Consciousness Clarice Lispector Analysis

In this Close Reading I will be analyzing a passage from “Preciousness,” by Clarice Lispector, in an attempt to argue that the protagonists idle classroom drawings are a metaphor for an internal struggle to reconcile “self” with normative contextual constraints that compel conformity. “Preciousness” centers on the internal life of an unnamed 15-year old girl, as she attempts to navigate questions of agency, meaning, identity and sexuality within larger cultural and social contexts. Bounded and constrained by conventions and customs inherent to dominant theoretical and ideological paradigms, which through their normative constructions exert a great deal of influence. Painfully self-aware, the protagonist finds her personal conceptions of, and
Drawing stars is meant to represent behaviors that do not reflect the influence of the normative pressures of dominant paradigms. The writing of the phrase “stars, stars, stars,” itself is an act of nonconformity on the part Lispector, who forgoes typical writing convention to illustrate her broader point. But these acts of defiance, these expressions of independence come at a cost. That cost can be emotional or physical, sometimes both. Drawing stars, stars, stars “exhausts” the protagonist, but other acts of nonconformity can be met with stiffer retribution. It’s not however the severity, but rather the ubiquity of these costs that is most impactful. Every act, including the act of simply existing in male-dominated space requires thought and energy. Constantly reconciling internal conceptions of self with normative expectations based on artificial and domineering conventions is a struggle almost everyone, but in particular women and girls, is forced to engage with. With this sentence, Lispector is saying that simply existing as one would, within larger social and cultural contexts, is