Pereira Declares takes place in the years just prior to World War Two. Pereira starts out being too scared to do anything about the injustices taking place in fascist Portugal. Antonio Tabucchi develops Pereira based on real events that happened during the time period such as the Spanish Civil War, the rise of fascism in Europe, and the beginning of World War Two. Tabucchi’s novel opens a window into the totalitarian world as seen through the eyes of fan elderly, lonely journalist who undergoes a powerful transformation from a passive, apathetic man to a responsible, politically engaged individual committed to justice and freedom of expression. Pereira develops the way that he does because of the Salazarist festival where he met Montiero Rossi, his week with Dr. Cardoso, and his short talk with Father Antonio, and the murder of Montiero Rossi.

Pereira goes to a Salazarist festival to see the writer, Montiero Rossi that he had talked to earlier on the phone. Rossi asks Pereira for money in exchange for an obituary for the culture page of The Lisboa. Rossi wants to write about Garcia Lorca. Garcia Lorca was a very liberal, Spanish writer before the Spanish Civil War. Because of this, he was executed by Nationalist soldiers in the early stages of the war (Federico Garcia Lorca). This contradicted what Salazar wanted his people to believe and Pereira knew this, so he did not even consider printing the article since Portugal was helping Nationalist Spain during the civil war. So, whenever Rossi offered to write about Lorca, Pereira said “Lorca didn’t seem to him the ideal choice.” Portugal was ruled by a fascist regime during this time and at the head of this regime was Antonio Salazar. He would prevent people from printing things that would criticize the government or contradict what he wanted the people to believe (Spirk 8). Rossi’s obituary about Lorca said “Two years ago, in obscure circumstances, we lost the great Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca. He was assassinated, and suspicion rest on his political opponents” (Tabucchi 22). This shows Pereira’s inability to stand up for what he believes in at the beginning of the book.

Pereira talks to Dr. Cardoso, later in the book, at the thalassotherapeutic clinic, where he meets Dr. Cardoso. Dr. Cardoso asks Pereira a lot of questions many of which were personal. Pereira did not want to answer these because Pereira’s father said “Our dreams are the private and personal thing we have and we should never reveal them to anyone” (Tabucchi 72). This represents his resistance to authority. He has to overcome this if he wants to help Rossi and his cousin. Pereira, then, asks him what he should do about helping Montiero Rossi and his cousin. Dr. Cardoso tells Pereira of a theory about “egos.” He says that each person has a ruling ego, and a collection of other egos. This ruling ego determines how a person acts and that this ruling ego can be “overthrown” by another ego. Dr. Cardoso says that this is what is happening in Pereira and he should let it take over and he says that this will only happen if he helps Rossi. 

The civil war in Spain was Republican Spain versus Nationalist Spain. Nationalist Spain was Francisco Franco and most of the military, while Republican Spain was communist and other volunteers from many different countries. Rossi is actually trying to help his cousin, who is from Spain, recruit volunteers for Republican Spain. Pereira agrees to help Rossi even though he can get into a lot of trouble. This shows that Pereira is finally starting to stand up against the injustice, but he has yet to do anything too radical.

Another turning point in the development of Pereira’s character is his second encounter with Father Antonio. Pereira talked to the Father about the theory that Dr. Cardoso informs him of. Father Antonio said that this was “heresy.” This is important because Pereira is questioning what Dr. Cardoso was saying and Father Antonio has the power to convince Pereira that Cardoso is wrong or to say that Cardoso is right. Father Antonio actually says neither of these things and tells Pereira to come back to confess real sins instead of just talking about the idea of multiple “souls.” This forces Pereira to think for himself instead of just doing what someone else tells him to do. Father Antonio does bring up the bombing of Guernica though. Pereira doesn’t seem to think about this very much during their conversation, but I think that, later on, Pereira thought about this evil that the fascist committed against innocent people, and that this is one of the reasons that Pereira decides that it is definitely time to commit to helping Montiero Rossi and Marta.

Pereira finally stands up against the injustice of the government after Rossi is murdered by what is assumed to be government-hired thugs. These thugs barged into Pereira’s apartment while they were there, and they beat Rossi until he died. Pereira decides to write an article about Rossi to be published in The Lisboa. It talks about Rossi’s love of life and his disdain for death. Pereira prints his name on this article to show his final change. Rossi’s death, at the hand of at of the political police, was the catalyst that caused Pereira to finally become what he wanted to be ever since he met Rossi, and that is to stand up against tyranny.

Pereira printed this article to represent the losing side in the Spanish Civil War and the initial losses of the Allies in World War Two. Germany invaded Poland and France in quick succession and left Great Britain alone to face them. Germany committed numerous crimes against humanity in these countries. The SS divisions that went in after the invasion of Poland would execute civilians on the street (Germany’s WWII Occupation of Poland). These acts confirm Pereira’s thoughts at the beginning of the novel, Pereira says “the police had killed a carter who supplied the market, because he was a Socialist” (Pereira Declares 5). This shows the evil acts that the fascist governments of this time were capable of committing. I believe that Great Britain’s resistance to the Axis Powers in World War Two represents Pereira’s personal victory of finally being capable of standing up for himself.

Pereira’s character was affected by his meeting with Montiero Rossi, Dr. Cardoso, Father Antonio, and the death of Montiero Rossi. Tabucchi uses these things to show how they affected Pereira and how he changed from a man who was too scared to stand up for what the believed to a man that finally did something about the things he didn’t like about the government and the injustice going on. We can learn from Pereira Declares that it is important to do what you believe is right, even if other people or even the government does not want you to succeed in your actions. Also, this book implies that anybody, no matter the background, can make a difference in the world.
