A Chicken by Clarice Lispector: Summary, Analysis, Themes
Clarice Lispector, a Ukrainian-born Brazilian novelist and a short-story writer (1920-77), is often overshadowed by other South American literary giants like Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel García Márquez.
Her short stories, however, are remarkably inventive and carry the force of miniature parables or fables.
‘A Chicken’ (‘Uma galinha’) is an excellent example of her allegorical storytelling, running just four pages in the English translation of Lispector’s Complete Stories. Summary On a Sunday morning, a chicken chosen for the family's dinner remains alive in the kitchen. After staying unnoticed since the previous day, the chicken suddenly flies up to the roofs of neighboring houses. The man of the house, likely the eldest son, chases after the chicken and eventually catches her. Back in the kitchen, the chicken, in her frantic state, lays an egg. The daughter of the family urges her mother not to kill the chicken because it laid an egg and "cares about us." The father and th…