Hi everyone!

This week I read Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector. I really did not understand this book at first, it felt kind of pointless and so I did not enjoy it. It discusses themes of life, death, love and meaning.

I would like to spend my blog post discussing the ending of the book, in which the narrator (Rodrigo S.M.) learns that everyone dies, even him after Macabea is hit by a BMW nonetheless. This is ironic as she is severely impoverished and the driver does not seem to care. Anyways, Macabea is a uneventful person, with an average life, a sub-par boyfriend and an obsession with hot dogs and Coco-Cola. However, this narrator who does not even know her decides to write about her life, thus providing an ordinary person with an Hour as a Star. In highlighting the ordinary, the author seems to highlight what is real and true for most people living in Brazil. I think this is incredibly important because oftentimes in novels, we are expecting to see some extraordinary character, with an incredible life story and a happy or climactic ending. However, Macabea does not fit this stereotype, but the author doesn’t really seem to care about her either, as he only gave her a (made up) name halfway through the book. However, in the end the narrator spend several paragraphs depecting and discussing her death, as if Macabea really began to mean something to him. As if her story became less meaningless and more meaningful as he became more invested in her ordinary story. In contrast, it is important to remember that he did not discuss the death of others in the same detail. This begs the question, what makes Macabea’s life more meaningful? 

Now, in disscusing her death further, like I have previously said it is incredibly ironic that she is hit by a BMW and the driver even stop to see what has happened. I think this highlights the point that life looses some of its significance after death. It doesn’t matter if you were rich or poor, happy or sad, kind or cynical. Her death and her character highlight that human existence is solitary and that people are responsible for shaping their lives because we all die eventually. Then we enter some version of the after life if that’s what you believe. We all end up in the same place, just as the narrator realizes as he understands that everyone around him, including himself will die.

In lecture, we have talked extensively about if reading is meant to teach us something, and I think this novel is meant to teach us that it is important to discuss ordinary life as well. It is not meaningless if one lives a life of monotony without riches, because life is what gives meaning even though we should use life to its fullest extent. In a way, we are responsible for the trajectory of our own lives.

Discussion Question: What makes Macabea’s life more meaningful? 

Thanks,

Nadia