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&liquor; La Ciudad Y Los Perros&roque; Just An&liquor; La Ciudad Y Los Perros&roque; Just An Open And Shut Case? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Published in 1962, this was Vargas Llosa&risque; s first novel. Much of what happens in it, indeed in many of his works, is founded on the author&risque; s personal experience: &liquor; &help; personal experience is the raw material for what I write&help; &roque; ? Llosa attended the very same military school &nash; the Leoncio Prado Academy &nash; as those in the novel, for two years. His father wanted to make a man out of him to dispel his literary tendencies. What we can see already is Llosa&risque; s connection with his characters.
For example, Alberto being the story writer and Esclavo being the wimp sent to the academy by his father to toughen up. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? One can attempt to answer the title by seeing if there is more to the novel than just the plot: Whether the author&risque; s techniques are employed to convey political messages or if any of the characters contain a broader social context. Firstly, one can attribute many of Llosa&risque; s ideals to men like Jean Paul Sartre, Malraux and Faulkner. Llosa employs Sartre an ideas of social concern. The military school, the cadets and their relationship with the officers are a pretext to describe the conflicts and the violent kinds of institutions the Peruvian society has.
Vargas Llosa makes good use of the cadets in the academy and their mixture of social backgrounds. Both the racial issues between whites, Indians and blacks as well as the geographical divisions in Peru between the coastal, Andean and jungle regions arise in the novel. Llosa says that in effect, the academy was a microcosm of Peru &nash; his beliefs that it is the writer&risque; s duty to be a voice in society and to fight for the victims of society are a significant characteristic of this novel. However, Vargas Llosa emphasizes that he does not use creative literature as a vehicle for political statements, that it should not be used to promote a political idea because it will result damaging to literature. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? The characters and themes in the novel are important in identifying Vargas Llosa&risque; s aims. Esclavo represents the middle-class boy who cannot fend for himself once in the academy.
He can be seen as a character that represents a victim of society. In the macho system of the academy his passivity and evasion of violent encounters are interpreted as a weakness. His character is used as a development to the plot and is therefore a limited character. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Despite the fact that Boa makes a great impression on the reader, we know little about him. His monologues show the brutality and less agreeable activities of the cadets. His descriptions provoke revulsion and distaste.
Likewise, Boa&risque; s animal nature and his linguistic limitations make contact with other cadets physical rather than verbal. His relationship with his bitch dog Malpapeada shows that there is underlying kindness beneath an &liquor; animal&roque; exterior. Boa&risque; s role is to onslaught the reader&risque; s feelings: Vargas Llosa says that this character made explicit scenes appear more realistic. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Alberto can be likened to Vargas Llosa in that he is intelligent and has a talent for writing. His comparative support for the defenceless Esclavo only results in abuse from other cadets who liken them to a married couple. In accusing Jaguar of making his life a misery and killing Esclavo he shows courage but the authorities silence and blackmail him.
On the other hand, Alberto does emerge as a character only concerned with his self-interest. He is secure in the knowledge that he has a comfortable future ahead of him. Why Vargas Llosa makes him act in this way may indicate that the author had a negative view of human nature or equally he may be a realist. In the Epilogue, Alberto is shown to be dreaming about his future in America but it is evident that the corruption of the academy has incorporated itself. Alberto&risque; s attempt to forget about the Leoncio Prado is a conscious decision as much as a hope. It is by means of Alberto that Vargas Llosa gives the clearest statement about the structure of Peruvian society.
The family has sown in him the seeds of class-consciousness: one is aware that Alberto acts in response to social conventions. He begins and ends comfortably in the middle class in which the man abuses his wife but at the same time pays lip service to the devotion of the family. Also, his attitude towards Teresa &nash; a girl from a lower social class and with a different background &nash; is patronising from the start and culminates in Marcela saying: &liquor; &help; es una huchafa fea&help; &roque; ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Teresa and her relationships with the three cadets conclude for contrasting reasons, Alberto moves to socially higher and more appropriate things; Esclavo (who is essentially on the same social level as her) lacks self-assurance but Jaguar shows his delicate side towards Teresa and later marries her.
Teresa is a social barometer for the three boys. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Jaguar could not have two more contrasting sides to him. His violence is characteristic throughout most of the novel. He never makes friends with the dubious exception of Boa but represents the strongest beast if the rest were like animals, he meets violence with violence.
His sensitive side emerges soon after Esclavo is killed. Jaguar realises that he was despised just like Esclavo, he feels remorse and consequently lives haunted by the Slave&risque; s memory. Likewise, Jaguar is very sensitive towards Teresa and it obviously comes as a shock when the reader finds out it was him who was acting in such a way. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Gamboa is a character that commands respect both physically and through is commitment.
Just as his child is born, his world collapses around him as he is posted to an insignificant backwater. Gamboa is the same as Jaguar in that he has the sane moral dignity but both their reward is obscurity: Gamboa is sent to the hills, Jaguar merges into an insignificant job. One of Vargas Llosa&risque; s themes is of failure: in absolute terms, military education fails since it is not true education and also since it does not instil its own standards on the cadets. Gamboa fails because he is wholly dedicated to the ideal concept of the military. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? The novel can be seen as a moral one. For example, Jaguar is a figure of judgement who sees that there is neither honour nor solidarity in those round him.
He looks for positive or honourable acts from those around him. Jaguar is true to himself, morally sincere, and this lies in his salvation. Similar qualities can be found in Gamboa under whose strict militarism lies a devoted family man. Peruvian society, as represented by the school, is a jungle in which animals fight to survive. Animal imagery extends beyond the obvious nicknames.
The perros are adolescent pups learning to survive in a dog-eat-dog society. Many other references are made to dogs such as &liquor; vida per&roque; and &liquor; hijo de per&roque; . Conversely, the few real animals, notably Malpapeada have more human qualities. Women in general are shown in a bad light in Vargas Llosa&risque; s novels: only the love of Jaguar for Teresa and Gamboa for his wife stand out against a background of sexual perversion and superficial relationships. At the end of &liquor; La Ciudad y los Perros&roque; Vargas Llosa does not abandon hope altogether; however, his view of the social system is negative and on balance his view of human nature is pessimistic. The most conclusive evidence is the quotation introducing the Epilogue: &liquor; &help; en cada line el deterioro emerge su dominio. &roque; There is obvious pessimism underlying this statement it could be inherent in human nature or it could be the product of external social pressures. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
This essay is by no means a complete commentary on the novel but it attempts to look at themes which can be related to issues outside the book such as society. There is no doubt that Vargas Llosa is disillusioned with Peruvian society but his guiding principles are literary more than ideological. The established institutions (the military, church and the national political environment) attempt to maintain solidarity. Vargas Llosa sows doubt by making ambiguous statements about society.
The difficulty of the text, its changes of style and perspective, its disruption of linear narrative all lead to obscuring the issues. Vargas Llosa&risque; s criticism of the status quo is not the objective, the manner of his writing comes from literary considerations: &liquor; No es una critica proc, sino una mostra cion descarnada&help; &roque; (Caceres). La Ciudad y Los Perros is not just an open and shut case, it mirrors Peruvian institutionalism and shows the social and moral conflicts between boys from diverse backgrounds. The author shows that the concept of virility, its use and its consequences in the academy is not successful.
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