How did Graciliano Ramos portray poverty in Barren Lives?

In his 1938 novel Vidas secas (Barren Lives), Graciliano Ramos portrays the harsh realities of poverty in northeastern Brazil through a terse, pungent narrative style.12

The novel depicts the social and economic tragedies of the region by following a peasant family’s desperate flight from drought. Ramos uses this story to denounce the systemic neglect and underdevelopment of the Brazilian interior, highlighting the misery of populations living in the rural backlands. By focusing on the family's struggle for survival, the work serves as a powerful critique of the conditions faced by the impoverished, emphasizing the dehumanizing impact of their environment and the scarcity of resources in the region.12