Explain an idea that Vargas Llosa seems to be exploring and show how the two quotes you’ve chosen relate to this. You can use OTHER examples or ideas, too, if you like (250 – 300 words).
- reality and the imagination are in conflict / in a state of tension
- art sanctifies life
- life is better than art
In Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, Mario Vargas Llosa maintains variation in his book by alternating between narration from the first person, coming from his character’s point of view, to serials created by Pedro Camacho. There seems to be an underlying, recurring idea of reality and imagination constantly being in a state of tension. For example, when Mario has the pleasure of attending a recording session of one of Camacho’s serials in person, he finds the process quite different from what he imagined. The Bolivian scriptwriter delivered a ‘moving’ monologue where “naturally it was the words ‘art’ and ‘artistic’ that was repeated the most frequently… like some sort of magic formula that revealed and explained everything”. This quote continues, mentioning Mario’s surprise at the effect Camacho’s words had on the actors. This shows the two sides that imagination and art hide behind, where we question its authenticity but also the beauty of reality ad whether the sacrifice of authenticity is worth it. This might also relate to the sound effects man who was creating a cacophony of sound, yet managed to produce something that would be overlooked in real life all the time, yet managed to gain an appreciation and a sense of realism despite all the labour that went into the production.
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