Near to the Wild Heart opens with a scene of the child Joana playing in the garden, making up poems for her father. Joana's wildness and barely suppressed violence, along with her linguistic creativity, are her most notable features. She is frequently compared to animals: over the course of the book Lispector compares her to a bird, a snake, a wildcat, a horse, and a dog. She commits transgressive acts—as a child she throws a book at an old man's head, for example, and as a married woman she leaves her husband, Otávio, and greets the news of his adultery—he has made another woman, his
A Woman, Her Men, and Her Futon and to get serious very quickly. This is understandable, because Helen is a beautiful, passionate woman of innate elegance and poise - even though within herself she may be confused and uncertain. The most important man in her life, however, is not the man with whom she shares her futon. He's Donald (Lance Edwards), an aspiring filmmaker with a lot of style, a penchant for trendy restaurants and a chic, large apartment in one of those highly coveted old Spanish-style buildings on what looks to be Sycamore Avenue. Donald is a friend from film school, and he'd like help on