Joana's Journey

Before Joana asserts that she is the creator of her own circumstances, she needs, first, to dispel her fears. In the opening lines of ‘The Journey’, the narrator exhibits Joana’s state of mind. The narrator discloses that Joana is leaving behind a reality that is solid and has well-formed shapes to situate herself, instead, in a more liquid reality (187). The narrator uses the element of ‘water’ in symbolic terms to denote a shapeless and formless nature. Being water the element that sustains life on earth, Joana, by the act of sinking into the liquid, she is, symbolically speaking, going back to the source of life. Joana is also exponentially turning away from the culturally constructed self-imposed on her, in her childhood, to her genuine
After her marriage to Otavio, Joana feels that she has lost her identity. She is, moreover, affected by feelings of sadness and melancholy (190). These feelings overwhelm her despite the fact that she has made the decision to go, rather than run away (189). The narrator emphasizes that Joana holds no hopes, no expectations. To a certain extent the new path that Joana has chosen mingles with the symbolic use of ‘water’ discussed earlier because river waters flowing into the ocean become one with its depth and vastness. Even if Joana is uncertain about what her future holds, she is, nevertheless, becoming one with the uncertainty that her decision entails like the river waters mingle with the sea waters. In other words, Joana is taking action when she feels uncertain. There exists, however, one last constraint blocking her new path. It is her belief system. Joana at this point in the episode still relies on the biblical God to be her shelter. So, she makes a plea to God in the hope that God provides her with what she needs and she does not know what that is (191). In Being and Nothingness, Sartre defines ‘bad faith’ the act of hiding the truth from ourselves (49). Herein, it is suggested that Joana is misplacing her accountability. The more importance Joana gives to God, the more powerless she becomes. This is observed when Joana, by latching on to God for guidance, she is overcoming fear and pain. Further in the narrative, Joana recites ‘take me in like a dog’, Joana forgets that she is special, that she does not need a man-made god that demands her to be a passive being that prays, rather than take action in life. Joana is deceiving herself. This scene is not only a turning point in the story, but it is one of the most intriguing moments for the reader. The reader is