The conscience of impasse

Abstract

In Recordações do Escrivão Isaías Caminha the narrator/character describes his painful experience as a young and poor mulatto who dreams of social mobility and moving from his small village to the capital city of the Brazilian Republic where he finds a society ruled by asymmetrical relations, in which social inequalities and prejudice hinder the realization of his plans. This essay examines Isaias Caminha’s trajectory, discussing the social relations that surround him, and tries to understand the impasses that block the possibilities of citizenship to young persons with similar social conditions.