The Symbiosis of Rich and Poor
In Child of the Dark, the fates of the rich and poor
are intertwined, and the rich ignore the existence and plight of the poor at
their own peril. Though the rich might want to forget about the poor and
push them out of sight in the favelas, the poor are as vital to the city as
the rich are. When Carolina crosses the dividing line between these two
worlds, she sees the contrast and connection between them more clearly.
Several times, strong imagery highlights this parallel track, such as the
image of the city as a beautiful woman with cheap, torn stockings underneath
her ritzy clothes, and especially in terms of the image of São Paulo as a
house where the favela functions as a backyard garbage dump. The rich would
be lost without a place to dump their garbage, Carolina seems to be saying,
and this unsettling observation provides a new perspective on the
ever-present link between rich and poor.
The Value of Independence
Carolina’s pride in her own independence is the central value that
determines both her identity and the way she interacts with other favelados.
On one level, her independence is the main guiding force in a strong set of
values that she adheres to in the face of numerous threats and temptations.
Rampant theft, alcoholism, and violence surround her, and to set herself
apart from these scourges, she must maintain a mental distance from them. On
another level, Carolina’s sense of independence grows out of her resistance
to, or mistrust of, other people. Manuel repeatedly proposes marriage, and
when she turns him down, Carolina refers to her closely held sense of
independence. She points to the subservience that other women must endure in
marriage as her reason for staying alone, and since Carolina’s independence
defines her sense of self, giving up her autonomy would compromise not only
her social standing but also her sense of identity as a writer.
The Power of Words
Whether she is simply recording daily events or creating complex
critiques of those around her, Carolina derives tremendous power and
identity from the act of writing. On the most basic level, Carolina uses her
diary as a weapon against those in the favela who wrong her—she threatens to
put them in her book. If Carolina didn’t sense that words have intrinsic
power, she wouldn’t bother making such a threat. There are subtler means,
however, that Carolina uses to express the power of writing in her life,
such as when she describes how writing makes her feel as though she lives in
a golden castle. When she writes about her desire to escape the favela, she
is putting words to—and therefore making more real—something she only dreams
about.
The Blindness of Authority
Fighting back at figures of authority in both the church and the
government through her writing, Carolina accuses those in power for being
blind to the needs of the poor. She chides the president of Brazil for being
like a bird in a gilded cage, ignorant of the hungry cats (the favelados)
who are circling. She takes on rich business owners, who price common goods
at a level that is out of the poor’s reach. She castigates clergymen for
preaching sermons that are not only out of touch with the favela but may in
fact be harmful. For example, one sermon advised faveladosto have more children. Throughout the diary, Carolina repeatedly
calls attention to the responsibility that those in power have shirked. In
that sense, her diary acts as a corrective to the neglect that the favela
has endured for so many years.
