The Feast of the Goat By Mario Vargas Llosa Research Paper

The Feast of the Goat By Mario Vargas Llosa - Research Paper Example Most of the Latin American countries assumed the authoritarian governance (Duiker and Spielvogel 732). One of the dictators during that time was General Rafael Trujillo of the Dominican Republic. He ruled from 1930 to 1961 and used all means to acquire and gain more wealth even with the expense of the Dominicans. He controlled every aspect of the Dominican Republic and also controlled the economic resources of the country, which in return brought him personal wealth. Nonetheless, Trujillo’s regime ended, but the fear that it had inculcated in the minds of the Dominicans lingered longer. This was depicted during the stay of Mario Vargas Llosa in the country. In the span of eight months, Vargas Llosa witnessed the fear that Trujillo left to the Dominican Republic which inspired him to write The Feast of the Goat in 2000 (Vedovato 25; Kristal and King 212). 2.0 Mario Vargas Llosa Mario Vargas Llosa is considered as one of the most famous Latin American authors. His ability to inc orporate the past and present in his works affixes the reader from the beginning to the end. Vargas Llosa is considered as a keen observer of societal events and activities in relation to corruption of the government (Benson, Hellander, and Wlodarski 45). In addition, Vargas Llosa considered three life experiences that had brought him to writing his literary pieces. The first one is his experience of violence on the hands of his father, which brought him to distaste his relationship with him. He also considered his unpleasant experience at the military academy in Lima as a window in understanding the injustice and brutal acts of the party-colored under the military regime of General Odria during 1948 to 1956. The second life-changing experience that molded him was during the time when Heberto Padilla, a Cuban poet undergone a shameful trial. This was during the regime of Fidel Castro and was done in order for other leftist writers, like Vargas Llosa, to end their protest against the government. The turning point was when Vargas Llosa’s cowriters succumbed to the demand of Castro, and they left him. For this reason, Vargas Llosa decided to shift his literary genre to erotic and humorous novels. Lastly, the final turning point in Vargas Llosa’s life was when he ran for the presidency in Peru against Alberto Fujimori in 1990. He did not win during the election, but this did not upset him. According to him, he was saddened because of the fact that his fellow citizens chose another authoritarian to govern and lead them. Nonetheless, despite these experiences, he still has an interest in politics while adding that he considers himself as a liberal, and that he believes in every individual’s freedom. According to him, being a liberal is the freedom of a person to define his or her own nationality (Foley 3-4; Zapata 62). Aside from his political interests, Vargas Llosa is also concerned of the presence of political extremism in Latin America. This was also one of the reasons why he ran for the presidency because he was alarmed of the political extremism of the Right and Left. This has even been supplemented with violent movements by the Shining Path Socialist. Moreover, he also opposes the dictatorship of the nationalism of the Right and the collectivism of the Left. He strongly believes in democracy and freedom from which he declares himself as a liberal (Foley 4-5). 3.0 The Feast of the Goat 3.1 Genre and Theme The novel The Feast of the Goat by Vargas Llosa focuses on the theme of a society that is