The Golden Castle
When Carolina writes, she imagines she “lives in a golden castle that
shines in the sunlight.” The act of writing represents many things for
Carolina. Writing offers refuge from the humiliations and setbacks she
experiences on a daily basis. It is also a source of illumination—it offers
Carolina a place to process her thoughts and form meaningful conclusions
about what she observes.
A Bird in a Cage
In casting the president of Brazil as a bird in a cage, Carolina
implies that he is trapped in his own ignorance and is ineffectual at making
changes, especially concerning the poor. The image of the bird in a cage
makes diminutive a figure of presumably great power. In this construction,
Carolina casts the president as a small and confined bird, while the
favelados are wild and hungry cats. This symbol is especially interesting in
terms of describing a shifting power relationship. She leaves uncertain the
possibility of when the cats will get the bird, and doesn’t specify whether
or not the bird has anything with which to protect itself beyond the flimsy
bars of a self-constructed cage.
The Beautiful Woman with Cheap Stockings
By personifying São Paulo as a beautiful woman with cheap, ragged
stockings underneath her fine clothing, Carolina creates a colorful, playful
representation of the favela. The rich people of São Paulo must recognize
that their lives are intertwined with those of the favelados and act
accordingly. The image suggests two of the major themes that define
Carolina’s diary: the blindness of authority and the symbiosis of the rich
and poor. In this case, Carolina chides São Paulo for not seeing its cheap
stockings. By putting the city of São Paulo and the favelas on the body of
the same beautiful woman, Carolina reveals their inherent
interconnectedness.
