The Feast of the Goat (Part II)
In this novel Vargas Llosa depicts the times in which General Trujillo was the dictator of the Dominican Republic. This novel gives a detailed account of this dictator’s personality, his allies, enemies, and the many tortures to which he subjected his people during his regime.
Since The Feast of The Goat is a dictatorial novel, and this is not a genre that I am particularly confident with I have decided to comment on Urania Cabral instead. Everything revolves around her, therefore, having a great impact on this novel.
Why does Urania Cabral go back to the island she swore never to set foot again? In my opinion, Urania goes back to Santo Domingo, the island where she was born and raised, because there is something in her that is haunting her memories and doesn’t let her rest. She feels the need to face her father and her past; a past that has marked her for life. And in this way comes face to face with a reality that is as cruel as it is certain; the sad reality of her life. Perhaps feelings of emptiness combined with the grudge that Urania has held onto for so long are the reasons that bring her to take her holidays in the Dominican Republic to visit her father, a man that in his prime was the right hand of Trujillo and now finds himself on his death bed. When Urania goes back or returns to the Dominican Republic she finds the colours, smells, and memories rush back; memories that she had tried to burry so she could go on with life. Something made her come to her father’s house; who is now an old and sick man, looked after by a nurse and who seems to have returned to a childlike stage. From that moment on Urania is launched on a rollercoaster of emotions as she relives her past.
-->To conclude, The President is still my favourite novel from this semester
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2 comments:
Hi Erica! (you see? now I can spell your name better!) The character of Urania is difficult to define what is Urania. She is not the main character (I think that the main character is Trujillo) but at the same time, all the story is around Urania!
Well, why did she come back? I dont know, maybe is a symbol that represents the situation of the Dominican Republic. This past is in the minds od the people and therefore the present is a consequence of the past, so even if Urania studied in Harvard, she will be tied to the Dominican Republic all her life!
Hi Erica,
I think she comes back for closure of some sort...Whether or nt she really gets it is uncertain at the end, though she seems to have made a step in the right direction...She is not going to forget what happened to her but at least she now had people willing to listen to her...she was able to actually tell her story (though not all of it)...I mean her father was teling her never to say certain things to anyone (the affair of family friend with Trujillo etc)...
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