Vargas Llosa Ideas

Mario Vargas Llosa explores how the ideas of reality and imagination re in a state of tension throughout the novel.

Llosa explores this through the recurring use of screenplays on alternating chapters. In chapter 1 we are introduced to the book’s protagonist: Mario/Marito and his life in Peru; however, the next chapter is seeming unrelated as it is about the life of a wealthy doctor.

It is revealed to the reader that the alternating chapters are actually screenplays written by Marito and Pedro Camacho. This is foreshadowed as the audience notices parallels between the screenplays and the “real” storyline. On page 135 Marito calls Pedro an “intellectual” sarcastically regarding the fact that Camacho “doesn’t read” in order to remain uninfluenced by other authors. This is one of many moments where the audience sees Mario break out of the bubble and realize that Pedro Camacho is not some God and that he too has his shortcomings.

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