This novel seemed to be a bit more engaging for myself compared to the others I’ve read for this course. I think I was able to find certain passages of Lispector’s writing to be overdramatic and borderline humorous, with immense detail to totally picture it happening. The best example of this would be the beginning of the cockroach encounter. From the clear fright of the narrator to the seemingly nonsensical certainty of the cockroach’s age. As I read it I chuckled and questioned how one would even consider such an unnecessary fact in that state of fear. Then just with the following line my question was answered, “with my archaic horror of cockroaches I’d
learned to guess, even from a distance, their ages and
dangers…,” like how? I guess these types of details revealed more pieces of the character and had me actually think about and imagine the kind of person I was listening to.
I also enjoyed the first person perspective. This type of writing helps me with interacting with the text and feeling like I’m conversating with the narrator, like they’re talking to me or presenting something and I’m paying attention. Additionally, the step by step approach of laying out each detail really helped me follow along. I didn’t feel like I was missing anything, which can often happen to me with novels.
G.H. appears to be confronting herself after doing, to her, what would be unthinkable. However, it triggers a downward spiral for her. Causing her to deeply introspect and question her being. Although it’s different for G.H. and can be considered a traumatic event for her, I related to this in a not-so-superficial but not-so-deep way. Introspection/self-reflection is something I really take time to do and it can lead to seeing yourself, others, or the world as something you don’t want to or you wouldn’t expect. Then realizing this is hard to swallow and then change. Though, for G.H. it was extreme.
My question for this week is more of a personal one. Do you self-reflect, and if you do have you ever come across a harsh reality about yourself or something else? I feel like this question is important (especially to me) because it can reveal how self-aware people are, as well as how aware people are of their surroundings and what their actions can mean for not only themselves. This novel can open new doors of thought that people may not have experienced or be ready for.
“it triggers a downward spiral for her”
I wonder if this is really a “downward spiral.” Obviously, the situation is fraught for her with tension and indeed fear. But at the end, hasn’t she learned something? Doesn’t she feel as though she emerges “improved” somehow by the experience?
Or perhaps it’s reminiscent of the Nietzschean adage: “What does not kill me, makes me stronger.”
Hello!
I like how you mention the potential humour in some of Lispector’s passages. I think I was so focused on trying to understand what I was reading that I didn’t pay much attention to this, but it certainly makes sense – being so bothered by cockroaches that seeing one induces a major crisis is a little absurd.
In response to your question: I do self-reflect fairly often, but I try not to go as far as G.H. does. Although G.H.’s experience is not necessarily negative, I’m not sure that I could handle plummeting to spiritual depths over a big insect, so I tend to focus on the human side of things.