Dois irmãos: novel of suspicion

Abstract

In Brazil the first decade of the twentieth first century was marked by the launching of some important novels concerning the history of Brazilian literature. One of these novels was Dois irmãos, which was written by Milton Hatoum, being analysed here. Our focus, concerning its analysis was centered on the narrator as being the one which is responsible for what characterizes the “romance de suspeição”. Such characterization is due to a technique which is primordially structured by the narrative voices: the narrator´s, which leads a wider view, and who depends upon other voices is, therefore, moving. This mobility, due to the narrator´s natural condition, who is both a witness and an observer of the action, portraits an ambivalence – a thematic aspect that is formally structured – related to actions, and feelings towards the characters, so as to maintain a feeling of disbelief concerning the narrator, Nael, in relation to his father´s identification.