Returning and leaving

an analysis of the short story “George” by Maria Judite de Carvalho

Abstract

Our intention is to conduct a critical reading of the short story “George” by the Portuguese writer Maria Judite de Carvalho. A prominent figure in 20th-century Portuguese literature, the author depicts the solitude of the contemporary woman. This perspective is evident in the short story “George” from the collection Seta Despedida, published in 1995. Here we find a narrator witnessing George’s return to her homeland, where she reconnects with and also bids farewell to a part of her life, in a blend of memory, imagination, and reality. With a gaze that transcends time, George manages to piece together parts of a puzzle. Throughout the plot, the story reveals the family and social pressures that restrict George’s freedom of choice, demonstrating the influence of her social environment on her journey and the attempts to limit her autonomy. The character frees herself by selling the inherited house, opening up new possibilities. In this sense, George’s need to return and leave, to meet Gi, the eighteen-year-old, and Giorgina, the woman of about seventy, is essential for her to finally return and, at last, leave resigned.