O conto "Almas agradecidas", de Machado de Assis, e o papel do leitor

in general, the meanings of machado's works are not offered in the level of textual speech. it must be produced by a model-reader, through the investigation of the deep levels of language. so, we analyze the textual organization of the narrative "almas agradecidas", in order to show that the reader is requested to contribute in the interpretation of the text. to that extent, the narrator's attitude is extremely important for the construction of the characters and we observe that his intrusion does not in encompass all of them, which results in a deliberate relativization of omniscience. this construction demands some kind of cooperation by the reader, which allows him/her to act as a co-author. thus, he/she becomes model-reader of the text.