“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” (Tabucchi 18). This quote from Antonio Tabucchi’s Periera Declares states that literature expresses truth and we can learn a lot from it. This is true of all literature but the thing that separates the great writers is how they convey their truth in their writing. Upon reading the novel I could not help but notice how masterful Tabucchi was with the elements of his writing. He knows how to effectively use elements in his writing to paint a clearer and more precise picture for his readers. Specifically, Tabucchi’s use of repetition, personification, and imagery are very methodical to conveying the message that we should always do what we know to be right and never censor ourselves.

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 implication that can be drawn from 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” (Tabucchi 24). This is also important to know as the reader because it lets the reader know that this relationship he begins to form with Rossi 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 it was worth being recorded.

Tabucchi 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 Tabucchi apologizes to it saying, “sorry if I’m a bit late” (Tabucchi 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 the place for him to be, he just wants to, “be on his way home to his wife’s picture so he can ask its forgiveness.” (Tabucchi 12) He feels this guilt because he knows that the place that they are meeting is having a party in honor of Portugal’s leader, whom Periera does not support. This quote also paints the picture of Periera being very lonely as well as almost having no hope. This lonliness is evident by the fact that the only company he likes to keep is the picture of his dead wife. 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, never mind then” (Tabucchi 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. Often times early on in this novel, the weather is described as unbearable. I think that the weather being unbearable is reflective of Periera having to censor himself in his paper. Things seem unbearable to Periera because he is a writer that cannot write what he truly feels. The weather effecting Periera 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 and like Rossi, 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 effective because it evokes the senses.

Tabucchi uses things like repetition, personification, and imagery to convey his truth behind the novel. Through these elements we are able to see that despite facing isolation and having an obsession with death, Periera wants companionship like everybody else. 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 Tabucchi because it appeals to the senses of the reader by describing the weather as roasting in 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. Tabucchi is a masterful writer and gets his points across with the use of his writing elements. 
