Brief Thoughts on Poncia Vicencio

A False Hope: Afro-Brazilians and the City

In Evaristo’s novel, Poncià Vicencio, the rural versus urban dichotomy operates for every relationship among Afro-Brazilians. Poncià and her brother leave the countryside in the hopes of finding work, opportunity, comfort, love, and wealth. Instead of discovering the aforementioned goals, the two only discover disappointment, discrimination, and crime. Therefore, migration to urban areas does not provide a magic cure-all for the social and political problems Afro-Brazilians face on white-owned plantations in the country.

Undoubtedly one of the great challenges for all Afro-Brazilians who migrate to the cities, crime determines the path for many urbanites. Perhaps best exemplified by prostitution, crime engulfs many Afro-Brazilians migrants, who with no recourse, turn to selling their flesh in order to survive. Like Poncia’s brother’s lover, several women come to the city from villages in search of work, but were forced into prostitution to survive because of the lack of opportunities for black women. As in the case of Poncià’s brother’s lover, women endure abuse from their male pimps, the shame associated with their occupation, and scorn from society. Thus, one might wonder why Afro-Brazilians should bother to leave the poverty of the countryside to come to cities if they will be forced to sell themselves or engage in crime.

In addition to crime, black migrants also encounter few opportunities for real economic independence and prosperity. Poncià works as a domestic service for several years, dreaming of purchasing a comfortable home for a future family, but after several years of saving, she can only afford to live in a small shack filled with mice, cockroaches, and few possessions. Comparing her current dusty dwelling to the hut of her youth, Poncià fondly remembers the smooth dirt floor of her hut, with utensils and pots made of earth. While tolerating the natural poverty of her youth, she was happier there than in the urban nightmare she now endures.  One must also take into account her husband, who works in construction. Both avoid spending money on superfluous desires, yet their combined income cannot support a real home. For Poncià’s brother, on the other hand, his rural identity and work ethic capture the attention and respect of a black police officer, another migrant from the country. Initially seeing the black officer as a free man capable of commanding whites, something that never happens on rural plantations, Poncià’s brother finds a live-in job where he learns to read and eventually become an officer. Seemingly benefits of the cities, black officers are really not in positions of actual authority over whites because their subservience continues in the police force and military. Therefore, blacks can aspire to positions of leadership in urban police forces and government offices, but will never receive promotions to legitimate positions of power. In this respect, life in the cities is not much better for young black males, who no longer have to work on rural farmland, but continue to be placed in subservient or manual labor types of jobs, such as Poncià’s husband.

In summation, the economic opportunities available for rural blacks in the cities, though more variable, offer no positions of true power and independence. When taking into account the costs of family and friends, Afro-Brazilian migrants often lose contact with their support base in the villages and turn to crime to provide subsistence. Others, who have no city connections, become underpaid domestic servants or manual laborers who suffer from depression and alcoholism. For these reasons, Afro-Brazilian migration to the cities does not always bestow the material and personal sustenance sought by rural workers. In the cases of Poncià and her brother, they would have been better off remaining with their mother, practicing their traditional customs and beliefs which give meaning to their lives.