The present article analyses two major contemporary Brazilian novels that deal with the subject of urban violence and marginality, apparently from a similar point of view and writing style, Paulo Lins' Cidade de Deus (1997) and Patricia Melo's Inferno (2000). The analysis of the internal structures of this texts shows, nevertheless, that both discursive constructions uphold opposite world views and ideological conceptions, despite their superficial affinity. Violence and marginality, in fact, are probably the most exploited and discussed subjects in the last few decades in Brazil, so the comparison between the poetical construction in both novels reveals that it is almost impossible to maintain an univocal sense and explanation of this contemporary condition.