Gabriela, Clove, and Cinnamon is a novel that is deeply rooted in the act of gossiping. Gossiping acts as a foreground to exhibit the themes taking place in the novel. The text depicts two different themes that become interconnected with one another: a love story between Nacib and Gabriella and the struggle between tradition and progress. As the novel progresses the reader can witness the political struggles in Ihéus, a town that is just beginning to prosper. These social aspects such as are also changing parallel to the progression of the novel.
Consequently, gossip serves as a portal to the social lives of the people of Ilhéus, additionally, representing a vastly entertaining panorama of the small-town Brazilian life.
Through this gossip the reader can relate to the novel, this is because the information is being passed around through means, that the readers can imagine. Additionally, gossiping allows the reader to grasp the socially relevant information about one’s character without having to directly experience their triumphs or misadventures, Gossiping is an act, which is present in the everyday lives of the people of Mhéus.
Ie acts as a central theme in the everyday conversations of the people of Théus. It is also a cause for the social issues like the arguments in the bar to an extent to which the offended party would draw out a gun, which is explored in the novel. Hence, a chain of events is often triggered due to the act of gossiping, The gossiping that takes place in the town of IUhéus presents attitudes prevailing in the society at that time.
The way Jonge Amado has presented this gossip through his writing in terms of the tone and style gives to the reader an idea of the sociocultural society of Brazil in a way, which Jorge Amado had perceived. The reader can grasp a pattern in the gossiping. The gossiping, which occurs with one another, is being transformed into actual events. This affects how the reader perceives the novel because the events or ideas, which would be taking place, become predictable for the reader. Gossip deals with the plot dynamics, the course of the events, and the cause-effect relations in the story; these are the factors, which are explored, Jorge Amado presents gossiping to the readers in a very unique way. The most significant function of the gossiping in the novel is to inform the reader about the important background events, which take place during the time while the focus of the narrative is concentrated on events around the protagonist and the main plot, Through this, he can make the reading more interesting with many side plots being presented parallel to the main plot. 1¢ can also be seen that some of these issues are provoking the theme and plot of the text.
The first instance when the readers are introduced to the act of gossiping is during the time the colonels come together every morning to gossip about the latest news in the town, Gossiping, at many times is portrayed in a negative approach. However, in the text, the art of gossiping brings about new ideas that have been illustrated by the characters. An instance where the colonels are gossiping about the latest news in town depicts this. “They say Mundinho Falcao loaned money to the Russian and Moacir for their bus in” “It’s men like that we need- men with vision, who can promote progress” (Amado 21). Through instances such as this, one can see that through this gossip, positive thinking is also depicted, a type of thinking which is usually not associated with gossiping. Furthermore, such a set of an instance with variously interrelated characters indeed provides a playground for the characters to express their opinion, Through this, the reader is introduced to the major themes present in the text such as the development of the town of Illus.
One of the major themes present in the novel Is the continuous change and development from traditions to a modernized town. It is evident through instances of commutation of one person to another that tradition is hesitant to change. The hypocrisy (of acceptable behavior of men compared to women is a clear representation of characters in the novel that are resistant to change. A quote from the novel that supports this is one of the colonels characterizing the role of women, “A woman’s place was in the house, taking care of her children and home. A young woman’s occupation was to wait for a husband and, meanwhile, to learn to sew, play the piano, and run the kitchen.” (Amado 68). Through instances such as these Jorge Amado is able to bring out the prominent issues which are explored upon Later in the novel. The way the colonels gossiped about various ideas such as the progress of the down and the precarious positions of the mistresses, allowed us t0 see the attitudes of the society in terms of particular aspects this being about women, Through the progression of the text itis seen that the attitude towards the woman had changed. Jonge Amado uses gossiping as a tool to represent the progressive mindset slowly coming into place, For instance where Joao Fulgencio and Malvina’s father Melk Tavares ate having a conversation about Malvina “Your daughter only buys fine books, by the best authors. She’s an unusually intelligent and capable young woman. You must understand her; you mustn’ treat her like just anybody. “(Amado 246). Since the dialogues significantly exist over descriptions, gossip can be distinguished in its static aspect contributing to the portrayal of the characters. The perspective of other characters such as Malvina allows the reader to integrate their own interpretations of the personality of the character who is gossiping. The generalization portrayed in the previous quote
about women is much different than what is portrayed in this quote, Through these occurrences of gossip the reader is able to see the transformation from a traditional male dominant town to a more developed town with equal rights for both men and women. In the text, gossiping has not only represented and impacted in a wider sense in terms of the themes present in the novel but also in a narrow sense in way, which portrays the characters and influences the course of events taken place further in the novel.
The act of gossiping made the town even more alive; however, it was not always free from peril, For inst¢, in the bar all of the gossips were being expressed. The spreading of rumors frequently lead to fights inthe bars. One of the most famous bars in the town was the Vesuvius bar. The author may be symbolizing the Vesuvius bar as something other than just a bar, Mount Vesuvius is a volcano, which had erupted during 79 and destroyed numerous roman cities. The author used the name of the bar as a metaphor. The Vesuvius bar isa place where many gossips and rumors exist, this may be leading for an eruption waiting to happen. The gossips taken place were giving rise to the main climax of the book, which was the political misunderstanding between Mundinho Falcao and Ramiro Bastos. The gossiping that went an in the bar about these two figures allowed the reader to compare and contrast the two sides. For instance Nho-Galo, a functionary at the Tax board he expressed his gossips through good humor at the Vesuvius bar, and now everyone had accepted these gossips. These gossips would lead to fights that were waiting to happen. The fights give another interesting and intriguing talk on the novel. They also allow the reader to look in a broader perspective in terms of the opinions of individuals of the town, Gossiping changes the characters attitudes and establishes relationships of friendship or rivalry, which is carried upon in the duration of the novel.
In Gabriela, Clove, and Cinnamon a reader can encounter gossip in the dialogues and correlation of the characters. The notion also provides the basic interpretation of characters based on their ways of treating gossip. Thus, the readers are able to identify either the typical characters, who gossip for entertainment, on the other hand there are the purposeful gossipers who make use gossip as a strategy for their personal gain and social enhancement. Gossip has also proven to play a noteworthy role in the plot dynamics. Gossip thus drives the course of events towards the climax of the narrative thus making the novel full of anticipation, 1 logically Follows that withoue gassip the characters in the novel would be deprived their liveliness and diversity, as well as Amado’s narratives would be limited of the climax, the effect of suspense, and the narrator’s unique voice.
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