The Inverse Bible: an ironic rereading of Genesis in the short story “Na arca” by Machado de Assis

Abstract

The paper intends to analyze how Machado de Assis’s short story “Na arca”, ironically appropriating the biblical discourse present in Genesis, problematizes greed as a reflection of human contradiction and also discusses issues related to the Brazilian reality and formation process. What we want to show is that the ironic appropriation of the biblical text, as seen in the story relativizes something considered sacred, somehow reversing its meaning. In addition, the narrative structure of the story and its theme allow for a reflection on the universal, dealing with human greed from the immemorial time of the Bible – as can be seen in the dispute between the sons of Noah – until the 19th century, see the mention in Machado’s retelling of the Crimean War. In recourse to the sacred text of Judeo-Christian culture – not making quotations as in other texts, but appropriating, ironically, the peculiar biblical discourse, Machado de Assis not only clarifies a certain relativization of what would be sacred and, therefore, untouchable and Absolute, as well as by the content that it inserts in the appropriate biblical discourse, a problematization in the attempt to reinterpret the facts narrated in the Old Testament, in order to discuss the human contradictions, but also the historical and political questions shown in the narrative “Na arca”.