Triste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma

Last updated

The Sad End of Policarpo Quaresma
Author Lima Barreto
Original titleTriste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma
LanguagePortuguese
Genre Novel
PublisherTyp. "Revista dos Tribunaes"
Publication date
1915
Publication placeBrazil
Pages352 p.
Preceded byAs Aventuras do Doutor Bogóloff 
Followed byNuma e a Ninfa 

Triste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma (published in English as The Patriot and The Sad End of Policarpo Quaresma) is a novel by Pre-Modernist Brazilian writer Lima Barreto. The work was published under feuilleton form in 1911, from August to October in the Jornal do Commercio . The focus of the work is the nationalism in the early years of the First Brazilian Republic and criticism to the middle-class and the bureaucratic government. The work is comical in the beginning, transiting to harsh criticisms by the end. These critics demystify the figure of the president Floriano Peixoto (1891–1894), known as the Marechal de Ferro ("The Iron Marshal"), and also of the Brazilian military.

Contents

The book is centered on Policarpo Quaresma, an ultra-nationalist bureaucrat of the Army. Quaresma is an enthusiast of Brazilian popular and indigenous culture, and has an innocent love for his country. Throughout the story, his heightened patriotism leads him always to disastrous situations: in the first part, he ends in an asylum; in the second, his agricultural enterprise fails due to the Brazilian pests and soil; and in the third and final part, he is arrested and executed under the orders of Floriano Peixoto, whom he admired.

Plot

Part One

The whole first part takes place in Rio de Janeiro. Quaresma is shown as a wise, but naïve nationalist who spent years of his life in private studies on Brazil. After 30 years, he finally found the right time to put in action his plan for improvement of Brazilian government and society.

Quaresma is fluent in French, English and German, learning the Tupi language and how to play the guitar; however, he only reads works of Brazilian authors or foreign authors whose works were about Brazil. His favorite authors were those who were considered the most patriotic: José de Alencar and Gonçalves Dias.

He is seen as eccentric by his neighbors. Lima Barreto shows Quaresma's neighbors as pedant and mediocre people, a criticism of the urban society of late 19th century. For example, the shallow relationships between the daughter of General Albernaz, Ismênia, and her fiancé. She appears to be a disinterested girl who thinks that the only purpose in life for a woman is to find a husband; her fiancé is a man who is lauded just because he finished college.

General Albernaz, who is a neighbor of Quaresma, is a miserable man: in spite of his high title, he never fought a single battle. He lies about military deeds, and in fact, he only achieved generalship because of his many years in service. Other characters are seen as purely mediocre: none of them has real value and are bureaucrats.

Quaresma's plan is soon put in action: he sends a requirement to the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies requesting a change in the official language of Brazil. He wanted the Tupi language, which is indigenous and pure Brazilian, in the place of Portuguese, since Portuguese was "imported" from the European settlers. Quaresma was seen as crazy by the press and was harshly satirized. To worsen the situation, Quaresma accidentally sent a document in Tupi to the Ministry, and was fired.

The story continues in an asylum, where Quaresma was sent after these events. However, his friend Coleoni and his goddaughter Olga still believed in him and his plan.

Part Two

The second part of the book illustrates the struggles of the rural properties in Brazil.

Healthy and retired, Quaresma is convinced by Olga to sell his house and buy a countryside estate. He tries to prove the fertility and richness of Brazilian soil, which was so praised by the Portuguese in the letter of discovery sent to the Portuguese king in the 1500s.

Quaresma's plan was to promote the agricultural development of Brazil, in hopes of bringing economical growth to the country. However, his property is infested by sauva ants, invasive plants and succumbs to weather. In spite of his efforts, the property fails. In addition, he sees himself dealing with the small mentality and defamation by the town's politicians and people, who cannot understand his political neutrality.

In the end, Quaresma abandons his property to go support the President in Rio against the Navy.

Part Three

The last part is the climax of the book. During the Second Naval Revolt (Segunda Revolta da Armada), Quaresma is finally disappointed by the crude reality of the Brazilian government. When the revolt erupts, Quaresma takes President Floriano Peixoto's side and quickly comes back to Rio, to help the President in the confrontation.

Upon his arrival in the capital, Quaresma is received by Floriano Peixoto, and brings him a document on difficulties of the national agriculture. However, Peixoto pays no attention to the document.

As a supporter of the regime, Quaresma is put in charge of a squad, albeit his lack of military experience. In his squad, many of the soldiers had been forced to enlist, including his friend and guitar teacher, Ricardo Coração-dos-Outros (this character's last name is actually a pun, meaning "Heart-of-others").

Quaresma becomes deeply disappointed when he sees the violence of the regime and its arbitrary acts. He soon realizes Peixoto's contempt about him and becomes even more disappointed when he kills one of the rebels.

When the revolt is subdued, Quaresma is put in charge of prisoners. At that point, all his illusions about Brazil had vanished. After seeing the unfair executions and cruelties committed against the prisoners, he sends a letter exposing the situation to the President. The President, who actually had ordered those crimes, accuses Quaresma of treason and arrests him.

Quaresma's goddaughter and Ricardo try to save him, but are not successful. In the end, all his projects failed: his attempt to make Tupi language official, the agricultural enterprise and his trust on the Brazilian government. Quaresma is finally executed by the President he admired, and for the sake of the country he loved.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deodoro da Fonseca</span> President of Brazil from 1889 to 1891

Manuel Deodoro da Fonseca was a Brazilian politician and military officer who served as the first president of Brazil. He was born in Alagoas in a military family, followed a military career, and became a national figure. Fonseca took office as provisional president after heading a military coup that deposed Emperor Pedro II and established the First Brazilian Republic in 1889, disestablishing the Empire. After his election in 1891, he stepped down the same year under great political pressure when he dissolved the National Congress. He died less than a year later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Afonso Pena</span> President of Brazil from 1906 to 1909

Afonso Augusto Moreira Pena, often referred to as Afonso Pena, was a Brazilian lawyer, professor, and politician who served as the 6th president of Brazil, from 1906 until his death in 1909. Pena was elected in 1906, the chosen successor of president Rodrigues Alves. Pena was the first politician from Minas Gerais to win the presidency, ending the series of politicians from São Paulo who had held the presidency since 1894. Before his presidency, he served as the 4th vice president of Brazil, under Rodrigues Alves (1903–1906) after the death of Silviano Brandão. Pena was a monarchist. He was the only member of Emperor Pedro II's cabinet to become president of Brazil and the first Brazilian president to die in office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Floriano Peixoto</span> President of Brazil from 1891 to 1894

Floriano Vieira Peixoto, born in Ipioca, nicknamed "The Iron Marshal", was a Brazilian military and politician, a veteran of the Paraguayan War and several other conflicts, and the second president of Brazil. He was the first vice president of Brazil to have succeeded the president mid-term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prudente de Morais</span> President of Brazil from 1894 to 1898

Prudente José de Morais Barros, often referred to as Prudente de Morais, was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 3rd president of Brazil from 1894 to 1898. Morais was elected in 1894, being the first civilian president of the country, the first to be elected by direct popular ballot under the permanent provisions of Brazil's 1891 Constitution, and the first to serve his term in its entirety. Before his presidency he served as president (governor) of the state of São Paulo and president of the Senate from 1891 to 1894. He was also president of the Constituent Congress that drafted and enacted Brazil's 1891 Constitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lima Barreto</span> Brazilian writer (1881–1922)

Afonso Henriques de Lima Barreto was a Brazilian novelist and journalist. A major figure in Brazilian Pre-Modernism, he is famous for the novel Triste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma, a bitter satire of the early years of the First Brazilian Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raul Pompeia</span> Brazilian writer (1863–1895)

Raul d'Ávila Pompeia was a Brazilian novelist, short story writer and chronicler. He is famous for the Impressionist romance O Ateneu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isaías de Noronha</span> Brazilian naval officer (1873–1963)

José Isaías de Noronha was a Brazilian Navy Admiral who briefly served as president of Brazil while being a member of the provisional military junta of 1930. Born into a military family, Noronha took up a naval career. He served aboard ships such as Andrada and Recife and commanded ships such as Piauí, Sergipe, and Minas Geraes. In 1930, he became one of the three members of the military junta which ruled Brazil between October and November 1930. When the junta acquiesced to revolutionaries, Noronha initially remained as minister of the Navy in the administration of President Getúlio Vargas. He was also president of the Naval Club before and after the junta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Revolta da Armada</span> Series of mutinies in the Brazilian Navy

The Brazilian Naval Revolts, or the Revoltas da Armada, were armed mutinies promoted mainly by admirals Custódio José de Melo and Saldanha da Gama and their fleet of rebel Brazilian navy ships against the claimed unconstitutional staying in power of president Floriano Peixoto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Confederation of the Equator</span>

The Confederation of the Equator was a short-lived rebellion that occurred in the northeastern region of the Empire of Brazil in 1824, in the early years of the country's independence from Portugal. The secessionist movement was led by liberals who opposed the authoritarian and centralist policies of the nation's first leader, Emperor Pedro I. The fight occurred in the provinces of Pernambuco, Ceará and Paraíba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federalist Revolution</span> Civil war in Brazil

The Federalist Revolution was a civil war that took place in southern Brazil between 1893 and 1895, fought by the federalists, opponents of Rio Grande do Sul state president, Júlio de Castilhos, seeking greater autonomy for the state, decentralization of power by the newly installed First Brazilian Republic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Floriano Peixoto (actor)</span> Brazilian actor

Floriano Peixoto Cordeiro de Farias, known as Floriano Peixoto is a Brazilian film and television actor from Rio de Janeiro.

Peixoto is a Portuguese surname. Notable people with the surname include:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proclamation of the Republic (Brazil)</span> Military coup détat that established the First Brazilian Republic on 15 November 1889

The Proclamation of the Republic, Coup of 1889, or Coup of the Republic was a military coup d'état that established the First Brazilian Republic on November 15, 1889. It took over the constitutional monarchy of the Empire of Brazil and ended the reign of Emperor Pedro II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1895 in Brazil</span>

Events in the year 1895 in Brazil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1911 in Brazil</span>

Events in the year 1911 in Brazil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1891 in Brazil</span>

Events in the year 1891 in Brazil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1894 in Brazil</span>

Events from the year 1894 in Brazil.

<i>Estrela-Guia</i> 2003 Brazilian telenovela

Estrela-Guia is a Brazilian telenovela produced and broadcast by TV Globo. It premiered on 12 March 2001, replacing O Cravo e a Rosa, and ended on 15 June 2001, replaced by A Padroeira. The telenovela is written by Ana Maria Moretzsohn, with the collaboration of Daisy Chaves, Izabel de Oliveira, Fernando Rebello, and Patrícia Moretzsohn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fausto Cardoso</span>

Fausto de Aguiar Cardoso was a Brazilian lawyer, poet, philosopher, and politician from the state of Sergipe. He was born in a rural part of the state Sergipe, and studied at the Faculty of Law of Recife in Pernambuco. He was elected to political office in 1900, and came into dispute with Olímpio Campos in Rio de Janeiro, the seat of the First Brazilian Republic. Cardoso returned to Sergipe in 1906 and led a revolt against the state government. He was assassinated in 1906 by federal troops summoned to the state by Olímpio Campos. Cardoso's sons, in turn, avenged their father's death and murdered Olímpio Campos shortly after in Rio de Janeiro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hilton Cobra</span> Brazilian actor

José Hilton Santos Almeida, better known as Hilton Cobra or Cobrinha, is a Brazilian actor and theatre director.

References