speaking to Rosa about the promises made by Saint Sebastian says: "The whole earth is dry, it’s bad, it never bore anything worthwhile"; Corisco, referring to his life, says: "My fate is so dirty that not all blood in the world can wash it; Antonio das Mortes comments on the death of the ‘beatos’: "I did not kill the ‘beatos’ for the money. I killed them because I cannot rest living with this misery. "These examples of the powerful language, together with realistic and sometimes shocking imagery (skinning