O dilema metafísico da Aparição

The author of this paper analyses the “scandal” of the novel Aparição, which was flagrant at the end of the 50s of the 20th century but only ten years later, in 1969, its “irreligiosity” was regarded as inoffensive. The metaphysical dilemma of the novel, which aims to put the man in God’s position, became, with the passage of time, something rather obvious. On the other hand, the post‑1968 generation does not understand and accept the existentialist ethics of the “noble infelicity” for the sake of the humanist principles. Curiously enough, the fervor of the hero’s engagement in preaching the necessity of atheism at the end of the book could be considered nowadays as an act of violence. Nevertheless, Vergílio Ferreira’s novel has not lost its great literary value.