“Philosophy appears to concern itself only with the truth, but perhaps expresses only fantasies, while literature appears to concern itself only with fantasies, but perhaps it expresses the truth” (Tabucci 18). This quote from Antonio Tabucci’s Periera Declares talks of the idea that literature expresses truth and we can learn a lot from it. This is true of all literature but the thing that seperates the great writers are in how they convey their truth in their writing. Upon reading the novel I could not help but notice how masterful he was with the elements of his writing. These elements were very specifically used to leave an impact on the reader. Tabucci’s use of repetition, personification, and imagery are very methodical to conveying the overall meaning of the book.

The first element that a reader notices in this text is the repetition of the phrase, “Periera declares”. This phrase is located throughout the text and is very meaningful to the story. The importance of this saying is the underlying meaning of it. At first glance you do not see any significance in the phrase. However, as you read on, you realize that the phrase is a clue to the reader that the entirety of this story is from the past. Periera declaring means that the writer of the text is being relayed the information in the text from Periera after the story has happened because he is looking back on the story. However, this does not mean that the writer knows everything or is omniscient. For example when thinking of why he took Montiero Rossi to lunch, “this, he declares, he cannot presume to say” (Tabucci 24). This is also important to know as the reader because it lets the reader know that this story is very important to Periera’s life and is probably a life changing experience for him. Once the reader realizes this it will make him or her more intrigued to keep reading to see what was so important and life changing to Periera that he wanted the author to record it.

Tabucci is also quite masterful in the way that he uses personification in this text. In this story he personifies Dr. Periera’s picture of his dead wife. He does this by showing the reader how Periera has conversations with the picture every day when he comes home The first time he talks to the picture in the story Tabucci apologizes, “sorry if I’m a bit late” (Tabucci 7) as if the picture were real and could be angry with him for being late. He tells his wife’s picture everything that happened to him throughout the day and even how he felt about his experiences throughout the day. The picture is also seen as a person when Periera meets Monteiro Rossi for the first time and thinks it is not he place for him to be, he just wants to, “be on his way home to his wife’s picture so he can ask it’s forgiveness” (Tabucci 12). This paints the picture of Periera being very lonely as well as almost having no hope. You can see that Periera doesn’t seem to have much hope in his life because he always ends his conversations with the picture by saying, “well, nevermind then” (Tabucci 8) which makes you think that Periera believes that whatever he has to say or whatever his feelings are do not matter to the picture. The use of the personification of the picture of Periera’s late wife is also very strategic by the author because it evokes the emotions of the reader and makes him or her feel sad for Periera. 

Lastly, the imagery used in this text sends a strong message to the reader because Periera describes the day’s weather often throughout the novel. The weather is often a reflection of Periera’s mood at the time in the story. For example, if Periera is thinking about something gloomy, like death, which he often does at the beginning of the story, then he will describe the weather as such. He will say that the day is too hot and that the heat is unbearable or he will describe the day as gloomy. This is best viewed in the story when Periera goes to meet Monteiro Rossi for the first time. Periera starts out thinking about death and on the way to meeting Monteiro Rossi he complains about how hot the day is. However, as he starts to get to know Rossi and starts to get to like him, he describes the weather as nice and even states that there is a cool breeze coming off the Atlantic. Later on in the night when he starts dancing with a girl Monteiro Rossi came with, he starts to feel young again and looks up into the sky and he feels like he has pure bliss. Another great example of imagery in this text is the imagery of Periera eating a cold dinner every night. In the story Periera goes home one evening and after talking to the picture of his dead wife, he goes into the kitchen to find an already cooked piece of meat for his dinner that is ready to be heated up. However, he does not heat up his dinner and instead eats it cold every night. The image of eating cold dinner every night is very strong imagery to the reader because most people are able to have a warm meal at night for dinner and the thought of eating cold dinner every night is depressing for the reader. 

Tabucci uses various elements in his writing to create the best image for the reader. He uses things like repetition, personification, and imagery to paint a picture for the reader of the story that he is trying to convey. The use of repetition helps the reader to realize that the story is being recalled which means it happened in the past. The reader will also become more intrigued by the story after knowing this because the story must be important if the author wrote it down after Periera told him the story. Personification is an essential element to the text because personifying the picture of Periera’s dead wife evokes the emotion of sadness and pity from those who read the text. They feel sorrow and pity because it is through this element that the reader sees how lonely Periera is and how he is almost lost without his wife in his life. Lastly imagery is a powerful tool used by Tabucci because it brings to light the senses of the reader by describing the weather as being roasted by the heat and the image of Periera dripping in sweat, the reader can actually almost feel the heat and the sweat on their own skin. Tabucci is a masterful writer and gets his points across with the use of his writing elements. 
