Gender, the "Other", and Desire in "The Rod of Justice"

           The Interactions between the sexes is a well-studied field giving insights into the worlds of fiction and reality. Through the artful writings of wordsmiths real-world truths are conjured and entombed in works of fiction. Joaquim Maria Machado De Assis’s work, “The Rod of Justice”, gives insight into the power-plays of male and female characters all acting to benefit themselves in a way suitable to their given desires. These benefits are kept in the foreground while the wills of other, in so long as they don’t help achieve these goals, are framed as ominous or insignificant “Others”. In order to fully grasp the inner mechanisms of gender and sexuality at play their definitions must first be established. To aid in establishing the definition and context thoughts of Judith Butler and Simone de Beauvoir prove useful.

            Judith Butler in her groundbreaking work, Gender Trouble, helps to establish “woman” as a form of “Other”; an unknown entity in which comparisons to the reigning group can be made. Butler writes, “Far from being subjects, women are, variously, the Other, a mysterious and unknowable lack, a sign of the forbidden and irrecoverable maternal body, of some unsavory mixture of the above” (Butler 202). Not being a subject of their own women take on a mysterious yet hollow presence in literature (and historically the social consciousness). Characters such as Lucretia exhibit this trait in “The Rod of Justice”. Eleven year old Lucretia is described as being, “a little Negress, a frail wisp of a thing with a scar on her forehead and a burn on her left hand” (Assis 913). We gleam little else from the text other than she has a cough, is fearful of her mistress, and wishes no bodily harm comes to her. Her thoughts, hopes, dreams, and anything else helping to create an identity for her are nonexistent.

            Her only interaction with the text is when Damião makes her laugh, which ends in a threat from Sinhá Rita, and in the final scene, where she is about to be beaten for not completing her task. In desperation she calls for the aid of Damião shouting, “Help me sweet young master!” (Assis 916). Though in this moment we find Damião’s earlier vow to protect her less valuable to him than his freedom from the clergy. In this instance the power shifts from his will to protect this frail young girl to saving himself by giving Sinhá Rita the power to bring harm. Lucretia manifests the poor repressed model of all oppressed women; those oppressed by both men and by other women.

            Simone De Beauvoir extends the idea of “Otherness” from just women to many other marginalized groups; albeit her focus is quite often solely on the role of women as “Other”. In her work, The Second Sex, Beauvoir covers the idea of “Other” in its relationship between the sexes. In the introduction of the work she writes, “Otherness is a fundamental category of human thought. Thus it is that no group ever sets itself up as the One without at once setting up the Other over against itself” (Beauvoir 151). This notion of the “Other” as battling both for and against itself can be seen in the character of Sinhá Rita. She battles for Damião in order to see her power over man at work. Yet, she brings harm to womankind by beating other women who she deems inferior to herself. Her power lies in her status as a widow (who likely inherited the power and wealth of her late husband), her ability to charm and domineer her lover (João Carneiro), and her status as “mistress of all this womenfolk—slaves of her own household and from outside” (Assis 915). She has a foot in both the world of women and that of the world of men.

The apex moment of her power comes near the conclusion of the text when she replies to João Carneiro’s letter stating, “Joãozinho, either you rescue the boy, or we never see each other again” (Assis 916). Here we witness the defeat of man through sexuality. She knows in her mind and heart that João Carneiro will do all he can to secure the boys freedom. Even Damião, fearing for his own freedom from the clergy adheres to her power disregarding his previous vow.

            Another connection between “The Rod of Justice” and Beauvoir’s The Second Sex can be found in Chapter XI: Myth and Reality. The text relays the position of man in comparison to that of women stating that, “Each is subject only for himself; each can grasp in immanence only himself, alone: from this point of view the other is always a mystery” (Beauvoir 1268). Damião represents this portion of “Otherness” particularly well. He is only really concerned with being able to leave the clergy. Outside of his own desire those of others only come into play when they may hinder his own goal. The thoughts and wishes of his father, his godfather, and Sinhá Rita are either unknown or marginalized. It isn’t until the final scene in which he becomes aware of this. The text states, “Damião froze… Cruel moment! A cloud passed before his eyes. Yes he had sworn to protect the little girl…” (Assis 916). In that moment he must make a choice between his own life and wishes or take a shot trying to protect the young girl. The latter choice would indubitably turn the fierce wrath of Sinhá Rita his way; possibly leading to his return to the clergy.

            Returning back to the work of Simone De Beauvoir it is here that Lucretia, the metaphorical “everywoman” learns a valuable lesson. As Beauvoir states, “while normally a woman finds numerous advantages in her relations with a man, his relations with a woman are profitable to a man only in so far as he loves her” (Beauvoir 1268). Although Damião wishes the best for this young girl he has no real love for her; therefore she suffers the rod. This dynamic can be seen in in contrast to that of Sinhá Rita and João Carneiro. João Carneiro risks bodily harm (at the hands of Damião’s father) and losing a friend for the love of Sinhá Rita.

            “The Rod of Justice” is an excellent microcosm of gender power roles involving “Otherness”, love, inferiority, and self-preservation. Within the works few pages volumes of issues and ideas are waiting to be brought to light. This truly shows how artful and poignant the works of Joaquim Maria Machado De Assis are, and furthermore, how the theories of feminist thinkers can be applied to them.       

Works Cited

Assis, Joaquim Maria Machado De. “The Rod of Justice”. The Norton Anthology of World             Literature: Shorter Third Edition, Two- Volume Set. W.W. Norton. Ed. M Puchner. 2012.                     911-916. Print.

Beauvoir, Simone De. “Introduction”. The Second Sex. Identities: Race, Class, Gender, and           Nationality. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., Ed. Alcoff, Linda, and Eduardo Mendieta. 2006.        149-157. Print.

---. “Chapter XI: Myth and Reality”. The Second Sex. The Norton Anthology of Theory and            Criticism. New York: W.W. Norton. Ed. Leitch, Vincent B. 2010. 1265-1273. Print.

Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble, Feminist Theory, and Psychoanalytic Discourse. Identities: Race, Class, Gender, and Nationality. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., Ed. Alcoff, Linda, and         Eduardo Mendieta. 2006. 201- 210. Print.