Through the Arc of the Rain Forest

“J.B. had never been to a foreign country and was initially alarmed at what he felt to be a sudden listlessness in his third arm. Upon examining himself in the hotel mirror, he actually thought his third arm might be atrophying in this hot tropical weather. And it exasperated him that things did not seem to work in this country. There was no organization. And they didn’t use plastic clips; the metal ones absorbed the humidity and rusted onto his papers. How could a third arm survive in such a place anyway? By the time he had located Mane Pena and exposed himself to the natives and the French ornithologist in an untypical show of ineptitude, J.B. was beginning to have serious doubts about his effectiveness in the Third World.” 

This passage succinctly captures J.B.’s interior skepticism upon his arrival in Brazil. His character traits, desires, and fears, all combine to make his motivations clear for the reader. Yamashita additionally utilizes both J.B.’s normal character qualities, such as his obsession with efficiency, along with his heightened characteristics, like his third arm. J.B. therefore has realistic and relatable reasons for disliking Brazil while additionally adding to the magical realism elements of the story. The atrophying of J.B.’s third arm is an early foreshadowing of his death; he is in a place he does not belong. J.B.’s labelling of Brazil as Third World shows he is unsympathetic and demeaning toward this other country, which Yamashita builds upon, eventually resulting in ecological disaster largely propagated by J.B. himself. 

“Mane Pena had a way of putting together information that people found ingenious. ‘There’s a guy I heard about says we got sensibilities from way back before we were ever born. I mean back generations and generations. So take this other theory I heard about the dinosaurs, that these dinosaurs been changing and changing every generation until now they’re birds. Think about it. Bird sensibilities coming from way back millions of years. Now, that’s power.’” 

In this passage, the reader learns more about Mane Pena by hearing what others think of him. Mane’s interiority does not necessarily need to be exposed to develop his character. Seeing how he is perceived also builds him into a round and complex person. The second half of the passage builds upon the epigraph. Dinosaurs have changed, leading to birds, almost as if they have been passing through countless rainbows. By describing this process as powerful, Yamashita is showing the reader the significance of having a long and storied memory, developing her theme in the process. 

“Everyone he met had something missing, some part of them that needed filling in. A lack of character was no different from a physical lacking. What disillusioned Kazumasa was that, given the opportunity to imagine happiness, people could only imagine things, and so many of the things imagined were basic to their well-being: food, shelter, clothing, medicine, health care.” 

Yamashita effectively builds the world of the novel in this passage. People in this world are pained and in need, and, crucially, many of those needs are essentials in the eyes of Kazumasa. If the people that came to him had those essentials met—if they had food, shelter, clothing, medicine, and health care, what might they want then to find happiness? Kazumasa wants to help others achieve happiness, only to continuously find he lives in a world that can’t even give people the buildings blocks for a happy life. 

“They wept like anything to see / Such quantities of sand: / ‘If this were only cleared away,’ / They said it ‘it would be grand!’ / ‘If seven maids with seven mops / Swept it for half a year, / Do you suppose,’ the Walrus said, / ‘That they could get it clear?’—Lewis Carroll Through the Looking Glass”

Above is the opening Epigraph for Chapter 16, subtitled The Matacão. This chapter takes a break from the plot to develop the history and legend of the Matacão. In the Carroll poem, the Walrus wonders if all the sand on the beach can be swept away. The answer is not provided within the epigraph, but the next lines read “‘I doubt it,’ said the Carpenter, / and shed a bitter tear,” indicating that the Matacão is also a formidable force (poetryfoundation.org). Apt, considering we learn people struggle to harvest the Matacão and fail to understand its origins. Additionally, the previous lines in the poem, not included in the epigraph, read “No birds were flying overhead— / There were no birds to fly,” further aligns with imagery in the novel (poetryfoundation.org). The poem concludes with the Walrus and Carpenter tricking oysters into following them along the beach, eventually eating them all up, which complements Yamashita’s cautionary tale of human consumption and ecological responsibility. Yamashita chooses to excerpt a poem that complements her story, and even foreshadows the events of the novel should readers read further into the Carrol passage. 

“How or why the Matacão came about is a puzzle for which no clear answers exist. The speculations about its origins have been as varied as the people who came to visit, gasp, grovel, get a tan, pray, relax, wonder, hang out, make love, worship, meditate, or pay homage to its existence.” 

Here, the reader sees the various ways people grapple with the unexplained and mysterious. We handle the unknown in numerous ways: worship, fetishization, or commodification. The actions of the main characters echo the behavior of the population at large. Each of them sees the Matacão and reacts in a different way: J.B. wants to make money, Mané wants to spread understanding, Chico worships, Kazumasa is mostly indifferent and becomes a tool for J.B. Yamashita builds a frantic energy and narrative tension by shrouding the Matacão in mystery and showing the different reactions to its unknowability. 

“We’ve discovered that the stuff that the Matacão is made of is a sort of, well, sort of miracle plastic Matacão plastic, if you will. We’ve discovered that it is extremely resistant stuff; we’re the ones that have cracked the code in drilling and extracting the stuff, and now we’re on the verge of controlling it.” 

Slowly, details of the Matacão become known. At this point, roughly halfway through the story, Yamashita gives the reader new information about the Matacão’s origin. Much of the Matacão remains to be discovered, however. We don’t yet know how the Matacão came to be, only what it is. By giving the reader breadcrumbs of information, the novel builds intrigue without leaving the reader completely in the dark. J.B.’s declaration at the end of the passage showcases his motivations and character. He wants to control the plastic for profit, which eventually leads to his downfall.  

“Don’t get me wrong, Mr. Ishimaru, GGG is committed to environmental conservation. You’ve seen our promotion; we want to bring people back to nature, back to health. We want them to be ecologically responsible too. Every time a person puts a feather to his ear, picks up the primary of a rare tanager or a scarlet ibis, they’ve got to think about the birds, about nature. My wife’s an ornithologist, a real bird fanatic. So I know what I’m talking about.” 

J.B. proposes a world where GGG’s excavation of the Matacão and the commodification of bird feathers are positive actions. While J.B. sees a scenario where the bird feathers consumers buy will put them in touch with nature, as the novel progresses, a feather black market emerges and puts birds in jeopardy. Yamashita creates absurd humor through J.B.’s flawed rationale; his wife being an ornithologist by no means proves J.B. knows what he’s talking about, which comes to fruition in the end with the catastrophic failure of the GGG company. 

“Nature’s like the TV. You take a good look at it; it’ll tell you something new all the time.” 

Spoken by Mané Pena to Batista, the quote is indicative of the larger plot of the story. The characters are constantly learning about the Matacão, and later, about typhus and how the feathers helped spread it. Humans, even experts like Mané, are constantly discovering new things about the world they live in. Likening nature to television creates a comparison between the modern and the old. It’s a fitting piece of dialogue for Mané, whose character embodies old traditions encountering the modern world. 

“Mane Pena owed it to the world to spread his knowledge about feathers. If he didn’t want imitations and misconceptions to crop up, he’d better keep the matter straight and do his bit for the good of the feather and its good to society. But every day, they had something else for him to do.” 

This passage clearly portrays Mané’s interior conflict. His motivations are admirable. He values the truth and recognizes the importance of sharing what he knows with the world to avoid unnecessary harm coming to the birds whose feathers he finds so much importance in. While GGG gives Mané a global platform, it comes at a heavy price. Mané is bogged down with other company responsibilities, and GGG’s business practices prove to be detrimental to the rain forest and the birds. Here, we see Mané’s good intentions and optimism, as well as how GGG impedes him from accomplishing his goal. 

“Kazumasa saw, smelled, felt, and tasted everything. He saw the beauty of the land, smelled the stink of its decomposition, felt the heat of the great forest fires, tasted the sweat of human labor. And still we moved on, searching for plastic.” 

Here Kazumasa gains an increasing appreciation for the world. The earth, and human’s relation to it, is not portrayed as picturesque. Rather, Yamashita describes stink and heat and the taste of sweat. These senses don’t dissuade Kazumasa. He does not turn up his nose and flee to the city. Instead, he takes in all these sights and smells in a calm observational. Passages such as this build motivation for Kazumasa to seek a harmonious relationship with nature, seen at the end when he buys farmland. The story is likewise kept in motion at the end of the passage, as the ball reminds the reader that while Kazumasa is gaining worldly experience, it is unfortunately in the pursuit of a harmful plastic. 

“It was soon apparent to Kazumasa that while many had good intentions, a few of the people who were running after us did not. Life-threatening notes had suggested that some people were not averse to ripping this precious satellite from its orbit, namely, Kazumasa. Greed was a horrible thing. Kazumasa could, if necessary, divest himself of his monetary fortune, but he could not rid himself of me.” 

The passage succinctly conveys information to the reader and raises the stakes of the story, creating more narrative tension. From the early days of acquiring his fortune, Kazumasa expressed little interest in living a lavish lifestyle, allowing Hiroshi to make investments without so much as asking. Kazumasa restlessly gives his fortune away, reducing the chances of him being taken hostage for money. The ball’s attachment to Kazumasa, however, is something Kazumasa cannot change. The ball is very much a part of who he is, something he has spent most of his life with. This unique symbiotic relationship makes Kazumasa a target. The passage also continues to develop Yamashita’s cautionary message against greed. 

“He realized further that his pleasure in granting any wish was as ephemeral as the wish itself: a woman who received a washing machine had no plumbing to run the water to it; a family with a new refrigerator had no food to store in it; wheelchairs broke down without oil and repair; medical facilities had no personnel to run them.” 

This is an important passage in developing the novel’s critique of current socio-economic structures. Try as he might, Kazumasa can’t fix the problems of the people he tries to help. While their wishes are granted, something is often missing. There are institutional flaws that stop the people’s wishes from being fully realized. Kazumasa is trying to cure the symptoms of suffering people, but not the disease. By having the wishes fall flat, Yamashita is suggesting that it is not enough to give people material items. Institutional and infrastructural changes need to occur for meaningful change to take place. 

“‘Nothing’s the same since that woman left,’ Mané shook his head. ‘I always tell them that a feather can’t replace a good woman.’” 

Despite Mané’s adoration for feathers—his expertise great enough to even make a career out of it—he recognizes that cannot replace how much he misses his wife, Angustia, who was pushed away by the demanding schedule of his job for GGG. Mané’s statement is a short and honest one and demonstrates the consequences of his actions, even ones he set out with the best intentions. The passage is also cautionary for others. Mané knows feathers can’t replace the profound power of love with another human being. Therefore, the obsession with feathers in first world countries is doomed to fail before it even begins. 

“In some public places, one could already see signs segregating ‘Smokers’ and ‘Feather Users.’ Feather-vending machines were becoming commonplace and could usually be found next to the coke machines. Everywhere, people were proclaiming the wonderful effects of the feather on their working, social, and private lives.” 

Succinct and effective world building. The modern world is portrayed as a place where people are desperate for some type of release. Those who fall into smoking are often seeking a way to relax during the day, only for it to become detrimental to their health. By placing the image of “Smokers” with “Feather Users” side by side, Yamashita implies those two products may have similar consequences, foreshadowing the reveal of the feathers spreading typhus and the plastic feathers causing hallucinations. The passage also keeps the larger world in view for the reader. 

“Tania Aparecida was indiscriminately charming, but there was something about her, a wanderlust, which kept her from staying anywhere long enough to form attachments, no matter how friendly or attractive the admirer. Perhaps, it was part of something the Brazilians called saudades, the bittersweet sensation of exuberant but temporary joy. To have it all the time, you have to keep moving on and saving memories. It was something like putting a pack of misbehaving kids to bed after a very wearing day and spending the evening poring lovingly over an album of photographs of the same naughty kids.” 

Throughout the novel, the author spends more time on Batista’s interiority than Tania’s. By giving the reader Tania’s perspective, we see Batista’s jealously through another lens. Tania misses Batista, but she is also frustrated by his neediness, and is stuck in this paradoxical state. The passage confirms to the reader that many of Batista’s fears of Tania’s infidelity are unfounded. The passage also provides information on the Brazilian phrase saudades, fitting in world building at the same time. 

“Lourdes shuddered. It was a horrible choice. Everything was lost. If she lost her children, she would not care for anything again in this world. And if she lost Kazumasa forever, it would be the same.” 

In this brief passage, the tension of the narrative appears clearly to the reader. It is a pivotal moment for Lourdes and marks a peak in tension for her in the story. She feels trapped in a winless situation; torn between her children and the man she loves. Lourdes recognizes that choosing between the things that means the most to her is no choice at all. Her dilemma is a terrifying one, and a strong narrative choice for a story, as the stakes are dramatic and captivating. 

“He thought about his karaoke business and about Kazumasa’s endless wealth. Hiroshi bowed his head. It was all his fault; he had betrayed Kazumasa’s trust.” 

All the storylines in the novel are ramping up. Even supporting characters, such as Hiroshi, have introspective moments to heighten the story’s tension. Giving the reader Hiroshi’s interiority not only raises the stakes, it also develops his character. Hiroshi becomes more than Kazumasa’s money-obsessed cousin. He becomes a person who regrets his actions and wants to make things right. 

“As is often the case, news of what public health officials were now calling a major epidemic had been relegated to information of minor interest as long as the epidemic remained with the poor and destitute.” 

This passage develops Yamashita’s comments on class and the treatment of people in different economic conditions. The world is slow to react when suffering is relegated to the poor and impoverished, even though they are human beings. The chapter goes on to show that only when the rich and powerful begin to suffer from the spread of typhus does the world take the issue seriously. By providing a story with characters that run the gamut of class and wealth, Yamashita shows that people, regardless of income, are complex and capable of love, and thereby critiques the current standard of who we focus on in times of crisis. 

“Feathers burned night and day all around the Matacão. Some people gave up the feather habit with easy distaste, like some passing fad gone sour, but others found their dependency on that soft, light object had grown beyond their expectations. Many people experienced a weight gain. Others returned to smoking cigarettes. A number of stressed-out executives actually jumped out of their office buildings. Some had to be treated for shock and withdrawal.” 

This passage offers another example of the addictive habits of modern consumers. While some can give up feathers easily, others suffer dramatic and painful withdrawals, always desperate for a fix. The passage also helps maintain the heightened tone of the novel. Executives jumping from their offices because they can’t relax with a feather is absurd in our normal world, but in the strange world of the novel—with floating balls and plastic landscape and a three-armed man—this detail feels appropriate. 

“‘I try to tell him that half—HALF—’ Michelle screamed, ‘of the world’s species of birds live in the Amazon forest. There are many I have never even seen,’ she sobbed, remembering her bird lists.” 

This passage shows the importance of caring for the Amazon and demonstrates how crucial Yamashita believes ecological is. To further increase the impact of Michelle’s statement, the reader has tangible numbers. We learn that half of the world’s species of birds live in the Amazon, in all caps, driving home the magnitude of that number. That these words come from Michelle is likewise important. She’s the leading bird expert in the novel. The loss of so many birds is particularly painful for her and serves as motivation for her to leave J.B. at the end of the story. 

“Millions of birds of every color and species, many the very last of their kind—ebony toucans with their bright orange beaks, red-headed blackbirds, paradise tanagers in clear primary colors, scarlet ibises, spike-billed jacamars clothed in metallic green, miniature darting hummingbirds—filled the skies, pressing the upward altitudes for the pure air, but the lethal cloud spread odiously with sinister invisibility. The Matacão was soon covered, knee-deep with the lifeless bodies of poisoned birds. Indeed, for countless days and nights, it rained feathers.” 

In the beginning of this passage, a long, single sentence creates a vivid picture of many beautiful birds. The birds are described with colorful detail, all of them striking and unique. Yamashita quickly paints an arresting image of natural beauty for the reader, then dramatically snuffs it out, killing all the birds and describing their fallen corpses. The detail and length of the opening line allows the reader to enjoy a moment with all the wonderful birds, and their untimely and manmade death provides the impact to create an ecological and conservationist message. 

“The Matacão, scientists asserted, had been formed for the most part within the last century, paralleling the development of the more common forms of plastic, polyurethane, and styrofoam. Enormous landfills of nonbiodegradable material buried under virtually every populated part of the Earth had undergone tremendous pressure, pushed ever father into the lower layers of the Earth’s mantle. The liquid deposits of the molten mass had been squeezed through underground veins to virgin areas of the Earth. The Amazon forest, being one of the last virgin areas on Earth, got plenty.” 

The Matacão provides a good mystery to propel the story forward, but Yamashita chooses to give the reader answers rather than leave its origin ambiguous. The Matacão is a product of human consumption and pollution. Unmitigated consumption proves to be harmful to developed areas of the world and to the untarnished places as well. Even continents away, everything in the world is connected. As the Matacão proves to be harmful to humans, plants, and animals, Yamashita warns that irresponsible waste and consumption hurts the entire world if left unchecked and ignored. 

“People who stepped out in the most elegant finery made of Matacão plastic were horrified to find themselves naked at cocktail parties, undressed at presidential receptions. Cars crumbled at stop lights. Computer monitors sagged into their CPUs. The credit card industry went into a panic. Worst of all, people with facial rebuilds and those who had added additional breasts and the like were privy to grotesque scenes thought only to be possible in horror movies.” 

As seen in previous passages, the novel occasionally departs from the story of the main characters to show what is happening elsewhere in the world. Much of the developed world goes through the novel buying, consuming, and working, until many meet grizzly ends from the products they consume and purchase. Even the modern world collapses as a result of the downfall of Matacão plastic. In this story arc, the novel shows a cautionary message about what can happen when we rely on harmful and unsustainable materials, especially when we are unaware.