O negro na literatura de Machado de Assis no conto pai contra mãe

Abstract

The present work develops a reading of "Father against mother", highlighting the social representation of black people in Brazilian literature on Machado's vision. First, we will seek, through an analysis, more meaningful and attentive, to awaken the criticism of the reader to the way black people are represented in Brazil and their participation in the literature, in the context the relation to the treatment of both the author and the society of that period stands out, with regard to blacks, the object of our analysis, we will abort the cold, cruel and inhumane way in which blacks were treated by society in the late 19th century. The narrative allows the reader to perceive one of the most grotesque ways of maintaining power over the other, through the oppression and customs of the society of the time, shown by the author, who surprises us by revealing that he is a student of the soul and human behavior, this is very visible in the characters' attitudes bordering on extreme situations. Although the story was written in the 19th century, reading it makes us rethink about its current theme, since black people today still struggle for a more significant representation of themselves and their culture, within a still exclusionary and prejudiced society of the 21st century.