Diseased houses and bodies

images of decay in Repouso (1949), by Cornélio Penna, and Crônica da casa assassinada (1959), by Lúcio Cardoso

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of the Brazilian novels Repouso (1949), by Cornélio Penna, and Crônica da casa assassinada (1959), by Lúcio Cardoso. It examines, through close reading, how the works elaborate the theme of decay, which, in both narratives, affects traditional families from Minas Gerais. The decline of such families is portrayed as an irreversible process, marked by a financial and moral crisis, which does not contain any possibility of future or renewal. In Repouso, the crisis is decisively intertwined with the economic activity that had enriched the protagonist Dodôte’s family, that is, mining. In Crônica, the idea of decay is not related in a determinant way with the economic function of the Meneses in Vila Velha, but with the values that the family members defend and embody. Both novels, however, elaborate similar images as symbols of such decay: fatal physical illnesses (syphilis and cancer) and a sickly and repressed sensitivity that distinguishes Penna’s and Cardoso’s characters. Reading these works side by side reveals a similar and critical vision regarding the patriarchal society of Minas Gerais at the beginning of the 20th century. Syphilis, in Repouso, and cancer, in Crônica da casa assassinada, associated with the social coercion and the distorted religious values that lead to the characters’ sickly sensitivity, become the image of the inescapable decay of those families. The novels thus suggest that the tradition of such families, due to its destructive and violent nature, cannot prosper, being doomed to sterility and death.