As well as his anti-political outlook on both his career and pastimes, Pereira’s personal life is also static and lacking in involvement and vitality. He lives in the past, talking to the photograph of his dead wife and thinking about the children he never had. Pereira obsesses over dead people and issues that are not relevant to the current society; he, in a sense, is dead. He, at first, refuses change. He does not live in the present and never looks forward to the future.
Pereira believes that his job means that there is no point in him becoming politically active; in fact, he uses his status and job as an excuse for not doing so. When he is on the train and strikes up conversation with Senhora Delgado, she suggests that he should input something into the politics of society, however small his infleunce might be.
Pereira, although he seems determined to remain uninvolved in society, knows on a certain level, right from the very beginning of the book, that his beliefs can be challenged. He does not, however, admit this fully to himself until the later stages of the novel. At the very beginning of the book Pereira makes a profound statement on the nature of literature and philosophy – “la filosofia sembra che si occupi solo della verità, ma forse dice solo fantasie, e la letterature sembra che si occupi solo di fantasie, ma forse dice la verità.” Despite this statement, Pereira ignores one of its implications – that literature is important and fundamental to every aspect of life, which would include current events and politics. Another factor which suggests Pereira’s basic knowledge of the shaky foundations on which he bases his life is the constant repetition of the title phrase “sostiene Pereira”. This affirmative phrase does not fit in naturally with the narrative of the novel: most of the narrative is an account of Pereira’s inner feelings and thoughts; this formal, interrogation-style tone, constantly repeated, contrasts with the general tone of the novel, so it is emphasised. The phrase suggests that it is Pereira and Pereira only who believes what he says, and therefore that his statements are not necessarily justifiable.
Despite Pereira’s adamance that he will not let himself become involved in political events, he does not manage to avoid it. Even by carrying on as normal and not making any conscious decisions, he becomes acquainted with Rossi and through him, gradually changes his outlook, perhaps without realising at first that this change is unavoidable. On the surface level, Pereira becomes directly involved with Rossi’s political activism, protecting him and taking care of his interests, even risking his own safety.
The profound change that takes place within Pereira is on a deeper level. Throughout the book, the central theme is Pereira’s questioning of his life and the meaning behind it. He is preoccupied with thoughts of the soul, personality and the ego, seeming to be unable to reconcile them until Dr Cardoso gives him a solution – the confederation of souls. It is this theory which leads Pereira to the realisation that despite being middle-aged, set in his ways, apathetic, physically unhealthy and unconcerned with society, he is both subject to change and unable to avoid it. Monica Jansen, in her essay on Sostiene Pereira, said that “Tabucchi was less interested in the political aspect of the novel than in the capacity of an already mature man to renew himself, which is a positive message in itself.” Pereira realises that his ego is not a permanent, unchanging entity, but rather a series of different views, opinions and feelings which come to the surface and take over the main part of Pereira’s being. The “souls” in the confederation of souls are the separate personalities or egos which exist within Pereira. The novel shows the change that takes place within Pereira, as one of these underlying egos takes over and becomes the most dominant, that of political activism and acceptance of current events as being unavoidable. Tabucchi said that Sostiene Pereira was fundamentally an existential novel and that “any human being can be influenced and can change at any time.” Pereira first begins to realise this when he admits to Dr Cardoso that he fears Rossi and Marta are correct. This is the first indication of Pereira’s conscious mind accepting the changes taking place within himself.
It is on all levels of his life that Pereira’s transformation takes place. On a personal level, he discusses his feelings with Dr Cardoso and begins to come to terms with the fact that he is living in the past. On a political level, the book ends with his final act – a rash and brave act that shows his realisation of the merits of Rossi’s outlook. On a spiritual level, Pereira makes sense of his feelings and thoughts with the confederation of souls theory.
Pereira quakes when he realises that great literary figures such as Mauriac and Maritain have taken up political views regarding the war in Spain. However, the message of Tabucchi in Sostiene Pereira is partly one which Pereira himself realises. As Flavia Brizio-Skov states: “The protagonist realises that his mistake did not consist in taking literature seriously, but in viewing literature as an entity severed from reality and history.” When Pereira finally realises this, the previously irreconciliable dichotomies between history and literature, the present and the past are no longer problems for him – he realises that literature is in fact directly influenced by political and societal events, so Rossi was right.
Another fundamental message of the book is that man is subject to change, whatever age he is or whatever way of life he leads. As the book progresses, Pereira becomes gradually healthier, both mentally and physically, and when he finally realises that participation in society is completely unavoidable, he is better than he has ever been. So Tabucchi’s message is that political activism and involvement in society are positive things, and even if one tries to avoid them it is not possible to do so.
