This unusual work is an antirealist fantasy drawn from Amazonian Indian mythology, Afro-Luso-Brazilian folklore, and the
author’s imagination. Thus, much of what occurs is fablelike, magical, or illogical, with no spatial or temporal bounds. The action centers on the hero’s struggle to recover a magical amulet given to him by Ci. His adventures take him to all corners of Brazil and back in time.
Macunaima is born an ugly black baby to a Tapanhuma Indian mother. Although he is destined to be a popular hero, his mother notes that all names beginning with "Ma" bring bad luck. The sadistic and mischievous child soon discovers magical powers, transforming himself into a comely prince to seduce his brother Jigue’s first wife. When Jigue distributes meat after a successful hunt, the hero receives tripe and vows revenge. During a famine, the hero’s acts show him to be vindictive and greedy. As punishment, his mother expels him from the jungle, and he must return home by his wits. Back home, he goes through several metamorphoses to seduce Iriqui, Jigue’s new wife. Tricked by the gods, Macunaima kills his mother. The three
brothers and Iriqui then set off for "our world." They soon encounter Ci, whom the hero rapes. An entourage of birds salute him as the new emperor of the virgin forest. The two engender a son, who is adored by women of all races from all parts of the nation. A venomous serpent causes the death of Ci and son; before ascending to become a bright star, she gives the hero a special amulet. The precious stone is lost as Macunaima defeats the Water Mother in battle. When the hero learns that the man-eating giant Venceslau has obtained the coveted charm, he sets off for Sao Paulo to recover it, accompanied by his brothers and a flock of royal parrots. The hero stows his conscience before leaving and gathers two hundred canoes to carry his fortune of cocoa beans. The brothers
discover the footprint of Saint Thomas filled with water. The hero bathes first and becomes fair-skinned and blue-eyed; the envious brothers come out with red and black skin respectively.
In the metropolis, the trio trade beans for currency and discover that money rules all. The hero picks up some white women only to discover that they are prostitutes. They explain to Macunaima that the goblins, spirits, and animals that he thinks he sees are actually buildings and machines. Macunaima surmises that white people are the Children of Manioc and ruminates on the monumental struggle between urban people and machines; he decides that the contest is a draw and that the two are equivalent. He then turns Jigue into a "telephone contraption" and calls Venceslau. The hero confronts the villain for the first time but is killed, diced, and stewed. Maanape employs his powers to revive him. Posing as a French prostitute, the hero again attempts to lure the amulet from the giant, whose vicious dog pursues Macunaima through all regions of Brazil. During this chase they encounter several figures from the nation’s colonial past. By now the hero is overcome by rancor and attends a voodoo rite in Rio de Janeiro, in which he beseeches devil spirits to punish Venceslau, who takes a terrible beating. Vei the Sun offers one of her daughters in marriage if the hero will remain faithful, but he overindulges with a fishwife and incurs the never-ending wrath of the Sun. At the halfway point of the book, the emperor writes a pedantic letter to his subjects recounting his adventures and explaining his impressions of civilization and the Portuguese language.
As Venceslau recuperates, the hero is captured by the giant’s wife, whose lustful daughter allows him to escape. The ensuing chase traverses Brazil’s varied geography and cultural landscape. After unsuccessful attempts to get a scholarship to finance a trip to Europe, the hero searches for buried treasure, purchases a bogus goose that lays golden eggs, and is tricked into a fatal smashing of his own testicles. Resuscitated again, Macunaima imagines a European ocean liner in a fountain; his plea for passage is rejected. The giant returns, however, and the hero tricks him into falling into his own stew. Amulet in hand, the emperor heads back home with his brothers.
During the torturous return trip, the hero finds Iriqui again but rejects her in favor of a princess he created from a tree. He cannot find his old conscience, so he assumes that of a Spanish American. Illness and hunger plague the hero in his new hut. His brothers discover magic food-producing agents, but Macunaima loses them. A poison hook that he devises turns his brothers into ghostly shadows, who begin persecuting him. This antagonism results in the creation of folk dances and rites. In his solitude, Macunaima feels remorse and recalls his former glory. Vei the Sun lures him into mortal combat with the Lady of the Lake, where he loses the amulet and a leg. Macunaima decides to give up life and ascends to heaven as the Great Bear constellation. Many years later, a man wanders into the jungle to be told these great tales by a parrot. That man is the omniscient narrator of this work.