A Hora - Da Estrela

The "hour of the star" of the title is the moment of recognition. For a star, that moment is when it explodes or ignites. For Macabéa, it is the moment of her death. Lying in the street, surrounded by a crowd that ignored her in life, she finally feels something: rage. And in that rage—in that final, violent assertion of existence—she transforms. She is no longer a ghost. For one single, terrible second, she becomes the star.

But to summarize The Hour of the Star is like describing a diamond by its weight. The brilliance lies not in the plot, but in the impossible, furious voice that tells it. A Hora da Estrela

Macabéa is an anti-heroine. She is so blank that she seems almost subhuman, yet Lispector fiercely defends her. The author—through the sniveling Rodrigo—declares that Macabéa is a heroine because she is pure. She does not know she is miserable. In her vacuum of a soul, she finds ecstasy in the simple word "luxury" or the sound of a train whistle. She is a "poor creature" but also a "holy idiot." She is nothing, and therefore, she contains everything. The "hour of the star" of the title