Quando o Eu encontra o Outro: o duplo no conto "O Sr. Cristo", de José Saramago

Abstract

In literature, doppelgangers or duplicates are commonly explored as symbolic figures that reflect identity conflicts, moral dilemmas, and the duality of human nature across different periods and literary styles, prompting reflection on the instability of the self, its fragmentation, and the paradoxes of its existence. This paper analyzes the phenomenon of the double in José Saramago's short story “O Sr. Cristo” (1950), exploring how duplicity reveals identity conflicts and the fragmentation of the self. It begins with a theoretical review of the double as a cultural and literary category, based on the research of Rank (2014), Gonçalves Neto (2011), and Bravo (1998). Authors such as Mello (2000) and Zanini and Maggio (2018) are fundamental to understanding how this phenomenon emerges in the field of literature. With the concept of duplicity defined, the analysis focuses on the relationship between Virgolino Dias and Cristo Aires, characters whose friendship turns into rejection with the revelation of a hoax, showing how both function as duplicates of each other, highlighting the tension between moments of identification and disidentification. This research points out that the events of the narrative have this dual perspective, from the point at which the author, focusing on the actions of the other, reveals him as a farce and, consequently, can be designated in the same way, making it impossible to disassociate one from the other.