With My Dog Eyes- Close Reading (Literature & Language Essay)

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With My Dog Eyes- Close Reading
The novel "With My Dog Eyes" by Hilda Hilst is a unique reading experience that indulges the reader in a mood of losing sanity. Hilst's writing style is a literary masterpiece that uses profound metaphors, which gives her work a certain depth that stimulates the reader's consciousness. Adam Moriss did a great job of translating her work, giving the Western reader a chance to delve into this unique story with a different telling style.
Amos Keres, a mathematics teacher, is the protagonist of the story as who slowly descends into insanity. The novel follows the transformation of his life, leaving behind his mundane and stepping into madness. Amos is tired of the stressors in his life in academia. He has a hard time coping with societal expectations and pressures as he is bombarded by the unkindness of humans. Besides those, he is also struggling to uphold his responsibilities as a father and his role in his marriage. Amos is pushed to the brink of madness through all of these, turning crazier and crazier from the chaos of his life.
In the beginning of the novel, we see a poem by the protagonist Amos. This poem shows the essence of the story, both introductory and conclusive for the tale.
The cross on my brow
The facts of what I was
Of what I will be:
I was born a mathematician, a magician
I was born a poet.
The cross on my brow
The dry laughter
The scream
I discover myself a king
Sequined in darkness
Knives striking
Time and wisdom.
The poem is a metaphor of what Amos is going through. The text and choice of words symbolizes a bigger aspect of...