Humans subconsciously form connections with and are drawn to those they see as similar to them.  Antonio Tabucchi uses this idea to form the complex relationship between Pereira and Monteiro Rossi.  Pereira, an overweight and depressed man, enlists Rossi’s help to write obituaries for his paper The Lisboa.  Throughout this process, the bond between Rossi and Pereira grows and Pereira begins to look at Rossi as more of a son, rather than a colleague.  Tabucchi makes this transition in Pereira and Rossi’s relationship apparent to the reader through the use of diction, repetition, and a shift in tone.

Tabucchi’s word choice even before the “official” entrance of Monteiro Rossi brings about a slightly less melancholy tone to story. The moments leading up to Rossi’s entrance to the story describes what seems like the first happy moment for Pereira thus far: “because the music, in spite of all, was a pleasure to him” (10).  Before this point, nothing seemed to make Pereira feel any sort of happiness or pleasure.  Even though Rossi has not yet been “officially” introduced, this passage indicates a change in mood and sets the stage for the introduction of Rossi in the coming pages.  This tactic proves to be even more effective once Rossi is actually introduced to the story.

Things turn around for Pereira once Rossi enters the picture.  Tabucchi’s description of the weather effectively captures the mood, at once cheerful and nostalgic, created by Rossi’s presence even before Pereira learns who he is:

and all the while this young man was singing the sea-breeze was rising again from the Atlantic and the evening was cool, and everything seemed to him lovely, his past life of which he declines to speak, and Lisbon, and the vault of the sky above the coloured lights, and he felt great nostalgia, did Pereira, but he declined to say for what. (11)

This passage depicts the first encounter between Pereira and Rossi.  Tabucchi uses the word “lovely” to describe how Pereira is feeling in the moment that he is hearing Rossi sing.  Again, the dramatic change in word choice, from words pertaining to sadness and death to words pertaining to happiness and contentment, subconsciously creates a connection in the reader’s mind between Pereira and Rossi. The use of more positive language in this passage is especially striking and worth noting because in the beginning of the novel, Tabucchi paints a similar picture of a beautiful setting, but Pereira is thinking about death.  In sharp contrast to the beginning of the novel, Pereira is content.  Pereira also recalls feeling nostalgic in this moment of contentment.  This is the first sign of Pereira looking at Rossi as a son, an idea that Tabucchi continues to build on as the story progesses.

Tabucchi uses repetition to emphasize the bond that is beginning to develop between Pereira and Rossi.  This tool proves to be very effective in elaborating on the relationship between Pereira and Rossi.  By repeating phrases such as “Pereira declares” and in some cases, “Pereira wanted to say” (27), Tabucchi successfully highlights a situation or phrase.  This tool is used to put an emphasis on the relationship between Pereira and Rossi when used to describe, in a certain scene, why Pereira was sweating so much: 

Pereira declares that as he was saying this he felt a tickle of sweat running down his spine. Why was he sweating? Heaven knows… maybe also because his heart was touched by the sight of that youngster looking at him with an air of amazement and disappointment. (23)

Prior to this passage, Rossi had just handed Pereira the obituary he had written on the Spanish poet, Lorca.  To Rossi’s disappointment, Pereira says that his article is unpublishable and dangerous.  Pereira says that the dangerous writing is due Rossi either being “irresponsible or a troublemaker” (22), both words that a father would call a son if disappointed. This passage is significant to the relationship between Pereira and Rossi for many reasons. Tabucchi’s use of the phrase “Pereira declares”, a commonly reoccurring phrase throughout the story, puts an emphasis to the events and feelings in this passage.  In this case, “Pereira Declares” calls attention to the phrase that follows shortly after: “his heart was touched”.  This is an example of repetition and diction being used together to draw the readers’ attention to the relationship that is forming between Pereira and Rossi.  Before Pereira meets Rossi, the only thing that seemed to touch the heart of Pereira was the picture of his dead wife and the thought of death.  The fact that Pereira is now openly admitting that Rossi has touched his heart by looking at him in amazement is big advancement in the relationship between the pair and he even allows Rossi another try in writing an obituary for him, something he would not have normally allowed.

Although the relationship between Pereira and Monteiro Rossi is supposed to be a professional relationship for the purposes of writing for The Lisboa, it becomes apparent that Pereira begins to think of Rossi as more of a son.  Tabucchi not only makes this apparent through textual evidence, but also through subtler ways, such as the change in diction and tone and the use of repetition.  Relationships, such as the one seen between Rossi and Pereira, are often times made without either person recognizing that it is happening.  This is due to the subconscious reflection of oneself in the other. 

  