The Smallest Woman in the World

Catachresis is a literary device that involves the unconventional or strained use of metaphors, images, or expressions to deviate from ordinary speech and elicit an impactful or memorable effect. In “The Smallest Woman in the World,” Lispector describes Marcel Pretre’s reaction to Little Flower through a combination of metaphors involving colors, taste, and emotions:

The explorer tried to smile back at her, without knowing exactly to what abyss his smile responded, and then got flustered as only a big man gets flustered. He pretended to adjust his explorer helmet, blushing bashfully. He turned a lovely color, his own, a greenish pink, like that of a lime at dawn. He must have been sour (172).

This quote includes various catachresis. For example, attributing the quality of an abyss, typically associated with a deep and vast chasm, to a smile suggests that there is an unknown and profound significance behind his smile, emphasizing the enigmatic and unfamiliar nature of Little Flower’s emotions for the Western man. In addition, comparing the color of the explorer’s complexion to the unusual combination of greenish and pink hues creates an impactful image, suggesting the peculiar nature of the explorer’s appearance as seen by Little Flower. The phrase “He must have been sour” transfers this strangeness to the taste buds (172), suggesting that Marcel Pretre could also be eaten, both in reality by a cannibal tribe or metaphorically by someone objectifying him. Sour, of course, has a double meaning, suggesting both taste and an unpleasant character.

Irony is a rhetorical device used to convey a meaning that is opposite to or different from the literal or expected interpretation. It often involves a contrast between what is said or expected and what actually happens, creating a sense of incongruity or contradiction. Irony can be employed to attract attention to an unjust situation, create depth, or add a critical perspective to a narrative.

Lispector uses irony to describe the French explorer Marcel Pretre. From the first line of the story, he is described as a “hunter and man of the world” (165), while it is clear that his emotional range is very limited and that he does not understand the world he explores. Pretre’s attitude and interactions with Little Flower become a source of irony every time the narrator depicts his gestures or reactions.

Irony is also used to create a contrast between the perception of Little Flower’s photograph by the readers of the Sunday newspaper and the reality of her existence. While the readers see the image of Little Flower as a source of entertainment or desire, they fail to recognize that she can laugh, love, gaze back, and challenge them in their superficial perceptions.

Stream of consciousness is a literary technique that depicts the continuous flow of thoughts, feelings, and perceptions experienced by a character in an unfiltered and natural manner, without the intervention of the narrator. It seeks to capture the inner rhythm and development of a character’s mind, often presenting a fragmented narrative that mirrors the way thoughts naturally occur. Stream of consciousness often relies on free association between different elements of the story and the character’s imagination and emotional reality.

The mother in the fifth vignette has the most developed example of stream of consciousness. Lispector also provides glimpses into the inner world of the characters in other vignettes, such as the first and the last, though the development and free-association aspect is missing. The mother in the fifth vignette fluctuates between empathy, pride, anxiety, and the decision to act in the world in a manner that conflicts with her innermost emotions. Lispector uses stream of consciousness to create depth and show that beyond the newspaper readers’ superficial reactions, there are thoughts and emotions that transcend the distance between the two worlds.