The recurring idea in this book is how imagination and reality are in a constant state of tension and disagreement. Everything from Pedro Camacho’s serial stories every other chapter, to the similarity of between the story plot and Mario Llosa’s (author) real-life events, points to whether reality and imagination are truly opposites. Llosa’s work has challenged the idea that reality and imagination can exist without each other by implementing fictional storylines within his novel. The true fictional nature of Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter can be reconsidered once the resemblance between the plot and Llosa’s life is clear, making it a fictional story with elements of biography and memoir-style writing.

The first quote I want to use to support this is on page 123:

“I couldn’t have been more upset, and broke off my reading to inform her that what she was listening to was not a faithful, word-for-word recounting of the incident she’d told me about, but a story, a story, and that all the things things that I’d added or left out were ways of achieving certain effects : ‘comic effects’, I emphasised, hoping she’d see what I was getting at. She smiled at me, if only out of pity for my misery.

‘But that’s precisely my point, she protested vehemently, not giving an inch. ‘With all the changes you’ve made, it’s not a funny story at all any more.’ “

This quote is an example of how fiction and reality play supporting roles in the re-telling or transformation of information. Sometimes aspects of reality are left out and replaced by elements of fiction and imagination, as shown in the quote, to achieve a certain effect or message. However, this might clash with the idea that the reliability of information after being manipulated several times is diminished. It could be argued that the idea of reality being involved in an event is what makes it appealing or interesting, since it actually happened and therefore can happen to anyone, whereas fiction is simply a question of how creative one can be.

Second quote :

“What is realism, ladies and gentlemen–that famous realism we hear so much about? What better way is there of creating realistic art than by materially identifying oneself with reality? And doesn’t the day’s work thereby become more tolerable, more pleasant, more varied, more dynamic? “

Page 135

This is when Pedro Camacho, who become increasingly unstable as the storyline progresses, defends his practice of wearing the costumes of his cast when writing. This quote focuses on how fiction and reality cooperate and contribute to the bettering of daily life. Compared to the last quote, Camacho is arguing that fiction and reality are bound together despite having opposite connotations. This can be applied to the overall theme of the book, about how fiction and reality are at tension, but at time are both necessary to make life more ‘tolerable’.

In conclusion, the idea of fiction and reality being at odds is one that is explored by Llosa in Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter. Throughout the book, there were multiple examples where the author’s reality was the foundation that supported the plot, covered by a layer of fictional elements (eg : Pedro Camacho’s stories). Sometimes, reality is needed to make fiction more relatable to the reader, and fiction can be used to enhance and dramatise real events. Both techniques are adopted by authors to convey certain messages that otherwise wouldn’t have been conveyed as well if not for the incorporation of fabrication and legitimacy in conjunction with one another.