The Imperfection of Human Nature

A substantial portion of the story details various families’ reactions to seeing the picture of Little Flower in the newspaper. Through these scenes, Lispector highlights different imperfections that pervade human nature. Thus, it can be argued that Lispector uses these scenes to express her beliefs concerning peoples’ flaws.

For example, Lispector suggests that people are inherently jealous through the little girl’s reaction to the picture on page 173. When she sees the picture, she realizes that Little Flower is smaller than her. This causes the little girl to be concerned, because until that point, she believed that she was the smallest being in the world, which led to the “best caresses” (173). This scene shows how jealousy can present itself. Furthermore, young children represent innocence. Therefore, the young child feeling jealous suggests that jealousy is a trait that is inherent in people.

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