A summary of the first 5 short stories in the collection 'Los Jefes', by Vargas Llosa as well an analysis of their themes, symbols and the broader references/relevance to Vargas Llosa's oeuvre.
Reasonably straightforward from a narrative point of view
o In medias res, first person narrative (from a fictionalised Mario Vargas Llosa
Plot revolves around a group of school students who organise a strike after the
school’s head teacher announces there won’t be an exam timetable put up and thus
students will have to be prepared for any exam at any time.
Running parallel throughout to this story is the rivalry between the narrator and Lu,
one of the rebellion’s organisers who seems determined to undermine the others in
order to establish his superiority.
In the end it is very much a storm in a teacup as the students ultimately bottle it out
of fear of expulsion and return to school-including the leaders-Lu, Javier and the
narrator.
Similarities with other novels:
o Leadership/council within a school reminds us of Vargas Llosa’s other novel
La ciudad y los perros.
o Echoes of The Lord of the Flies through the squabbling and power struggle
amongst schoolchildren-the rivalries and confrontations.
Title-refers to both Ferrufino-the school’s autocratic head, and to the ‘commission’
of school children-whose failure to look beyond their differences and elect an actual
boss sough the seeds of their downfall.
Themes/Messages
o Rivalry and friendship
o Rebellion and command
o Impossibility of colluding with one’s enemies.
o Microcosm possibly for dictatorship/autocratic rue
Symbolism
o Ferrufino’s suit-emphasis put on the greyness of his appearance-denoting
the dull, strict and lifeless type of person who would implement such an
unnecessary rule.
o River-The boys plan to hold the strike at the river-which is dry for 11 months
of the year-and pass the time by playing football-however-despite the line
‘’vamos al río’’ repeated several times-the children never make it to the river.
Thus, it seems the river is used to symbolise the idealised hope of the boys-to
be free to make their own command, like a river is free to flow-and the
reality-an arid plot of land which serves no purpose to anyone-just like the
commission ultimately proves to be.
El desafío
Again, begins in medias res and is narrated in the first person, this time by someone
called Julian
The plot centres around a knife fights between el Cojo, a local boy, brutish, a bully,
and Justo, a friend of the protagonist.
, Story begins with Julian entering a bar. He is crestfallen and after drinking a beer in
one go, he tells the others that a fight has been arranged between the two boys after
an argument which had to be broken up by a priest. The beginning is mainly about
setting up the fights and has a very ‘calm before the storm feel’. As a result, tension
is built due to the lengthy build up. Justo is ultimately killed in the knife fight, despite
el Cojo giving Leonidas the opportunity to yield.
The only ‘dato escondido’ if you will is the presence of Leonidas. He is described
often as ‘el viejo’ and thus the reader wonders what his relationship is to the group
of boys and why he is so concerned. Ultimately, in the story’s tragic twist, it is
revealed that he is Justo’s father-and thus what is more shocking is that he would
rather his son died in the fight than survive having yielded.
Themes/Messages
o Machismo-The duel is based around antiquated ideals surrounding honour,
being a man, pride. It is this pride which is seemingly more important to
Leonidas that his paternal relationship to his son.
o Friendship and rivalry-again, as in Los Jefes, we see strong friendships and
bitter rivalries.
o Patenrity-often presented in a negative way with Vargas Llosa-possible
biographical influence.
Symbolism
o Cauce seco/La Balsa-again, the image of a dry river bed is used-seemingly
associated with the faults of society-in this case, machismo, blinding sense of
pride. Seems to suggest such things are obsolete and no longer should have a
place in society.
o Leonidas-possible reference to the Spartan king Leonidas-who himself
refused to surrender during the battle of Thermopolis.
Techniques
o Dato Escondido
o Flashback narrative-Pg 41-conversatio between the priest, Cojo and Justo.
o Economical narrative-Pg 39
o 49-52-No paragraphing, like in Conversación en la Catédral.
El hermano menor
Darkest story so far in the collection.
Story begins with two brothers, Juan and David, undertaking a difficult journey
through the Peruvian mountains. The running dato escondido throughout is why
they’re there and who they are after. This mystery is gradually revealed throughout
the story. At the midpoint, the brothers kill an Indian servant who has escaped from
their hacienda. Once they return to the ranch, they are told that their sister has had
to be locked away in her room so that she didn’t join them. They lie to her, saying
they didn’t find the Indian. In a shocking twist, the sister admits that the Indian
didn’t rape her-which is what she had previously claimed so that the Indian would
stop following her-something we find out was the fault of David, who asked him to
do that, believing his sister wasn’t safe to be on the ranch alone. Juan, who shot the
Indian, is furious, and releases other Indian servants who are being punished on the
ranch, before returning to the house for a celebratory shot.
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