Change

"Runaway slaves no longer came and thrust themselves into the hands of Candido Neves." (Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis, Father Versus Mother)

Father Versus Mother is about a man named Candido Neves, who is a slave catcher.  When business becomes slow, he has financial problems.  He loses his home and is pressured to get rid of his newborn baby to save on costs. When there is no other choice, he is forced to get rid of his baby, but at the last moment, comes across a runaway slave and makes enough profit to keep his baby. 

When business became slow, why did Candido not change his career? Even when it affected his family so deeply, he still kept trying. Why? It is pride.  Candido once received good money doing this trade and felt that he could again. So he continued to wait for it to happen. He also might be afraid of change.  Maybe he felt that he would not be able to do anything else.

 

Candido reminds me of Hem in Who Moved My Cheese? In this parable, there are two mice named Sniff and Scurry, and two mini people named Hem and Haw. They all live in a maze and would receive cheese to nourish them and make them happy.  Soon the cheese disappears. Sniff and Scurry immediately set out to look for more cheese. Hem and Haw wait for more cheese to come.  Haw eventually realizes the cheese is never going to come and sets out to find more. Hem continues to wait for more cheese to come, knowing eventually it will come even though he becomes more and more hungry.

Sometimes pride and fear keep us from change. Change happens whether we like it or not, and the quicker we are able to adjust to it, the better we will become.  If we are able to move beyond our fears, we will feel more free and happy.  If Candido were more like the others and realized that when the cheese/money was gone, he needed to change and find another avenue to earn money, maybe he would have still been in his house and had the means to provide for his new baby without any need to get rid of him.