"Hamlet observes to Horatio that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy. This was the selfsame explanation that was given by beautiful Rita to her lover, Camillo, on a certain Friday of November, 1869,when Camillo laughed at her for having gone the previous evening, to consult a fortune-teller."
The first time reading through this wonderful short story I laughed. The second time I asked myself: "what is the point of this story." Short stories generally convey a message or moral, so I began analyzing the text to see what meaning it had for me. Although there may be professional literature on the meaning of the fortune teller, it conveyed a special meaning to me. The meaning of the short story is the power of the brain in our lives.
At the beginning of the story Camillo laughs at Rita for her belief in the fortune teller. The narrator explains that he is not superstitious and does not believe in religion. It even says that he does not believe because he chooses not to. This makes me think that his mind convinced him not to believe in religion.
The next example is when he receives the note from his friend Villela. Machado beautifully describes Camillo pain staking nerves while wondering what the note is about. His brain immediately analyzes the note and warns him. His mind tells him that he asks him to come to his home instead of his office. It also tells him that the note is written from a wobbly hand indicating that his friend is under stress. Camillo immediately begins to worry and wonder what to do. Machado does a wonderful job of capturing the human thought process as Camillo thinks of whether he should even be worried, buy a gun to protect himself, or even go at all. Not only is the brain incredible enough to analyze what was really happening but it then it completely changes his life. On his way to his friends house everything and everyone looks bleak. Just reading the story makes you anxious for Camillo. Then everything changes as he stops in front of the fortune tellers house.
Camillo believes everything that the fortune teller tells him although she doesn't actually predict anything real. Leaving the fortune tellers house Camillo convinces himself that everything is okay. His mind immediately changes everything around him. He suddenly sees that everyone is happy. He even realized that the note sent for him was very friendly and that he has nothing to worry about. His mind convinces him that the fortune teller must know that nothing will happen because she predicted everything else. Camillo then goes happily to his own death believing that everything will be okay because his mind convinced him of that.
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