The Passion according to G. H., originally named “A paixão segundo G.H.

|” which was

written by Clarie Lispector in 1964, leaves the reader with a deep psychological feeling for the

words, quotes, and how Clarie uses the words. It portrays a story of a wealthy artist, who steps

into her very own personal maid's room, and sees a cockroach crawl underneath her closet. Being

scared of this creature, she kills it, this then leads to her having a mental breakdown, and the

story later on will be based on the effects of it.

One of the earlier quotes that Claire utters in the novel earlier on soon after her breakdown made

me rethink life and how and why we live. This leads her to start living differently with her new

view of life. In a way she is reborn and “starts a new life” because of it. “In order to continue

being human, will ‘forgetting’ be my sacrifice? Now I'll be able to recognize some people’s faces

that they have forgotten. And they don't even know they forgot what they had forgotten.” At first,

I did not understand this quote, and the message or symbolism behind it, but after a few re-reads

and introspection, the phrase hitted me hard.We as humans fail to realize that in the end, we

eventually forget most minor memories, be that your school lessons, your ex, or past friends.

What I had learned and understood from this is that, we must cherish the moment, live in the

present, seize the day, carpe diem, because in the end, these all are memories, that in the end,

would just fade away.

Another quote that I had reflected upon the story is ‘“What is an abyss after all? A hole in

the light.” Similar to the previous quote which I had mentioned, this took me some time to

ponder upon and analyze what this exactly mean, as of the time of writing,.Through this analogy
to life, Clarie wants to tell us that agonizing times, times of struggle are times where we can

grow stronger. Whatever happens, be it full of joy or suffering, we should not get mad and or

sad about it; insead, we should be better and rise above, be engulfed in your own success that

you forget about it ever happening. It tells us that these experiences are the ones that lead us to

where we are today. It lets us learn lessons the hard way, and sure enough, we will overcome and

learn our lessons from it. I would say that this phrase tells us a similar subject about “Loss and

Gain.”

We can see this in purchases, for example an orange. The seller will lose an orange from their

inventory, but will gain your money in exchange for it, and you will gain an orange in exchange

as well. Something, more serious and not related to items, are shows for example, or time spent

with your friends; sure, you may not gain anything tangible from the time that you will never get

back, but, you will gain happiness, enjoyment, a sense of belonging with them. And such are ups

and downs in life, life balances the ups and downs and though none of us prefer pain and

suffering and would rather enjoy the pleasures of life, hardships and trials help us to grow and

learn from our mistakes so as to not repeat them. Though the roads may be tough, we do not

experience that path again. Lastly, we learn that life is not always fair, but we learn to make the

most of it, from our favorable and adverse experiences growing up. Clarie, in the next quote,

wants to convey that there is a constant human struggle in understanding ourselves and the

world. It reminds us, the readers, that we have so much to discover within ourselves, we have a

lot of capabilities, and there is a lot that the universe has in store for us.

The last quote worth mentioning by Claire is “The mystery of human destiny is that we

are fated, but that we have the freedom to fulfill or not fulfill our fate: realization of our fated
destiny depends on us. While inhuman beings like the cockroach realize the entire cycle without

going astray because they make no choices." This quote reminds me of William Ernest Henley’s

poem “Invictus” which provides a grim outlook on life. I am the master of my fate, I am the

Captain of my soul.” This quote symbolizes that we are in control of our lives, we control the

decisions which will affect us later in life, whether that would be choosing our own university

course, figuring out how much time we put into our own interests or school work, or how much

time we spend with our loved ones and friends. This begs the question whether us humans

should have free will and if we deserve happiness in our life or if happiness should be earned.

This also can be related to the quote mentioned earlier in which Clarie states there is an abyss in

every light, through every happy moment we experience in our life, we had to either “earn it “ or

“pay for it”. Grades for example, or money, if we want more grades or money, we would have to

work longer hours, working and suffering just so that later on in life, we can be proud in what we

have done, what we have accomplished, something where the loss and gain principle, balances

the two of them out. This also applies to discipline in food consumption and exercise; there is a

balance in everything.

Overall this book embodies the psychological effects that each of us experience in our

lives, from forgetting our own friends and every single memory but remembering the general

experiences, from the balance of ups and downs in our own lives, and from making the most of

our lives, knowing that we dictate where our life goes from here. It also teaches us the

importance of self-discovery: What does it truly mean to be ourselves, what is our main purpose

in life, and what does the universe really want us to achieve? Lastly, it demonstrates the dangers

of attachment: What does it mean to have the ability to have an attachment with someone or
something? In this instance Clarie uses the cockroach as an allegory.After killing it she endures

psychological thoughts within herself where she realizes that cockroaches don't really have a

certain fate, yet us humans do. It highlights the important parts and matters of life that are often

overlooked and what we can subconsciously learn and apply in our daily lives.As for my

thoughts and interpretations of this book, I would say that it really highlights the “hidden

meaning to life” and moments and realizations which we often overlook. I would admit, this

book is more on the “harder side” to read, with this psychological analogy of matters in relation

to human life, but if you have a good understanding on nature, can handle the psychological

triggers, and can understand more on deep shower thoughts, then I would most definitely

recommend this book to you.