the hour of the star by clarice lispector

The narrative pattern is initiated from the narrator’s first words as he contemplates the universe’s origin. Thanks, Clarice.Learn more Use of Language in Expressing the Pattern And there you have it: miserable life, miserable death. The novel ends with Macabéa's taking a really long time to die while the narrator reflects on death and existence and on what Macabéa might represent. She steps off a curb, and…Ī huge yellow Mercedes runs over her. Macabéa leaves Madame Carlota's full of bewilderment and wonder. She's not going to be fired Olímpico is going to propose but a rich and loving foreigner named Hans (that's awfully specific) will come into her life and marry her.

And then, Madame informs Macabéa that her life is about to take a complete turn-around, which, if you've ever seen a movie, you'll know is about typical for fortunetellers. Madame Carlota begins Macabéa's reading by telling her how horrible her life has been and currently is. Glória feels sort of bad about the whole thing with Olímpico, so she tries to help Macabéa a little by recommending she visit a fortuneteller. He ignores her, mistreats her, and eventually leaves her for her hot co-worker Glória. Also like a lot of teenage boyfriends, Olímpico is a thug, a criminal, and basically just a plain jerk. Like a typical teenager, she eventually meets her first and only boyfriend, Olímpico. You could say she takes pleasure in the little things: listening to the Radio Clock, going to the movies once a month, painting her nails bright red, sipping cold coffee before bed, and drinking Coca-Cola, and imagining being like Marilyn Monroe. Weirdly (at least to the narrator), she seems oblivious to how sad her life is. She works as a typist, but it looks like she might not be keeping that job for very long. She now lives with four other girls in the slums of Rio de Janeiro. Macabéa was raised by a mean-we're talking evil-stepmother mean-aunt in the Northeastern part of Brazil. So worked up, in fact, that takes him almost as much time to talk about telling it as it does to tell it. He's sophisticated, suave, and super worked up about how in the world he's going to tell this story. She's a poor, underfed, unattractive, sickly, and inexperienced nineteen-year-old girl who works and lives in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.Īnd now meet your narrator, Rodrigo S.M. You're probably not going to want to be her friend.

The hour of the star by clarice lispector