From the beginning of the excerpt Machado establishes Bento’s arrogant tone by highlighting his greater feelings for himself than for God. In the opening lines the narrator “raises [his] eyes to the heavens,” not minding that the heavens were, “getting overcast,” because he was thinking of another heaven (41). The visual imagery presents the irony since even as Santiago attempts to see God he can’t. The overcast symbolizes the fogginess of his ideas preventing him from truly embodying the concept of religion. Consequently, by the end of the chapter, Santiago does not make a promise because he believed it “did not carry any conviction” (42). People in imperial Brazil perceived promises as highly regarded by God, but Bento disregards the idea. Therefore, the incredulous tone used by Machado implies that promises did not carry conviction to Bento since God and him were equal, making suffering for God unnecessary.
As Bento attempts to negotiate with God, the monetary metaphor develops portraying the narrator’s corrupt views of religion. Bento readily tells the reader he “was loaded down with unfulfilled promises.” Consequently, he explains that “bribing the divine will by the number of prayers,” was his way of getting things done (41). The diction employed “loaded,” and “bribing,” all evoke a monetary image. The image creates the metaphor, which suggests that Bento regarded God to be as susceptible as humans to bribery. Thus, through the metaphor Machado establishes that Bento’s own corrupt self, ends up leading him to also see corruption in other places. Machado further expands the metaphor when Bento claims that “could find no other currency,” to communicate with God (42). Bento’s inability to express his faith through other means further accentuates his overly material personality, which limits him to offer his true devotion.
Santiago’s failure to properly express his feelings leads to a juxtaposition, which illustrates the inner conflict within Bentinho. At first Bento explains that his strategy for praying was to say, “the first [prayers], the next were put off as they piled up, they were eventually forgotten, (41). Even though Bento claims to forget them, he quickly contradicts himself. In the following paragraph Bento argues that he “needed a sum that would pay off all the arrears (41). His worries towards paying the debt juxtapose the idea that he would eventually forget the prayers. Machado also uses the paragraphs structure in order to illustrate the inner conflict. The chapter is organized into five paragraphs, of which the longest two are the narrator’s thoughts. In the first long paragraph Bento expresses the idea that he would eventually forget his prayers. However, in the subsequence long paragraph, Machado juxtaposes the idea with Bento affirming his inability to forget the prayers. The different ideas within the paragraph symbolize the inner conflict, which the narrator goes through in the novel.
Through the chapter “A Thousand Paternosters and a Thousand Ave Marias,” Machado de Assis expresses his criticism towards a superficial understanding of religion. Bentinho’s arrogance drives him to view religion as a business driven by money and missing the concept of religious devotion. Therefore, Machado uses religion to demonstrate that misinterpretations watered by the narrator’s corrupt views form the roots of Bento’s contradictory arguments, which ultimately braches off into the inner conflict within Bentinho.
Word Count: 642
