"Sorting out contraries" and " speculating idea":Riobaldo and the anxiety of senselessness

Abstract

Riobaldo, the protagonist narrator of Grande sertão: veredas, is a man disturbed by recollections of a past he does not understand. In his youth he experienced things that he could not grasp. Now as an old man he devotes himself to seeking comforting explanations for those events. Riobaldo tries to find truths and certainties; however, his taste for, in his own words "speculating idea ", creates a lot of difficulties for him to achieve this goal. Following his thoughts, the reader can perceive that "speculating idea" means among other things to problematize, one by one, all the propositions of his reflections. This tendency engenders an uninterrupted process of change, which prevents him from attaching any enduring sense to his thoughts. The intense use of paradoxes in the novel contributes to this effect as well. To approach this question here a discussion of some aspects of the complex relationship between freedom, fate, and chance present in Grande sertão: veredas was carried out.