Key Facts
full title ·
Child of the Dark
author · Carolina Maria de Jesus
type of work · Diary
genre · Nonfiction/memoir
language · English, translated from Portuguese
time and place written · São Paulo, Brazil, 1955–1960
date of first publication · August 1960 (in English: 1962)
publisher · E. P. Dutton & Co.
narrator · Carolina Maria de Jesus, writing entries from July 1955 through January
1960
point of view · First person. The reader is privy to the thoughts and point of view of
de Jesus exclusively.
tone · Matter-of-fact, realistic, occasionally humorous, occasionally
poetic
tense · Both past and present
setting (time) · Late 1950s
setting (place) · The favela (shantytown), São Paulo, Brazil
protagonist · Carolina
major conflict · Carolina's day-to-day conflicts revolve around providing for her three
children, and the larger conflict concerns how Carolina will find her way out of
the favela.
rising action · Because the diary focuses on the day-to-day details of de Jesus's real
life, there is no rising action per se, though the impending publication of
Carolina's diary does provide some forward momentum.
climax · Because this is not a work of fiction, usual narrative rules do not
apply, but Child of the Dark does have a climax of sorts: the
publication of Carolina's diary in a weekly magazine.
falling action · Carolina's diary is published and yet her life does not
change.
themes · The symbiosis of the rich and poor; the value of independence; the
power of words; the blindness of authority
motifs · Humor; Carolina's threat to put people in her “book”
symbols · The golden castle; a bird in a cage; the beautiful woman with cheap
stockings
foreshadowing · There is little foreshadowing. Carolina reports events as they happen,
without artifice.
