A luta entre impulso de vida e morte em “Viver! ”de Machado de Assis

Abstract

The short story “Viver!”, by Machado de Assis, takes place in the dream of Ahasverus, the Jew who was condemned to restless wandering around the world without being allowed to die as a punishment for pushing Jesus on His way to crucifixion. This onirical aspect shows itself revealing for our comprehension of the protagonist. By reading his dream, the reader can understand Ahasverus’s deepest aspirations. The short story presents the Jew as being the last men on Earth and, for this reason, on the verge of dying, since the punishment would last only until the end of mankind. At first, such a sentence would be characterized as disgraceful. In that sense, for him dying would be a relief. However, up to that time, death had been excluded from his horizon. He could not lose his life because he had lost death. This shows that the condemnation was also a reward, because it provided him with longevity. In this way, the situation experienced in his dream indicates what he most wishes for: to live.