Afonso Henriques de Lima Barreto was born on May 13, 1881, and died on November 1, 1922. He was a Brazilian novelist and journalist. He was an important figure in Brazilian Pre-Modernism. His most famous work is the novel Triste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma. This book is a bitter satire of the early years of the First Brazilian Republic.
Life
Lima Barreto was born on May 13, 1881, in the neighborhood of Laranjeiras in Rio de Janeiro. He was born on a Friday the 13th, a day many believe is unlucky, but Barreto thought it brought good luck. Seven years after his birth, the Golden Law was signed, ending slavery in Brazil. His father, João Henriques de Lima Barreto, was a printer and a supporter of kings. He had close ties to Afonso Celso de Assis Figueiredo, the Viscount of Ouro Preto, who later became Barreto’s godfather. His mother, Amália Augusta, died when he was very young. Afterward, he studied at a private school run by Teresa Pimentel do Amaral. Later, the Viscount of Ouro Preto paid for his education at the Liceu Popular Niteroiense. He graduated in 1894 and joined the famous Colégio Pedro II the next year. Soon after, he enrolled at the Escola Politécnica do Rio de Janeiro but had to leave in 1904 to care for his brothers, as his father’s mental health worsened.
Barreto began writing for newspapers in 1902. He became famous in 1905 for writing a series of articles in the Correio da Manhã about the demolition of Castle Hill. In 1911, he started a magazine called Floreal with friends. Though it only had two issues, critics praised it. In 1909, he published his first novel, Recordações do Escrivão Isaías Caminha, a critical and partly autobiographical story about Brazilian society. His most famous work is Triste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma, which was first published in 1911 as a serial story and later released as a book in 1915.
In his later years, Barreto struggled with severe depression, which led him to drink heavily and visit psychiatric hospitals and sanatoriums. He died of a heart attack in 1922.
Style
Barreto was a writer known for using humor and exaggeration to criticize others. He often focused on what he saw as the average or unimpressive qualities of the Brazilian people, especially the government and leaders in business and the military. One of his most famous works is Os Bruzundangas, a collection of stories he wrote for newspapers over 20 years.
Barreto also criticized the complicated and overly elaborate writing style that many Brazilian leaders used to show they were intelligent or of high social standing. Because of this, he chose to write in a simpler way that more people could understand. This choice made some powerful people in Brazil angry, and they criticized him for not following traditional writing styles.
Barreto also wrote about the thoughts and feelings of his characters, though he is not as well known for this as other famous writers from Portuguese-speaking countries, such as Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis of Brazil or José Maria de Eça de Queiroz of Portugal. His books often show the strange beliefs and ideas of his characters. For example, Policarpo Quaresma, one of Barreto’s most famous characters, was a very idealistic and patriotic man who believed he could restore Brazil’s natural state. His extreme innocence led to his downfall. Another character, Clara dos Anjos, was also harmed by her innocence, which caused her to live a life of shame. Barreto also showed the bad qualities of his villains, such as their dishonesty, lack of knowledge, and refusal to help others. In his book Clara dos Anjos, the antagonist Cassi Jones is described as a psychopath who ignores others’ feelings, acts selfishly, and uses cruel methods to reach his goals.
Major works
Triste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma (in English: The Tragic Fate of Policarpo Quaresma) is Lima Barreto’s most famous work, first published in 1911. The story follows Policarpo Quaresma, a strongly patriotic Brazilian who dreams of making Brazil one of the world’s most powerful nations. He observes problems in Brazil’s political and social systems and notices that many people prefer European culture over their own country’s traditions. He tries to change this situation.
The story is divided into three main parts.
First, Barreto wrote a collection of short stories that appeared in newspapers over about 20 years. These stories describe the lives and customs of the people of Bruzundanga, an imaginary country that represents Brazil. In these stories, Barreto shows how corruption exists in every area of Bruzundanga, including politics and education.
Barreto created Bruzundanga as a way to represent Brazil without being directly criticized by politicians or authorities. The characters and institutions in Bruzundanga are based on real Brazilian people and organizations. For example, the first chapter, titled “Special Chapter,” describes a school called the “Samoiedas,” where students focus only on superficial writing styles instead of real learning. This school represents the influence of European literary styles, such as Parnassianism and Symbolism, on Brazilian writing at the time.
In another part of the book, Barreto tells the story of Clara dos Anjos, a young girl from a poor family in the suburbs of Rio de Janeiro. She falls in love with Cassi Jones, a dishonest boy from a wealthy family. Cassi has many children with different women and leaves them all behind. Clara, who has been protected by her parents and knows little about the world, becomes pregnant. At the end, Cassi runs away, leaving Clara alone and disgraced. Barreto uses Clara’s story to show the unfair treatment of poor women in Brazil. He also highlights the selfishness of wealthy people, like Cassi’s mother, who protects her son despite his actions. Clara’s final words, “We are nothing in this life,” reflect the struggles of poor women in Brazil.