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Introductory
Note to the Reader After reading Mãe by José de
Alencar, I felt compelled to continue my exploration of classical
Brazilian literature, which led me to Manuscrito de um Sacristão by Machado
de Assis. What began as a continuation of literary curiosity quickly
became a deeper engagement with narrative experimentation. I was not
expecting to encounter the type of narrator Machado includes in this short
story, a voice that appears modest and observational, yet subtly manipulative
and ethically evasive. This reading experience has not only
expanded my understanding of Brazilian literary tradition but also
strengthened my confidence in engaging directly with literature produced in
Portuguese. As I continue exploring classical Brazilian texts, I remain attentive
to how narrative voice shapes truth, authority, and moral perception. I am
eager to see where this literary journey will lead, both in terms of
Brazilian canonical works and in my ongoing immersion in Portuguese as a
language of literary sophistication and narrative complexity. Jonathan Acuña Solano |
The
Gossiping Witness: Narrative Voice and Reliability in Machado de Assis’s Manuscrito
de um Sacristão
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Abstract This
paper forms part of an ongoing exploration of classical Brazilian literature
following the reading of José de Alencar’s Mãe, which led to a deeper
engagement with Machado de Assis’s Manuscrito de um Sacristão. The
study analyzes the narrative voice of the short story, focusing on the
sacristan as a first-person witness narrator whose account resembles gossip
rather than objective testimony. Based on Acuña Solano’s analytical framework
for narrative voice, the discussion examines point of view, narrative
distance, credibility, tone, atmosphere, stylistic features, and narrative
purpose. Particular attention is paid to the narrator’s reliability, given
his proximity to the priest and the priest’s cousin, who occupy the moral
center of the story. The paper also considers the sacristan’s Machiavellian
dimension, arguing that his manipulation operates not through action but
through rhetorical control of interpretation. Through individual character
analyses, the study demonstrates how Machado de Assis uses a marginal
observer to expose moral ambiguity, institutional hypocrisy, and the ethical
instability of narrated truth, while also reflecting on the experience of
engaging directly with Brazilian literature in Portuguese. |
Keywords: Machado
de Assis, Narrative Voice, Unreliable Narrator, Machiavellian Narration,
Brazilian Literature. Literary Analysis |
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Resumen Este trabajo forma parte de una exploración continua
de la literatura clásica brasileña iniciada tras la lectura de Mãe de
José de Alencar, la cual condujo a un análisis más profundo de Manuscrito
de um Sacristão de Machado de Assis. El estudio examina la voz narrativa
del relato, centrándose en el sacristán como narrador testigo en primera
persona cuyo relato se asemeja más al rumor que a un testimonio objetivo. A
partir del marco analítico de Acuña Solano sobre la voz narrativa, se
analizan el punto de vista, la distancia narrativa, la credibilidad, el tono,
la atmósfera, el estilo y la finalidad de la narración. Se presta especial
atención a la fiabilidad del narrador, dada su cercanía con el sacerdote y su
prima, quienes ocupan el centro moral de la historia. Asimismo, se explora la
dimensión maquiavélica del sacristán, argumentando que su manipulación no se
manifiesta en acciones directas, sino en el control retórico de la
interpretación. Mediante el análisis individual de los personajes, el trabajo
demuestra cómo Machado de Assis utiliza a un observador marginal para revelar
la ambigüedad moral, la hipocresía institucional y la inestabilidad ética de
la verdad narrada, al tiempo que reflexiona sobre la experiencia de leer
literatura brasileña directamente en portugués. |
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Resumo Este trabalho integra uma exploração contínua da
literatura clássica brasileira iniciada após a leitura de Mãe, de José
de Alencar, que conduziu a uma análise mais aprofundada de Manuscrito de
um Sacristão, de Machado de Assis. O estudo examina a voz narrativa do
conto, concentrando-se no sacristão como narrador-testemunha em primeira
pessoa, cujo relato se aproxima mais do rumor do que de um testemunho
objetivo. Com base no referencial analítico de Acuña Solano sobre voz
narrativa, analisam-se o ponto de vista, a distância narrativa, a
credibilidade, o tom, a atmosfera, o estilo e a finalidade da narração. Dá-se
especial atenção à confiabilidade do narrador, considerando sua proximidade
com o padre e sua prima, que ocupam o centro moral da história. Além disso,
investiga-se a dimensão maquiavélica do sacristão, argumentando que sua
manipulação não ocorre por meio de ações diretas, mas pelo controle retórico
da interpretação. Por meio da análise individual das personagens, o estudo
demonstra como Machado de Assis utiliza um observador marginal para revelar a
ambiguidade moral, a hipocrisia institucional e a instabilidade ética da
verdade narrada, ao mesmo tempo em que reflete sobre a experiência de ler literatura
brasileira diretamente em língua portuguesa. |
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Introduction
Machado
de Assis repeatedly undermines the assumption that narration functions as a
neutral or transparent vehicle for truth. Rather than relying on omniscient or
overtly authoritative narrators, he frequently entrusts his stories to voices
marked by limitation, bias, and ethical ambiguity. As Hakobyan (2017) observes,
“The narrator in Machado’s stor[ies] is ingenious in that he seems to know and
manipulate the reader’s mind which, along with his ability to hold the reader
in constant oscillation between the two versions of truth, makes him a
Machiavellian narrator.” This oscillation between competing versions of truth
is not incidental but structural in Machado’s fiction. In Manuscrito de um
Sacristão, the act of narration is delegated to a sacristan, an individual
embedded within the religious institution yet peripheral to its formal
authority, thereby reinforcing this pattern of strategic instability. The
choice of such a narrator is therefore central to the story’s meaning, as it
situates truth within a voice that is simultaneously informed, interested, and
ethically evasive.
Based
on Acuña Solano’s (n.d.) framework for analyzing narrative voice, this paper
argues that the sacristan functions as an unreliable witness (Machiavellian)
narrator whose account blends observation, interpretation, and moral evasion.
Although the priest and his cousin appear to be the central figures of the
story, it is ultimately the sacristan’s voice that shapes the reader’s
understanding of events. Through a careful examination of narrative point of
view, distance, credibility, tone, and purpose, this analysis demonstrates how
Machado de Assis transforms gossip into a powerful narrative strategy that
exposes not only individual frailty, but the ethical consequences of narrating
without responsibility.
Narrative Point of View and
Distance
The
story is narrated in the first person, immediately situating the sacristan
within the world he describes. However, this first-person perspective does not
result in intimacy or confession. Instead, the narrator establishes himself as
a recorder of events, someone who observes rather than acts. Early in the narrative, he explicitly defines his
role:
“Não escrevo para acusar ninguém, mas
para relatar o que vi e ouvi.”
(“I do not write to accuse anyone, but to report what I saw
and heard.”) (Machado de Assis, 2012)
This
statement appears to assert neutrality, yet it simultaneously raises suspicion.
By denying any intention to accuse, the sacristan implicitly acknowledges that
his account may invite judgment. Narrative distance, therefore, is unstable.
The narrator is close enough to witness intimate moments, yet distant enough to
deny ethical involvement. He treats the reader as a confident while refusing
the vulnerability that genuine confession would require. He plants the seed of
doubt in a Machiavellian way; he asserts to say things such as “I cannot judge
…, but it seems to me that …”, leaving the rest to the readers’ imagination.
This
oscillation between proximity and withdrawal creates a hybrid narrative stance.
The sacristan is neither a fully detached observer nor an engaged participant.
Instead, he occupies a liminal space that allows him to speak with apparent
authority while shielding himself from moral accountability.
Credibility and the Problem of
Reliability
The
question of credibility lies at the heart of Manuscrito de um Sacristão.
The narrator insists on the modesty of his account, repeatedly downplaying its
significance. As stated by Psychology Today (n.d.) while describing a
Machiavellian personality, it can be perceived through the sacristan’s “a
negative, cynical view of the world and of other people’s motivations.” Yet
this very insistence on his modesty functions as a rhetorical strategy. At one point, he remarks:
“Talvez nada houvesse de
extraordinário naquilo; mas as pequenas coisas, vistas de perto, tomam vulto.”
(“Perhaps there was nothing extraordinary in it; but small
things, when seen up close, take on weight.”) (Machado de Assis, 2012)
Here,
the sacristan justifies the act of narration itself. What might otherwise seem
trivial becomes narratable through proximity. This logic legitimizes gossip by
transforming closeness into moral relevance. The narrator does not claim
omniscience; instead, he claims access. However, access does not guarantee
understanding, and the sacristan’s interpretations often exceed what
observation alone can support though the readers cannot really perceive what
his intentions are not revealing the priest and his cousin’s backstory.
The
sacristan’s credibility is further compromised by selectivity. He chooses which
details to emphasize and which to leave ambiguous, shaping the reader’s
perception while maintaining the illusion of neutrality. As a result, the
narration is not false, but it is ethically unstable, filtered through
implication rather than assertion.
Attitude, Tone, and Atmosphere
The
sacristan’s tone is marked by restraint and irony. As a Machiavellian
character, the narrator displays “a lack of empathy and consider [himself]
superior to others” Psychology Today (n.d.). He rarely expresses strong emotion
or explicit condemnation. Instead, he relies on understatement, allowing
implications to accumulate quietly. This tonal choice creates an atmosphere of
subdued unease, particularly striking given the religious setting of the story.
Machiavellian characters like the sacristan are “characterized by manipulation,
deceit, a cynical worldview, and a cold, strategic focus on personal gain over
morality” (Nader, 2026).
The
church, traditionally associated with moral clarity, becomes a space of
ambiguity. The narrator’s calm delivery contrasts sharply with the ethical
tension of what he recounts. This dissonance intensifies the reader’s
discomfort. Machado’s irony emerges precisely from this contrast: troubling
events are narrated in a voice that refuses to acknowledge their gravity
openly. The atmosphere, therefore, is neither openly ominous nor reassuring. It
is morally suspended, reflecting the narrator’s own reluctance to take a clear
ethical stance.
Style of the Telling
Stylistically,
the sacristan’s narration is measured and controlled. The sentences are often
complex but not ornate, and the vocabulary suggests education without scholarly
pretension. This stylistic moderation reinforces the narrator’s
self-presentation as a reasonable and trustworthy observer.
However,
this apparent simplicity is deceptive. The narrator’s language is carefully
calibrated to suggest rather than state, to imply rather than declare. The
absence of emotional excess lends the narration an air of credibility, even as
the underlying interpretations remain subjective. Machado uses this stylistic
restraint to demonstrate how authority can emerge not from overt rhetoric, but
from quiet confidence.
Purpose of the Narration and
Central Themes
The
primary purpose of the narration is the revelation of a secret, but not a
sensational one. What the sacristan reveals is not merely a series of events,
but a moral contradiction in his eyes. The story explores dilemmas of desire,
restraint, and institutional expectation, without offering resolution.
Rather
than instructing the reader how to judge, the narrator presents circumstances
that invite judgment while disclaiming responsibility for it. This refusal to
moralize explicitly is itself a moral stance, one that aligns with Machado de
Assis’s broader skepticism toward absolute ethical positions.
Character Analysis
The Priest
The
priest in the short story emerges as a figure defined by restraint and internal
conflict based on the sacristan’s point of view. He is not portrayed by the
narrator as overtly transgressive, but as deeply divided. The sacristan characterizes him through silence rather
than action:
“Era um homem calado, como se as
palavras lhe custassem mais do que aos outros.”
(“He was a quiet man, as if words cost him more than they did
others.”) (Machado de Assis, 2012)
This
description transforms silence into psychological evidence. The priest’s
reticence suggests inner turmoil, yet the narrator never grants access to his
thoughts. As a result, the priest remains partially opaque, defined by what he
does not say or was not heard by the sacristan. He embodies the tension between
institutional role and human vulnerability, a tension the narrator observes but
does not resolve.
The Cousin
The
cousin functions as a destabilizing presence within the narrative. However, she
is never granted an interior voice. Instead, she is constructed through the
sacristan’s observation and communal perception:
“A prima vinha muitas vezes à casa
paroquial; parecia não notar o que todos notavam.”
(“The cousin came often to the parish house; she seemed not
to notice what everyone else noticed.”) (Machado de Assis, 2012)
The
phrase “todos notavam” dissolves responsibility into collective awareness. The
cousin becomes an object of shared implication rather than an autonomous
subject. This narrative choice reinforces the gossip-like quality of the
account and highlights the sacristan’s role as a mediator of social judgment
rather than a neutral witness.
The Sacristan
As
narrator, the sacristan is the most complex character in the story. He presents
himself as marginal, passive, and ethically detached, but he isn’t. His control
over the narrative grants him significant power. Near the end of the account,
he insists:
“Se
houve culpa, não me cabe julgá-la.”
(“If there was guilt, it is not for me to judge.”) (Machado de Assis, 2012)
This
statement encapsulates the ethical paradox of the narration. Although the
sacristan refuses to judge explicitly, judgment has already occurred through
description, tone, and selection of the facts being described. His refusal to
assume responsibility does not absolve him; rather, it exposes the moral
implications of narrating without accountability. In this sense, the sacristan
becomes a symbol of quiet complicity.
Conclusion
Based
on Acuña Solano’s (n.d.) framework for narrative voice analysis, Manuscrito
de um Sacristão emerges as a meditation on the instability of truth and the
ethics of narration. The sacristan’s voice, intimate yet evasive, informed yet
unreliable, forces readers to confront not only the moral ambiguities
surrounding the priest and his cousin, but also the ethical implications
embedded in the act of storytelling itself. Machado de Assis demonstrates that
narration is never neutral: to tell a story is already to shape judgment, to
guide perception, and to distribute responsibility.
In
this sense, the sacristan reveals a distinctly Machiavellian dimension, not in
his actions within the plot, but in his control over the narrative. He does not
manipulate events; he manipulates interpretation. By presenting himself as a
modest witness who merely “relates what he saw and heard,” he cultivates an
appearance of neutrality while carefully arranging the evidence that invites
suspicion. His repeated refusal to judge, insisting that it is not his place to
determine guilt, functions less as ethical restraint than as strategic
self-preservation. Judgment has already been engineered through tone, emphasis,
and omission.
The
sacristan’s Machiavellianism, therefore, is rhetorical rather than political.
His power lies in shaping the reader’s oscillation between innocence and
culpability, between rumor and fact, between silence and implication. He
occupies a marginal institutional position yet wields absolute narrative
authority. This paradox underscores Machado’s broader insight: moral
uncertainty does not thrive solely in human weakness or forbidden desire, but
in the structures through which such weaknesses are narrated.
Through
the voice of a seemingly minor observer, Machado de Assis exposes the fragile
boundary between witnessing and judging, between recounting and influencing. Manuscrito
de um Sacristão ultimately suggests that the most subtle form of
manipulation is not overt accusation, but the quiet arrangement of details that
leads others to accuse on one’s behalf. In this way, the sacristan becomes both
narrator and strategist, embodying the unsettling truth that storytelling
itself can be the most refined form of power.
San
José, Costa Rica
Saturday,
February 21, 2026
📚 References
Hakobyan, L. (2017), The
Machiavellian Narrator in Machado de Assis’s “Missa do Galo”. Purdue
University. https://seer.ufrgs.br/brasilbrazil/article/download/80286/47129
Machado
de Assis, J. M. (2012). Manuscrito de um sacristão. Livro de domínio
publico https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Machado-Assis-ebook/dp/B00AGZHZ48
Nader, R. (2026, February
5). The DARK TRIAD explained: Narcissism, machiavellianism &
psychopathy [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6kuOp-U1Kw
The Gossiping Witness Narrative Voice and Reliability in M de Assis’s Manuscrito de Um Sacristão by Jonathan Acuña
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