Daytripper

“People die every day. That was the most comforting thought Brás had while all the obituaries he wrote at the newspaper flashed before him. He just realized that, even when he’s not writing about it…people will keep dying.” 

Early on in the book, the reader is introduced to Brás and his job as an obituary writer. Brás conveys the irony of being an obituary writer who wishes to write a novel about life itself—even when he is out living, people continue to die. This also introduces ideas about the life cycle that will be mentioned throughout the narrative.

“I didn’t mind anything back then. I thought I was going to live life to its fullest, and then later I would write about it all. I wanted to write about life, Jorge, and look at me now…All I write about is death.” 

Brás faces an existential crisis at age 32, sharing his fears that he is wasting his time writing about death rather than spending his life trying to fulfill his dream to become a writer. This sets up one of the central tensions of Daytripper: The protagonist struggles to make sense of vital moments in his life and fit them into a narrative. In addition, this quote sets up Brás’s own desire to accept his mortality.

“[Genarinho:] It would still be his bar, and I would still be his son. [Brás:] We’re all somebody’s son, right?”

During the first chapter of the book, Brás struggles with living in his father’s shadow. This is further provoked when an event held in his father’s honor is scheduled on Brás’s birthday. The bartender empathizes with living in his father’s shadow, yet they acknowledge that it is impossible to fully sever themselves from their fathers, even as they make their own way in the world.