The Two Deaths of Quincas Wateryell by Jorge Amado
"The Two Deaths of Quincas Wateryell" is a short novel by Brazilian author Jorge Amado that explores the life and posthumous adventures of Joaquim Soares da Cunha, affectionately known as Quincas Wateryell. Once a respectable middle-class man, Quincas rejects societal norms to embrace a life of vagabondage filled with rum and camaraderie on the streets of Salvador, Bahia. The narrative opens with Quincas's death, sparking concern from his family about the implications of his lifestyle, while his colorful street friends gather to celebrate his life in their own raucous manner.
The story delves into themes of identity, societal expectations, and the dichotomy between the materialism of the middle class and the carefree spirit of the lower class. Amado employs a unique narrative style that raises questions about the blurred lines between life and death, as Quincas's friends engage in fantastical recollections and adventures after his passing. Readers are invited to contemplate the nature of reality and the reliability of storytelling, as the tale unfolds through the fragmented memories of his inebriated companions. The ambiguity surrounding Quincas's multiple "deaths" serves to enrich the narrative, prompting reflections on friendship, authenticity, and the elusive quest for meaning in life. This work is often regarded as one of Amado's masterpieces, celebrated for its humor, depth, and insightful commentary.
The Two Deaths of Quincas Wateryell by Jorge Amado
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published:A morte e a morte de Quincas Berro Dágua, 1961 (English translation, 1965)
Type of work: Novel
The Work
The Two Deaths of Quincas Wateryell tells the story of Joaquim (or Quincas) Soares da Cunha, a respectable, middle-class man who left his nagging wife, his equally nagging daughter, his spineless son-in-law, and his job as a petty bureaucrat to become a rum-guzzling vagabond on the streets of Salvador, Bahia. His surname became Wateryell the day that he mistakenly drank water instead of his usual white rum and let out a yell of “Waaaaaaater!” that was heard for blocks. As the short novel opens, Quincas has died. His family is notified, as are his street cronies. The family, embarrassed that Quincas’s death may open up questions among family and friends concerning his life since his leaving home, comes to sit with the body in Quincas’s small room in the lower-class section of Salvador. Quincas’s street companions, four of the most colorful and comic characters to be found in Amado’s works, come to pay their respects and spell the family in their vigil. Soon after Quincas’s friends are alone with his body, they hear Quincas speak, prop him up in the casket, and begin to share drink with him. They soon decide that they should have one more night on the town together. Quincas and his friends head out to the streets and visit Quincas’s girlfriend. They later stop in a bar, where Quincas starts a fight. They finally make their way to a friend’s boat, where they get caught in a storm and Quincas, yelling out his last words, dives into the sea, dying as he always wished he would, at sea rather than on land. (Regarding the novel’s title, this last death may even be Quincas’s third death, his first one being a symbolic one when he left home, his second coming at the beginning of the story. How many deaths Quincas endures depends on one’s interpretation of the story.)
Some readers consider this book to be Amado’s masterpiece, both because of its entertaining story and because of the way in which it makes deliberate use of ambiguity. The work is a commentary on the importance of appearances and the materialism of the middle class, as opposed to the joie de vivre and fidelity of friendship of the lower classes. It is also a treatise on the nature of reality and the ability of language to capture (or deliberately avoid capturing) it. Virtually every aspect of the presentation of Quincas’s story, told by a narrator who has pieced the story together from various witnesses, many of whom were drunk and anything but reliable, leaves open the question of what really happened to Quincas Wateryell once he expired alone in his room. A case can be made both for his temporary resurrection and for his body being dragged from the casket and down the street by his drunken friends, only to be flung into the sea as the storm tossed the boat about. Amado, through both his questionable narrator and his descriptions of Quincas’s “actions,” deliberately provides no concrete answers. In fact, Amado seems to go to considerable lengths to eliminate the possibility of definitive conclusions, which, of course, supports the theme of the ability (or lack thereof) of language to capture reality.
Bibliography
Brower, Keith H., Earl E. Fitz, and Enrique Martínez-Vidal, eds. Jorge Amado: New Critical Essays. New York: Routledge, 2001.
Chamberlain, Bobby J. Jorge Amado. Boston: Twayne, 1990.
Dinneen, Mark. “Change Versus Continuity: Popular Culture in the Novels of Jorge Amado.” In Fiction in the Portuguese-Speaking World: Essays in Memory of Alexandre Pinheiro Torres, edited by Charles M. Kelley. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2000.
Ellison, Fred P. Brazil’s New Novel: Four Northeastern Masters. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1954.
Fitz, Earl E. “Jorge Amado.” In Latin American Literature in the Twentieth Century: A Guide, edited by Leonard S. Klein. New York: Frederick Ungar, 1986.
Lowe, Elizabeth. “The ’New’ Jorge Amado.” Luso-Brazilian Review 6, no. 2 (1969): 73-82.
McDowell, Edwin. “Jorge Amado Dies at 88: Brazil’s Leading Novelist.” The New York Times, August 7, 2001, p. B7.
Nunes, Maria Luísa. “Jorge Amado.” In Dictionary of Brazilian Literature, edited by Irwin Stern. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1988.
Nunes, Maria Luísa. “The Preservation of African Culture in Brazilian Literature: The Novels of Jorge Amado.” Luso-Brazilian Review 10, no. 1 (1973): 86-101.