60 pages • 2 hours read
Karen Tei YamashitaThrough the Arc of the Rain Forest
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1990A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Matacão
The Matacão serves as setting and metaphor. It provides a unique environment for the story to take place in, being smooth and impenetrable, and located in an otherwise lush forest. The presence of the Matacão creates a sense of oddness, enhancing the magical realist imagery of the story. In addition to solidifying the style of the novel, the Matacão serves as a metaphor for humans’ ecological footprint. Chapter 30 explains: “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” (177). Once strange and wonderful, the Matacão proves to be a dense amalgamation of human trash. At the conclusion of the story, its deterioration harms the forest and the civilized world, adding to Yamashita’s ecological message.
Yamashita also employs the Matacão to add mystery to the overall plot. The Matacão is the only non-human character to have a dedicated chapter (Chapter 16). The chapter does not depart from the plot but contributes to it. A number of theories are presented regarding the Matacão’s origin: “All of these findings were presented in an atmosphere charged with excitement and arguments. Where did the Matacão originally come from? How did it get here?” (86). As the mystery and intrigue of this strange place develops, the main characters are already on their way there. Yamashita deploys her otherworldly setting to its full capability, allowing it to serve as setting, metaphor, and plot device.
Feathers
Feathers appear regularly in Through the Arc of the Rain Forest. Mané promotes them constantly, and J.B. commodifies them into a wellness item. J.B. surmises his view on feathers when he states, “You’ve seen our promotion; we want to bring people back to nature, back to health” (100). The popularity of feathers across the world shows the world is ready to embrace J.B.’s pitch. For a time, feathers yield beneficial results: “People who had smoked for years claimed that they had given up the dirty cancerous habit within a day, an hour, or a moment: it was that good” (98). The choice of the feather as a wellness product is a strong one. Feathers indicate flight, freedom, and escape. With the feather, people feel as if they can fly away from their problems. However, the need for release brings unintended consequences. Real feathers spread typhus, and the plastic feathers cause hallucinations. In executing this twist, feathers become another building block for Yamashita to create her message of ecological concern. Feathers appear wonderful to humans, but taking them greedily only causes us pain.
Feathers come into play in other storylines, too. Batista and Tania spend the novel raising birds and expanding their business. By using feathers in one plotline and birds in another, Yamashita allows the various story elements to blend together seamlessly. The separate stories complement each other because of the similarity in their imagery, never becoming too confusing or disparate.
The Ball/The Sphere
The ball is the first oddity to appear in the story. While it operates as a character, the image of the ball itself is similarly important. The novel reads as a collection of varying storylines and perspectives. Placing all the plotlines within the ball’s memory allows the stories to feel intertwined, orbiting one another. Although the novel cuts back and forth between different characters, the collective actions of the ensemble cast feel contained in one central place. Jumping between stories becomes seamless because the reader knows it’s all coming from a central location: the ball.
Through the Arc of the Rain Forest shows how the entire world is connected, even if we don’t realize it. We all live on a single planet and must take care of it. The ball echoes this. It’s a miniature world and holds the memory that is the story. The ball’s death therefore becomes another cautionary tale. If we allow waste to overwhelm our world, we will perish, just like the ball does in the end.
Soap Operas
Yamashita includes an author’s note about soap operas. In it, she describes Brazilian fandom for the genre. For a brief time, a single soap opera will dominate the zeitgeist, spanning across class and status. Everyone tunes in. Yamashita writes of the tenets of the soap: “And what are these essential elements? Claude Levi-Strauss described it all as well so many years ago: Tristes Tropiques—an idyll of striking innocence, boundless nostalgia, and terrible ruthlessness. I thank you for tuning in” (xv). Brazil doesn’t just serve as the setting; its popular culture contributes to the plot: Kazumasa and Chico begin the story in picturesque and idyllic states, Mané yearns for the nostalgia of his old tv shows, and J.B. embodies terrible ruthlessness. Various cutaways in the story describe major and minor characters watching soap operas. Additionally, the popularity of soaps encompasses everyone on the socio-economic ladder. Yamashita will do the same with her story, including everyone from rain forest natives to powerful New York executives. The author’s note provides context for the soap opera’s popularity in Brazil and queues the reader to the type of story Through the Arc of the Rain Forest will be.
