The Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas

Content Warning: This section of the guide describes and discusses the novel’s depiction of ableism, enslavement, and miscarriage.

Brás, the unreliable first-person narrator of Machado de Assis’s Posthumous Memoirs of Brás Cubas, is born and raised as part of the Brazilian elite. Nicknamed “Devil Child” in his youth, Brás already showcases a lack of empathy and occasional callousness as an infant. The cruelty displayed in his childhood, though portrayed in a playful light in the narrative, lays the foundation for a pattern of behavior that evolves as he grows older. It illustrates a lack of concern for others’ feelings or well-being—a thread that runs through his adult experiences and relationships, illustrated in his own agreement with a popular saying “that the child is father to the man” (24). His interactions with enslaved individuals at his family’s estate stress the childhood tendencies that foreshadow his adult behavior. In one incident, he treats the enslaved servant Prudêncio as a personal horse; in another, he fabricates a story to blame another enslaved servant for his mischief. These episodes showcase an early disregard for others’ well-being and a willingness to shift blame to evade consequences.

At the core of Brás’s character lies a pervasive cynicism that manifests in satirical observations that spare no one, including the readers themselves.