Tent of Miracles: Analysis of Major Characters
"Tent of Miracles" is a novel that intricately explores the lives of its major characters against the backdrop of racial and social dynamics in Bahia, Brazil. Central to the narrative is Pedro Archanjo, a mulatto writer and anthropologist whose works challenge white supremacy and celebrate mulatto culture. Archanjo's formidable presence and intellect earn him titles that suggest a mystical connection to his community. Alongside him is Fausta Pena, a poet and the story's narrator, who wrestles with personal and professional crises, particularly after being betrayed by his girlfriend, Ana Mercedes, who is depicted as alluring yet duplicitous.
The novel also introduces Nilo d'Ávila Argolo de Araújo, a professor whose actions against Archanjo reveal the darker undertones of racial prejudice. Lídio Corró, Archanjo's loyal friend and owner of the Tent of Miracles art shop, creates a gathering space for cultural expression. Other characters, such as Major Damião de Souza and Tadeu Canhoto, further enrich the narrative, showcasing varying perspectives on social justice and identity. The interplay between these characters reveals a complex tapestry of relationships, race, and the struggle for recognition and respect in a divided society. The novel invites readers to reflect on the implications of race and artistry in a historical context, making it a significant work for those interested in cultural studies and social justice themes.
Tent of Miracles: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Jorge Amado
First published: Tenda dos milagres, 1969 (English translation, 1971)
Genre: Novel
Locale: Salvador, in the state of Bahia, Brazil
Plot: Magical realism
Time: 1968–1969 and 1868–1943
Pedro Archanjo (PEH-droh ahr-SHAHN-zhoh), a writer and self-taught anthropologist. A brilliant, light-brown, husky mulatto who loves good conversation, riotous celebration, women, and social justice, he earns his living as a runner at Bahia School of Medicine yet writes four insightful anthropological works about the beloved mulatto culture of his native Bahia. One highly controversial work traces the impurities in the aristocratic bloodlines, which infuriates the white supremacists. He is a font of virtue and humanity to the good, a thorn to the proud and hateful. His tremendous powers of observation and language earn for him the folk titles Ojuobá (oh-zhew-BAH) and Eyes of Xangô (shahng-OH), titles that imply the supernatural and magical. The 1868–1943 frame of the novel follows his fight against white supremacy, especially the promotion of miscegenation. The 1968–1969 frame relates the perverse whitewashing of his image when it becomes profitable to make the neglected writer a national hero.
Fausta Pena (FOWS-tah PEH-nah), a poet, the first-person narrator of the 1968–1969 frame. Fausta, with his beard, long hair, and blue jeans, prides himself on the nickname given him by the female poets—Wicked Cobra. When Ana Mercedes betrays him, he experiences severe doubts about his masculinity, literary significance, and political integrity. Fausta accepts a commission from Levenson to research Archanjo's life. This research forms the basis for the 1868–1943 frame. He later realizes that the commission was merely a ruse to clear Levenson's access to Ana Mercedes.
Nilo d'Ávila Argolo de Araújo (NEE-loh DAH-vee-lah AHR-goh-loh deh ah-ROW-zhew), a professor of forensic medicine at the Bahia School of Medicine. He is tall and erect, with a spare, dry, black-clad frame and a forbidding voice and bearing. Argolo uses his considerable force of character to advance racial hatred. He persecutes Archanjo, inciting Archanjo's arrest and the destruction of the Tent of Miracles. His arrogant world falls to pieces when Archanjo's research reveals that Argolo is related to Archanjo.
Lídio Corró (LEE-dee-oh koh-ROH), a miracle painter and printer. She is fortyish, short, and stocky. The shrewd, keen-witted mulatto is Archanjo's best friend and owner of the art and print shop called the Tent of Miracles, where Archanjo and his circle gather to celebrate and converse.
Ana Mercedes, a poet and reporter, Pena's girlfriend. Golden and slender, with slightly fleshy lips, greedy white teeth, and loose black hair, the mulatta Mercedes exudes sexiness and voluptuous insouciance. Mercedes seduces Pena into writing poems over her name, then betrays him for a prestigious affair with Levenson.
James D. Levenson, a scholar, forty-five years old, more than six feet tall, with blond hair and sky-blue eyes. The famous North American Nobel Prize winner disrupts Bahia in 1968 by declaring that he has arrived to study the neglected writer Archanjo. Everyone suddenly clamors to become Archanjo's champion.
Rosa de Oxalá (oh-shah-LAH), Corró's mistress. With languid Yoruba eyes, blue-black skin that exudes a scent of the night, and her body shining with supple power, she laughs lustily while performing the most seductive dances of the celebrations. Archanjo will not consummate their passionate mutual love because of his loyalty to Corró.
Major Damião de Souza (day-MYOWN deh SOO-sah), a self-taught lawyer, Archanjo's friend. Always dressed in white, he keeps himself straight and slim as a ramrod with rum and sex. Smoking a cheap cigar, his mouth full of bad teeth, and waving his big, knotty mulatto hands, he rolls out the most exquisite and winning rhetoric in the courtroom, but only in defense of the poor.
Tadeu Canhoto (tah-DEH-ew kahn-OH-toh), a professional engineer, one of Archanjo's illegitimate sons. With a fine-featured, frank copper face, gleaming black hair, and dancing yet bashful eyes, he works brilliantly and diligently to succeed and thus gain the acceptance of the rich white family whose daughter he loves. His marriage to the daughter helps incite a six-year campaign of arrest and destruction by the secret police.
Pedrito Gordo (peh-DREE-toh GOHR-doh), the chief of the secret police. Stoutish, middle-aged, and looking like a dandy, the cane-wielding bully wages brutal war against the mulatto element of Bahia.
Dr. Zèzinho Pinto (zay-ZEE-nyoh PEEN-toh), a newspaper publisher. A stolid, worldly man who thinks of nothing but selling newspapers, he spearheads and profits from the new acclamation of Archanjo and instigates the whitewashing of Archanjo's image.
Kirsi the Swede, one of Archanjo's mistresses. Actually a Finn, very blonde, white, and lovely, she happily returns to Finland to bear Archanjo a son.
Dr. Silva Virajá (vee-rah-ZHAH), a professor. Good-natured and honest, he is Archanjo's friend and mentor within the Bahia School of Medicine.
Professor Azevedo (ah-seh-VEH-doh), Professor Calazans (kah-lah-SAHNS), and Professor Ramos (RRAH-mohs), scholars truly interested in science. They resist Pinto's misrepresentation of Archanjo's person and message.