the beginning of the book that whenever Rodrigo spoke about Macabea, he called her “the girl” or “she” but as the book progressed he started using her name. It also stood out to me that whenever he used her name, it was to describe something negative or the misery of her situation.
ReplyDelete“And since I have discovered almost everything about her, she has clung to my skin like some vicious glue or contaminating mud” (21) Rodrigo uses similes to compare her to mud and thick glue, this could be a metaphor for the dehumanising impact of the urban world. Macabea is of lower class and in many places, poor people are looked down upon and harsh judgement is passed upon them. They aren't seen as human but rather objects, or as Lispector says it in the quote. Macabea has had a haunting effect on Rodrigo but he articulates it by making it sound like she's a disease he has been infected with.
“The illusion soon passed and she saw her entire face distorted by the tarnished mirror; her nose had grown as huge as those false noses made of papier mâché donned by circus clowns.” (25)
In this quote he compares her physical appearance to appear clown like. This can be social commentary because she is looking into a mirror which can be a metaphor for society itself and its unreal expectations and ideals. Her face doesn't actually look like a clown, but it was the mirror that changed it which is similar to the mirror symbolism in No Exit. Estelle was largely dependent on mirrors to dictate her life because they provided her with a physical representation but maybe Macabea was content because in her mind she knew she existed.
“Her aunt would use her knuckles to rap that head of skin and bones which suffered from calcium deficiency” (27)
Rodrigo doesn't specify Macabea directly, but just uses “that” making it applicable for many people in a similar situation to her. He reduces her to a human skeleton or organism rather than a being with a personality. Through this diction and narration, Lispector makes the reader realise that Macabea is not the only one who is in this situation and even after the story is over, they are many others just like her who could use some assistance to get through life.
“Leaving God aside, I have just discovered that reality made little sense to the girl.” (34)
Rodrigo uses “the girl” to address Macabea, and in this quote he seems to emphasise the fact that without fate, people often seems to be lost because they don't know what to believe in anymore. This is similar to the existentialist views of having the find your own truth.
Macabéa was undeniably a primitive creature while Olímpico de Jesus saw himself as a man about town, the type of man for whom all doors open” (46)
In the 4th quote Rodrigo reduces Macabea to plainly a skeleton and in this example she is a “primitive creature”. He doesn't see her as a complicated being, he sees her as someone he needs to dissect in order to get to the truth. This quote is also illustrates that we are what we make of ourselves. Olimipico didn't didn't garner much respect but he did have a lot of confidence which made him stand out. The way a person carries themselves around in society is such a big deal because a person’s appearance creates their first impression.
“Yes, I adore Macabéa, my darling Maca. I adore her ugliness and her total anonymity for she belongs to no one.” (68)
In this quote Rodrigo again dehumanises her in a way that she lacks personality and all she is left with is her appearance. In all these quotes he is very critical or her appearance and this would make sense because even though he thinks he's understood her, he never will because he doesn't seem to accept her as an equal. He reduces her to nothing but yet cannot understand where she is coming from or her inner workings. Society too places a huge importance on physical appearance, and if this is the sole focus, everyone is anonymous because I believe that it is our experiences and behaviour that make us truly unique.
Throughout the novel, Macabea is constantly dehumanized by Rodrigo. This makes him a very unlikeable narrator and causes the reader to question why he is writing about her. Perhaps he feels that he must act as if her situation is worse than it really is, in order to exaggerate the negative effects of poverty on a young girl. Rodrigo writes, “Yes, I adore Macabéa, my darling Maca. I adore her ugliness and her total anonymity for she belongs to no one.” (68) For example, Rodrigo might adore Macabea’s ugliness because her problems are what makes his story possible. Another example is when Rodrigo says, "...I feel no pity for my main character, the girl from the North-east: I want my story to be cold and impartial" (Lispector, 13) Once again the reader must wonder if Rodrigo even cares about Macabea. It seems that he is telling her story to bring fame to himself. Granted, he says he wants to bring awareness to poverty in general, which would explain why Macabea is not his main focus. Rodrigo later writes this, “it might have been one of the few times that Macabéa saw that for her there was no place in the world...”(57). This passage should confuse the reader because Rodrigo is essentially saying that Macabea is irrelevant. However, another way this could be viewed is that Rodrigo thinks that poverty should have no place in the world and must be taken care of. Regardless, Rodrigo’s dehumanization of Macabea keeps the reader’s eyebrows raised and tells the story from the point of view of someone who does not understand the position Macabea is in.
ReplyDeleteOne of the traits that makes an experimental novel is having unlikeable characters, or anti-heros. The Hour of the Star is a great example of an experimental novel because both the narrator and the main character are rather unlikeable. The narrator Rodrigo is the least likable for me. I find him very snobbish, and he’s very insensitive towards Macabea, and even states, “…it’s true that I too have no pity for my main character, the northeastern girl…” (Lispector 5). I had a distaste for him from just the very first couple of pages of the book due to his lack of empathy and superfluous amount of narcissism. He goes on rambling about this tragic story he’s going to write, but keeps bringing the story back to himself. Just as he’s giving more information about Macabea, who he still yet hasn’t named in this part of the story, he interrupts his narration and goes, “Forgive me but I’m going to keep talking abut me who am unknown to myself…” (Lispector 7). I don’t know about you, but I found this really annoying because I was just getting some tidbits of Macabea’s life and he had to bring it back to himself. Regarding Macabea, although I pitied her poverty and blissful ignorance, I still found her irritating (but not as irritating as Rodrigo). When Macabea meets her boyfriend, one of the first things he says to her is that her name sounds like a skin disease. Despite his obvious rudeness, Macabea “already loved him so much that she could no longer do without him, she was desperately in love,” (Lispector 35). She didn’t even know his name yet and she was already in love with him, which began to grow my disliking towards her. Later Macabea’s “boyfriend” tries to prove his strength by picking her up, only to drop her on her face and give her a nose bleed. He didn’t apologize and she brushed it off by saying, “Don’t worry it was just a little fall, “ (Lispector 44). Her indifference towards her boyfriend’s cruelness makes me pity her, but also aggravates me because she never stands up for herself.
ReplyDeleteRodrigo repeatedly dehumanizes Macabea throughout the Hour of the Star. The dehumanization of Macabea is introduced very early in the book. He states “...like some flagrant bitch she was guided by her own remote control” (18). Rodrigo completely dehumanized her by using extreme profanity when describing her. He consistently says that he is here to tell her story and will not bring her down, however he always gets sidetracked and just ends up talking about himself. He then proceeds to say “I am a man who posses more money than those who go hungry, and this makes me in some ways dishonest. I only lie at the precise hour of lying” (18). This makes the readers wonder why he is telling the story if he does not know the whole thing and also doesn’t know both sides of the story. “No one acknowledges her for they don’t even notice her” (16). Here, Rodrigo is simply trying to take away all exciting things about Macabea and implies that she is just one of many other girls living in Brazil. Another quote that supports this idea is “There are thousands of girls like this girl from the North-east to be found in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, living in bedsitters or toiling behind counters for all they are worth. They aren’t even aware of the fact that they are superfluous and that nobody cares a damn about their existence” (14). He brutally states that a women in Brazil have little meaning and purpose in life. This also shows Rodrigo’s ignorant view of poverty. “She was hopelessly rachitic at birth, the inheritance of the backwoods-the legacy of misfortune I mentioned earlier” (27). This relates back to some early philosophical views believing that one is either born good or evil. In this instance, Rodrigo is saying that Macabea was born hopeless and because of that she will remain rachitic. “As for the girl, she exists in an impersonal limbo, untouched by what is worst or best. She merely exists., inhaling and exhaling, inhaling and exhaling” (23). Lastly, Rodrigo truly emphasizes that Macabea has no impact on the world. She just gets by “inhaling and exhaling” and has no sense of feeling or emotion.
ReplyDelete“I forgot to mention that sometimes this typist is nauseated by the thought of food. This dates from her childhood when she discovered that she had eaten a fried cat” (39)
ReplyDeleteThis quote stuck out because Macabea’s experiences are her own source of conflict. Even though she barely has enough food to eat sometimes, her experience or fear is strong enough to create nausea. It shows how deeply experiences are ingrained into us and however hard we try, somethings cannot be forgotten. Few lines later in the same paragraph it says that, “She believed in angels, and because she believed in them, they existed” (39), once something in the past has occurred, it cannot be repeated so it simply becomes a memory. It isn't quantifiable therefore its only remains are what we make of it. They can be used to elicit fear, happiness, anger but it is the effect believing can have.
“She had been born with a legacy of misfortune, a creature from nowhere with the expression of someone who apologises for occupying too much space” (26)
Macabea’s existence and many others like her are viewed by people of better socioeconomic status as being worthless. They are seen as inferiors and that they are indeed occupying space. Lispector depicts Macabea as someone who is aware of her apparent worthlessness but is still trying her best to live. It creates conflict within Macabea because she knows she isn't wanted and the only way she can compensate is by being apologetic. Lispector also says, “legacy of misfortune” which can represent the cycle of poverty people in her status are born into and how it is almost impossible to break out of it.
“I also believe she was weeping because the music helped her to perceive that there were other ways of feeling; that there were more delicate forms of existence and certain spiritual refinements.” (51)
In my understanding of what I understood from the definition of an experimental novel is the exploration of human personality and its layers. Throughout the book, Lispector places a huge importance on music from many different movements but mostly instrumental, she shows a great appreciation for it. Instrumental music can be perceived as universal because words aren't necessary to understand the emotion that is trying to be conveyed. People listen or createmusic to comfort themselves, it often serves as an escape from reality. Lispector treats music as some sort of transcendentalist experience.
“His dream was to earn enough money to do exactly what he pleased: nothing.” (67)
I found this really interesting because it creates a paradox. His goal was to do nothing yet he worked hard as a doctor, how much ever he disliked it, in order to gain money to do nothing. He wasn't doing nothing because he still had a job but it raises existentialist ideas of finding meaning and purpose. His life was devoid of meaning because he didn't find happiness in what he was doing. It is important to have some sort of passion or motivation in life which makes life worth living.
“…it’s true that I too have no pity for my main character, the northeastern girl…” (Lispector 5) Once again, this quote changes the reader's view of Rodrigo, the narrator. We have already become aware that this is not his story to tell due to the variation among the two characters social classes. Now, the reader must wonder why he wants to tell the story anyways. If he does not care about Macabea, why does he feel it is his duty to make her story known and compare her to a movie star at her death? Later on Rodrigo writes, “...like some flagrant bitch she was guided by her own remote control” (18). He continues to dehumanize Macabea with this passage. In calling her a flagrant bitch he has proved his point that he feels no pity for her. If his purpose in writing about Macabea is to create awareness for people living in poverty and urge the reader to take action, he is not going to get anywhere by characterizing his main character the way he does. We also know that Rodrigo does not even know Macabea so it is interesting to see him make such strong assumptions about her. Together these passages contribute to make Rodrigo an unreliable and unlikable narrator.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I realized that I've been blogging in the WRONG group this whole time, so I'm just going to leave my posts over here.
ReplyDelete#1
In my group discussion, we analyzed passage 6. In this passage, Rodrigo repeated multiple times that he is writing this story to prove a point, to gave voice to those who doesn't have a voice in the poorly established society of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This was shown in the quote "I must write about this girl from the North-east otherwise I shall choke"(17) and "I write not for the girl from the North-east but for the much more serious reason of force majeure"(18) I didn't know what "force majeure" was so I looked it up, it means superior force. I interpenetrate this as the invisible effects caused by poverty. My group also talked about the existential quotes that was in the passage, "we live exclusively in the present because forever and eternally it is the day of today, and the day tomorrow will be a today. Eternity is the state of things at this very moment."(18) I think this quote meant that nothing matters as much as today because everything from your past is what made you who you are today, and everything you do today will shape who you are in the future. There is also a quote my group did not understand "The event remains branded on one's flesh like a tattoo and all who witness the stigma take flight in horror."(18) What do you guys think the author meant by "the event"?
#2
ReplyDelete2. The introduction to this story seems very confusing and unconventional, but it actually does have significance in the story. In my opinion, Lispector’s purpose for the beginning of the novel and mentioning how the world began was to communicate how everything is interconnected and many things do not happen on purpose. When Lispector wrote, “All the world began with a yes” (3), Lispector communicated that there is rarely a purpose behind actions. This message is extremely applicable to the life of Macabea. It is extremely evident that she lives an extremely undesirable life. The principles that Lispector communicated in the beginning of the story works to develop the idea that Macabea’s life is due to a combination of circumstances that are not necessarily in her control.
11. In Hour of the star, readers can debate who is the protagonist or main character in the story: Rodrigo or Macabea. In my opinion, they are both the protagonist because Macabea is just an extension of Rodrigo. Rodrigo, who is the author of Macabea’s story created her and invents her story. Although it is unconventional to think of a character as a part of the author, I feel this was communicated through Rodrigo’s extreme insight into her character and his fondness for her. He says, “Only I, her author, love her. I suffer for her.” (19). This illustrates hoe Lispector wanted to highlight the emotional connection between these two characters. Macabea is a reflection of Rodrigo and for this reason, they are both the protagonist.
4. There are many reasons why Macabea loved Olimpico despite his severe mistreatment of her. Most importantly, she my have loved Olimpico due to the fact that he gave her some form of attention. Early in the novel, Rodrigo communicates that “nobody wants her, she’s a virgin and harmless, nobody would miss her.” (6). This makes the reader feel that Macabea may be desperate for an form of affection despite that it may not be a healthy relationship. Throughout the relationship, it is evident that Macabea is infatuated with the idea of having a companion. When describing Olimpico, she says, “’She thought Olimpico knew a lot of things” (43). This shows how she doesn’t care that he treats her like dirt, but she loves him because he gives her attention, no matter how negative it is.
#3
ReplyDelete1.) "God is the world" (8).
This reference is depicting the world's history as having been created by God. This could be representative of Lispector's true feelings, or added as a trait of Rodrigo, to give the reader a little more information about who he is and what his beliefs are.
2.) "As I prayed I emptied my soul- and this emptiness is everything that I can ever hope to possess" (14)
This reference shows Rodrigo's belief in prayer, and his belief that through prayer he can find release from his sins. He describes an "emptiness" that he gets from praying, which is the best possible thing he can have. The strange thing, however, is that prayer is meant to fill up the soul with God, not empty it.
3.) “Everything in the world began with a yes.” (11)
I believe this is a biblical allusion to the creation of the world, where God created everything in existence during a period of seven days. This is further evidence that Rodrigo is Christian, and shows his beliefs about the creation of the world. It's mysterious tone helps make the reader wonder what exactly Rodrigo is referring to, but ultimately is proven to be biblical in nature.
4.) "Maria de Penha, Maria Aparecida, Maria Jose and plain Maria – paid no attention” (31)
Her roommates are all named Maria, which is an allusion the Virgin Mary. There is little information given on them, but they all act as if Macabea and her incessant cough is non-existent. The Virgin Mary is representative of purity and innocence, and the Marias all ignore Macabea's cough, which could be symbolic of the impure. It is almost as if they are above the impurity of her cough, which is possibly symbolic of the middle-class ignoring the fact that there are "impure" people like Macabea that are struggling to survive.
5.)To eat communion bread will be to taste the world's indifference, and to immerse myself in nothingness" (19)
Communion in Christianity is a time of remembrance and forgiveness. Bread is served as a symbol of the body of Jesus, while wine is served as a symbol of the blood of Jesus. Perhaps by referring to the bread as "the world's indifference", Rodrigo is trying to show that the world is caring less and less about Christianity and God, and this is something that brings him sorrow.
#4
ReplyDelete"She makes me so uncomfortable that I feel hollow" (18).
"For now Macabéa was nothing but a vague feeling on the dirty cobble stones"(74).
"And even sadness was also something for rich people, for people who could afford it."(52)
"That girl didn't know she was what she was, just as a dog doesn't know it's a dog."(19)
"...because this drink which contains coca is today. It's a way for a person to be up-to-date and in the now."(15)
"Come in my pet."(63)
The world has always had its rich and poor class which Lispector very well exemplifies in her book "The Hour of the Star." Through out the book Lispector establishes a dominant effect of desolation as she further shows how the rich and poor perceive one another through the use of metaphors and diction. On the quotes above one can see that it seems that the rich don't see the poor as being anything more that this object that just breaths and eats. When Macabea was at the fortune teller she was dehumanized because of the way the fortune teller called for her. In many spots of the fortune telling the fortune teller calls to Macabea by saying," Come in pet" or "Here my dog." By metaphorically comparing Macabea to a pet one can see it shows that the fortune teller is just using the poor to make money. When poor people are in the need of help they tend to take whatever is given to them, well in the case of Macabea she wanted to finally see if her future would change for the better so she goes to this fortune teller who not surprisingly enough tells her only good things are to come. By telling poor people what they want to hear you are only using them because you are just making them have false hope which is what happen to Macabea. Lispector makes it clear that the poor are there for the rich because of her repeated use of the word coca. Coca Cola is basically showing how our capitalist society takes advantage of the poor by getting them addicted to a certain thing in a way and then making them by it repeatedly to take the poor peoples money and get even richer. These ways of dehumanizing the poor are what sadden the reader and make him/her want to somehow help which is the exact feeling Lispector is trying to arise in the reader. The world must realize that every human being is important no matter how rich or poor.
#5
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the description of an experimental novel, I believe Rodrigo represents the anti-hero. He constantly has conflicts between helping the girl and going on living his lavish life. He goes back and forth between wanting to continue her story and ending it. Rodrigo states at the beginning of the novel, "... I who carry the world and there is lack of happiness. Happiness? I never saw a dumber word..." (4). This sets up Rodrigo as a character that can be easily disliked. He seems to only think on the negative side of things and his tone and wording only comes off as arrogant. Immediately, the reader develops a disliking to him. Also, he says, "I do not intend for what I'm about to write to be complex, though I'll have to use words that sustain you" (4). This fits the description of an experimental novel because Rodrigo here seems ordinary. He does not speak in a fancy manner and wishes to keep everything as simple as possible. He is making himself out to be just like Macabea, a person like any other, yet more important. He does not aim to create a complex or elaborate story, but rather something familiar and painfully bland. Rodrigo also has a constant internal conflict regarding telling Macabea's story. He says, "I wonder if I should jump ahead and sketch out an ending. But it so happens that I myself have no idea how this thing will turn out" (8). Here Rodrigo has an internal conflict about giving an answer to the questino posed by the story. He wants to tell the reader how it is all resolved, but he, himself, hardly knows the answer. He is impatient to reveal the ending, but struggles with it knowing the story in its entirety needs to be told. This is brought up again later when Rodrigo states, "The fact is I hold a destiny in my hands yet don't feel powerful enough to invent freely" (12). Again, Rodrigo is torn between whether or not to tell Macabea's story. He knows it is all his choice and he has to do whatever it is he desires, but he is unsure of how and if this story should be told. He knows Macabea's story needs to be told to bring light to the situation, but his life is incredibly comfortable as it is without the need for a disturbance.