The Devil to Pay in the Backlands (Masterplots II: American Fiction Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: João GuimarãesRosa
- First Published: 1956
- Type of Plot: Psychological realism
- Time of Work: The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
- Setting: The Brazilian backlands including northwestern Minas Gerais, southwestern Bahia, and southeastern Goiás
- Principal Characters: Riobaldo, Diadorim, Joca Ramiro, Madeiro Vaz, Zé Bebelo, Heremógenes
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction
- Subjects: Adolescence, Twentieth century, Nineteenth century, Spiritual life or spirituality, Brazil or Brazilians, Faustian bargains, Devils or demons
- Locales: Brazil
The Novel
The Devil to Pay in the Backlands is narrated by the protagonist in an attempt to resolve a psychological torment caused by the possibility that he sold his soul to the devil. Guimarães Rosa’s novel merges the psychological journey of the protagonist as a narrator with the adventure of the hero, Riobaldo, in the lawless backlands of northeastern Brazil around the turn of the last century.
The action of the novel is narrated to a fictional interlocutor during a three-day period. The reader is aware that there is an interactive listener to the narration...
[The entire page is 2198 words long]
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