According to Dr. Simão Bacamarte, the reason would be the balance of the faculties and everything coming out of this sense would be insanity.He believed that everyone in the city was crazy for the most diverse reasons, but he accepts that the imbalance is in fact the "normal" and exemplary as far as humanity is concerned.

What is the limit of reason?

We have the habit of comparing ourselves to others and who hasn't thought "argh, why am I not normal like others?"But normal or abnormal is just one piece of our feeling that makes us feel inferior. If you think about all the 7 billion people that exist on this planet, none are the same as you or me, so it is not possible to define a metric of normality because being ourselves is the beauty of our self.

What would be normal and abnormal?

If so many men in whom we suppose judgment are imprisoned by the insane, who tells us that the alienated is not the alienist?"

Machado de Assis was born on June 21, 1839, in Morro do Livramento, in Rio de Janeiro, in the Regency Period.

The book tells the story of Dr. Bacamarte, an alienist (the designation of psychiatrist at the time), who creates the Green House, a place to carry out unprecedented studies on the human mind, but ends up getting lost in his own madness.

A classic work of literature by “the greatest author ever produced in Latin America.” (Susan Sontag)   Brilliant physician Simão Bacamarte sacrifices a prestigious career to return home and dedicate himself to the budding field of psychology. Bacamarte opens the first asylum in Brazil hoping to crown himself and his hometown with “imperishable laurels.” But the doctor begins to see signs of insanity in more and more of his neighbors. . . . With dark humor and sparse prose, The Alienist lets the reader ponder who is really crazy. *** This is a Hybrid Book. Melville House HybridBooks combine print and digital media into an enhanced reading experience by including with each title additional curated material called Illuminations — maps, photographs, illustrations, and further writing about the author and the book. The Melville House Illuminations are free with the purchase of any title in the HybridBook series, no matter the format. Purchasers of the print version can obtain the Illuminations for a given title simply by scanning the QR code found in the back of each book, or by following the url also given in the back of the print book, then downloading the Illumination in whatever format works best for you. Purchasers of the digital version receive the appropriate Illuminations automatically as part of the ebook edition.

Milena Barbosa's Key Ideas from The Alienist
by Machado De Assis

What is the limit of reason?

What would be normal and abnormal?

MACHADO DE ASSIS

Machado de Assis was born on June 21, 1839, in Morro do Livramento, in Rio de Janeiro, in the Regency Period.

Discover Key Ideas from Books on Similar Topics

Milena Barbosa's Key Ideas from The Alienistby Machado De Assis

What is the limit of reason?

What would be normal and abnormal?

MACHADO DE ASSIS

Machado de Assis was born on June 21, 1839, in Morro do Livramento, in Rio de Janeiro, in the Regency Period.

Discover Key Ideas from Books on Similar Topics

Milena Barbosa's Key Ideas from The Alienist
by Machado De Assis