

Has Pereira lost touch of reality? You may question his sanity throughout the novel. Pereira Declares is a novel written by Antonio Tabucchi. The novel has a third person limited narrator. The main character, Pereira, is closely followed throughout the novel. Tabucchi has an unusual style of writing and he replaces quotation marks with commas throughout the novel. The setting takes place in downtown Lisbon; a city of Portugal. Pereira is grieving over the death of his wife which has made him depressed and unhappy. Pereira forms a new relationship with a young gentleman by the name of Monteiro Rossi. This relationship seems to give Pereira a parenting role. Pereira learns from Rossi’s relationship with his girlfriend Marta that there is more to life in a way that awakens Pereira from a long grieving slumber that he has had. Pereira is both a part and apart from the world ever since the death of his wife, but a new relationship with a young gentleman who easily could pass as his son is grounding him to this world and causing him to act like a father figure. Through flashbacks, descriptive details, and contrasts, Tabucchi shows meeting Rossi and Marta rejuvenates and gives him a taste for a new life.

A painful flashback shows Pereira the past he wanted to forget and leave in the past. His new found friendship with Rossi and Marta is refreshing to him and lets him see life in a new light. Pereira and Rossi are at the Salazarist Youth festival enjoying drinks and talking about the Lisbon newspaper to see if Rossi would be a good fit as a writer for the paper. Beautiful, young Marta shows up and she and Rossi go to the dance floor. Tabucchi uses the literary element flashback to show the importance of what Pereira regrets not having in his life, “Pereira sat alone at the table, ordered another lemonade and drank it in small sips as he watched the young pair dancing slowly cheek to cheek. Pereira declares that it made him think once again of his own past life, of the children he never had, but on this subject he has no wish to make further statements” (15). It is painful for Pereira to watch Marta and Rossi dance and enjoy life because it makes him think of his past life with his wife. He does not want to talk about the subject because it is like opening up a sore wound of grief and sadness. But in a way it is good for Pereira to remember his past because it allows him to grieve and try to find closure. The one thing that Pereira regrets most in his life is not having children. He is lonely and wishes he had a special connection with someone, like a son, to keep him company and share his life experiences with. When the dance ended, Marta and Rossi return to the table, and Marta and Pereira talk about the newspaper. Marta asks Pereira to dance the waltz and he leads her to the dance floor. Tabucchi uses descriptive details to explain to the reader how absorbed Pereira was in the dance, “And he danced that waltz almost in rapture, as if his paunch and all his fat had vanished by magic…he felt infinitely small and at one with the universe” (16). The dance let Pereira return to his glory days and let him just live in the moment for a change. It also let him forget about all his worries about the paper, the death of his wife, and the children he never had. It was a way for Pereira to escape his life and just be happy. By magically being taken back in time, Pereira is able to look at his life in a new way and make himself happy for a change.

By becoming a fatherly figure to young Rossi, Pereira is able to have a new sense of purpose in life and have a reason to stay grounded to this world. Pereira and Rossi are finishing off another round drinks, when Rossi states his beliefs regarding death. He tells Pereira he does not take that much time to dwell on the ideas of death and resurrection and that they have very different writing styles that do not really go together. Tabucchi uses the idea of being proud to show a father like characterization of Pereira, “Pereira Declares, that he felt a sudden urge of pride” (18). Pereira was proud of Rossi for being bold and standing up for himself by speaking his mind. It showed Pereira that Rossi had guts and was not afraid to say what is bothering him. Rossi is telling Pereira his beliefs on literature in a manner that is condescending towards Pereira. He criticizes Pereira’s ideas of death and resurrection of the soul that pertain to the main points in the obituaries that Pereira writes. Tabucchi uses contrasts to show the reader that Pereira can be a disciplining parent figure, “He declares it irked him that this young man should be giving him a lecture on professional ethics, and in a word he found it a sight too cheeky. He decided to adopt a haughty tone himself” (18). Pereira feels like Rossi is back talking him and needs to be set in his place. So he scolds Rossi for being rude and unprofessional. Pereira makes up his mind to give Rossi the advance obituary writing job and tells Rossi to meet him in his office in the morning. Tabucchi shows the characterization trait of the father figure in Pereira when Pereira warns Rossi, “if you meet the caretaker on the stairs don’t take fright, she’s a harridan, just tell her you have an appointment with Dr Pereira and don’t get chatting with her, she’s probably a police informer” (19). Pereira feels like it is his duty and responsibility to watch out for Rossi. He cares for Rossi and wants to protect him from any harm. By becoming a figure in Rossi’s life, Pereira is able to have a new connection with someone he cares about and fill the empty spot of Rossi’s deceased father. 

Drifting apart from reality, Pereira talks to his dead wife’s picture as if she’s still there. After waking up and getting ready for the day, Pereira makes sure he stops at his wife’s portrait to tell her about his day. Tabucchi points out to the reader, that Pereira’s way of coping with his wife’s death is unhealthy and is slowly causing him to withdraw from the world, “Before leaving the flat he paused in front of his wife’s photograph and told it: I’ve come across a lad called Monteiro Rossi and have decided to take him on…and get him to do advance obituaries…he’d be about the age of our son if we’d had a son, there’s even a slight resemblance to me, he has that lock of hair flopping into his eyes” (20). He feels like Rossi is the son he never had. That this is his chance at fatherhood which is something he has always wanted but never had the chance to. Pereira is becoming ungrounded in the world because he feels like one of the only people he can talk to is his wife. Talking to the portrait is a way of getting things off his chest that will not cause him to be judged by anyone. Pereira slowly is losing his mind and being detached from the world with every conversation he has with the undead. 

Through flashbacks, descriptive details, and contrasts, Tabucchi shows the reader the characterization of Pereira. Pereira’s protective genes as a fatherly figure towards Rossi includes being both scolding and very proud of him. Pereira is learning how to be there for someone again but it is hard for him because he has been alone so long. The relationship between Rossi and Marta is revitalizing Pereira and giving him a new view on life. They are showing him how to be young again and just live life to the fullest. Pereira still seems to be drifting in and out of reality when he talks to his wife but overall the new relationship with Rossi is changing Pereira and causing him to be happy and actually live his life.
