Suicide and Colours of Death in Lygia Bojunga’s O Meu Amigo
Keywords:
old man, loneliness, suicide, bereaved child’s agonies, affection. Almost everyone expects to live to be old. Young people assume that they will reach adulthood and probably marry; young adults assume that they will advance in their careers and have and raise children. They expect to see their children married later, to enjoy retirement and grandchildren. Most people, consciously or unconsciously, are planning the next stage of their lives and never think about death (Stedeford, 1984: 49). “All sane men have thought about their suicide at some point” Albert Camus (2004, p. 20).Abstract
This essay examines the emotional, psychological, and existential turmoil of a
bereaved child following the suicide of his friend, as depicted in Lygia Bojunga’s
children’s novel O meu amigo pintor (2004). Through a close textual analysis, the
study interrogates the multi-layered causes behind the protagonist’s suicide—including romantic disappointment, professional disillusionment, and political
persecution and assesses its reverberations in the child’s inner world. By tracing
the dynamics of mourning and the strategies the child employs to cope with this
profound loss, the paper foregrounds questions surrounding the nature of grief,
the ethics of suicide, and the significance of affective bonds. Ultimately, it poses a
philosophical inquiry: does Bojunga’s narrative suggest that life possesses
intrinsic meaning? And if meaning remains elusive, might suicide appear as a
viable resolution to existential suffering?