The War of the End of the World

The nearsighted journalist is out on patrol with a group of soldiers. All are extremely thirsty, and all the wells they find have been filled in by the jagunços. Before long, he rejoins the main body of the army. Another expedition delivers Father Joaquim to Moreira César, who proceeds to interrogate him. He finds out there are 5,000 to 8,000 inhabitants of Canudos and that they are “[t]he happiest people I’ve ever seen” (254). The accusations of a conspiracy with England confuse Father Joaquim. He expresses his humility before the power of the people’s faith in Canudos. They debate, and the priest admits he cannot reconcile their violent actions with their religious impulses. Fearing for his life, he agrees to draw a map of Canudos to help the army plan its attack. The colonel decides not to execute him; instead he will work with the guides. Having witnessed the interrogation, the journalist realizes the army does not understand what is happening in Canudos. An ambush provokes the soldiers to behead a captive and promise to fire his head from a cannon; Moreira César says they are ready for combat.

Galileo Gall rides toward Canudos with a new guide, Ulpino, who believes the settlement is being destroyed because the jagunços dimly understand it as a symbol of private property. At camp, Ulpino asks why he is going to Canudos, and Gall tries to explain what its revolution means. Ulpino thought he was going “to save his wife’s life” from Rufino (262). Gall insists Jurema is not his wife. The next day, Big João steals their horse; Gall offers his help, but João replies that God’s help is all they need. Alone, Ulpino asks again if Gall really doesn’t care about Rufino killing his wife. Gall insults him, and Ulpino leaves to find food.

The Lion of Natuba feels foreboding after Father Joaquim’s “death.” He remembers once confessing to the Counselor that he didn’t believe in God, only him, “because you make me feel human” (266). He replied that the Lion had “nothing to repent […] your life is a penance” (267). He remains resentful of Maria Quadrado for having felt repugnance at his deformity, and imagines he will go to Hell. Abbot João arrives at the Sanctuary from preparing Canudos’s defenses, and explains the army will attack tomorrow. Pajeú will fall on them from behind. Many will die, the Counselor admits, but “[d]eath is bliss for the faithful believer” (270).

Rufino continues heading toward Canudos, coming across Pajeú and his men. They shush him as an army patrol passes. The patrol enters a group of huts, finding Jurema and the Dwarf resting. Pajeú attacks, slaughtering the soldiers, then departs after looting their bodies. Rufino ties up Jurema to stop her escaping. She begs him to kill her and get it over with, explaining that she was raped and it wasn’t her fault, but Rufino refuses. Ulpino appears, recognizing him, and explains that Gall is resting nearby, and that he is a liar for insisting Jurema “wasn’t his” (276). Rufino leads Jurema and the Dwarf in silence toward Gall.

The Baroness Estela is deeply distressed by the destruction of Calumbi. It was “as though the children I lost when they were born were being burnt to cinders” (277). She and the baron are at José Bernardo Murau’s hacienda, with him and Adalberto de Gumúcio. Adalberto speaks about his murdered sister, stressing that Estela’s wound will heal. The baron is distressed to see his typically resilient, controlled wife so agitated. Finally, she falls asleep. Adalberto asks why the baron let Gall go free. Uneasy, he explains that Gall is “a special type of madman: a fanatic,” who would have testified against them (282). Nevertheless, he feels sympathy for him. Furthermore, the article Gall gave him details Gonçalves’s plot. The baron is not planning to publicize the conspiracy; instead, to his allies’ amazement, he proposes an alliance with the Progressivist Republicans.

The nearsighted journalist lies awake, listening to the cannons bombarding Canudos and the continuous pealing of its church bells. He feels lucky that he didn’t join the patrol that was massacred by Pajeú. Earlier, the army came across their bodies, castrated and hanged from cactuses. He has run out of ink and his quill is broken, but he is the only journalist to have made it. Moreira César is surprised and impressed. He announces that “[t]omorrow we will lunch in Canudos” (290).

Gall, realizing that Ulpino has abandoned him, continues alone, with no idea where he is going. Spotting figures through the trees, he calls out, only to find that the figures are Rufino, Jurema, and the Dwarf. Gall tries to explain that honor is unimportant, the struggle for Canudos is what matters, but Rufino doesn’t listen. They tussle, and Gall knocks Rufino to the ground, furiously accusing him of being a “traitor to your class” (292). Continuing alone, very soon he comes across a group of jagunços. They refuse to take him to Canudos until the army is defeated. As he follows in their wake, Rufino attacks from the brush. As they struggle in the dirt, the army’s bugles sound nearby. Rufino falls into a hole, and Gall again tries to leave, the Dwarf clinging to him, terrified of being abandoned. The cannons begin firing as Rufino and Jurema appear through the trees. As they are about to fight once more, two fleeing soldiers appear, shoot them, and drag Jurema into the brush.

Maria Quadrado is terrified, although she believes she ought to be happy, since death means she will meet God and the Virgin Mary. She recalls the procession the Counselor made through the trenches, and his speech about Mary’s grief at Christ’s circumcision. He takes Moreira César’s white horse as a sign from the Book of Revelation. On the way back to the Sanctuary, the cannonade begins. Maria Quadrado shields the Lion of Natuba from the rushing crowds. All lights are extinguished, and the bells ring from the Temple, inspiring hope. The Vilanova brothers organize for the wounded to be carried to the Health Houses and for the dead to go to a makeshift morgue, later to receive a Christian burial. In the morning she and the Lion are brought to the top of the belfry, where the Counselor prays on his knees.

Jurema, trying not to antagonize the soldiers, doesn’t resist as one begins raping her. Suddenly, the soldier’s throat is slit: It is Pajeú and his men. Sobbing, she points back toward Rufino. He and Gall are still struggling, barely alive from their wounds. Pajeú refuses to intervene: “This is men’s business” (307). The jagunços disappear. Jurema watches both men die, in despair at the futility of their fight.

The Baron de Canabrava visits Estela’s bedroom. Her maid, Sebastiana, says she will stay with her overnight. They discuss whether it is better to stay or continue to on the strenuous journey to Salvador, where she can receive medical attention. Murau and Gumúcio have read Gall’s article; the three men debate it for a while, before Adalberto brings up the difficulty of the baron’s proposed alliance. Murau leaves to investigate the sound of hoofbeats; returning, the baron asks if it is news of Moreira César, and Murau simply mutters, “Incredible, incredible” (312).

The nearsighted journalist watches the morning attack on Canudos. He sees Canudos in flames as troops charge down the hillsides. As they enter the town, it is hard to distinguish what is happening. Moreira César, impatient for victory, orders the cavalry reserve to charge. Down in the river they are attacked by rifle fire. The colonel orders his mount brought: He will join the attack personally. Not 50 yards into a gallop, they see him fall to the ground. His body is recovered and brought to the medical tent, where Dr. Souza Ferreiro commands the journalist to help; he has no other medical orderlies. Hours later, the projectiles have been removed, but the colonel’s belly is “ripped to shreds” (319). Souza Ferreiro doubts he will survive. Colonel Tamarindo arrives and Moreira César demands news. Tamarindo says they must retreat and await reinforcements: “[T]he regiment has fallen apart” (320). César demands the journalist write down his words, that the retreat is against his will. A moment later, he dies. A debate erupts over whether to retreat at night; Tamarindo wins out. The journalist is advised to find his own escape; before leaving, he hears Father Joaquim begging to be untied and does what he asks.

The Dwarf drags Jurema away from Rufino and Gall’s bodies. They run into Pajeú, who hides them when he hears soldiers. The cavalry pass by on their charge through the river, and Pajeú orders them attacked from behind. Jurema sees Moreira César fall. Hours later, they witness the rout of the soldiers from Canudos itself, running across the river toward them up the hill. They hide over the other side until the rout has passed. Then two silhouettes stumble over the Dwarf: Father Joaquim and the journalist.

Antônio Vilanova runs back and forth through Canudos, relighting the furnace, helping people from the rubble, directing others to put out fires. On his way to the Health Houses, Abbot João gives him a message for Catarina, his “wife”: He hasn’t forgiven himself for what he did to their town. She responds that if he goes to hell, she wants to go with him. Antônio spends the night of the bombardment setting up infirmaries, and the day of the battle assisting the fighters: handing them ammunition, dragging the wounded to safety, and organizing the defense of one of the barricades. Finally the soldiers start fleeing back uphill, and Antônio rallies the fighters to chase them and loot their weapons before night falls.

The nearsighted journalist awakes the next morning. Father Joaquim says it is safest for the four of them to go to Canudos, and starts leading them there. They come across soldiers in a rout: The journalist realizes they did not begin an orderly retreat the previous night. Father Joaquim calls out to Abbot João, whose jagunços are harassing them; he directs them to Belo Monte. Tamarindo is killed. The route down the hill is chaotic, and when they finally arrive, the journalist momentarily loses sight of Father Joaquim. He is terrified the inhabitants of Canudos will kill him. A fit of sneezing causes him to lose his glasses. He hears them break as Jurema grabs his hand and drags him away.

Epaminondas Gonçalves and the Baron de Canabrava meet at the baron’s house in Salvador. Gonçalves says he would not be there except for what happened to Moreira César. The federal government is sending another army to Canudos, and the baron explains that this is terrible news for Gonçalves’s Jacobin faction as well as for the Bahia aristocracy. The dictatorial military republic they wanted to establish has lost its most prestigious advocate; now the Jacobins will be purged. The baron proposes unifying their parties as the only way to maintain Bahia’s independence. Gonçalves will become state governor. Eventually he agrees. Before leaving, the baron asks about the journalist and Gonçalves says he assumes he is dead.