Introduction
Death In The Andes is a novel that was written in 1993 by Mario Vargas Llosa. It was translated from its original Spanish text into English (276 pages) in 1996 by Edith Grossman, and published by Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, Inc. While it is difficult to pigeon-hole this novel into a specific genre, murder mystery would be a functional one strictly for the purposes of classification. The primary aim of this book review will be to provide a brief synopsis on the plot, and perhaps more importantly to explore and analyze the general themes and purposes behind the author’s intended messages. Further, to provide reflections on what was derived from the novel from both a literary and a more visceral personal perspective.
Plot Summary
Death in The Andes is a story which takes place in Naccos, a remote mining town situated in the Andean mountains of Peru, tucked away from the demands of modern urban life. A place inhabited by the Serruchos, indigenous rural mountain people of Peru that speak the indigenous Quechua language. The story is mainly told from the perspective of the main protagonist Lituma, a Corporal in the Civil Guard of Spanish dissent. He is posted there to protect a highway construction crew of 200 workers against the Senderistas, guerrilla terrorists of the Shining Path.
Lituma sums up the central fulcrum from which the axis of the story revolves when he states, “… what’s going on? First the mute, then the albino, now one of the highway foremen.” A series of mysterious disappearances in Naccos that Lituma is determined to resolve a reason for. These mysterious disappearances ominously foreshadow a series of further killings in the region, which in isolation have no inherent meaning, but collectively forge the major thematic devices of the narrative.
The primary suspects of the original disappearances are the ruthless and dispassionate Senderista guerillas; who have taken on the grizzly mission to kill any foreigners that should enter the Andes, without cause or reason other than their alien status. Later, the more disturbing realization manifests that the disappearances are at the hands of the Serrucho mountain people, having reverted to the cannibalistic rituals of the early indigenous cultures of the region. Their tradition dictates they offer up humans for sacrifice before the undertaking of any major construction project, in this case the highway being built in Naccos.
While these are the main features of the plot, as it relates to its overarching theme of cultural conflict, there are a series of minor subplots woven throughout the book that are seemingly divorced from the primary thematic structure. One such subplot is a love story between Carreño, a Civil Guardsman working under Lituma, and a prostitute he encounters. These plot tangents made for an oft fractured and at times disjointed and confusing read. In a past 1996 review of the novel by Madison Bell she concurred remarking, “The foreground of this novel seems confusingly disorganized from start to finish. The individual vignettes are often brilliant, but neither Lituma nor the reader nor perhaps the author himself can put them all coherently together”.
Theme Analysis
While many sub-themes could be interpreted and explored, including a number of allusions to Greek mythology and tragedy which are present within the text, the overarching theme, which is ubiquitous throughout, is that of conflict and intolerance between indigenous cultures and the capitalist ideologies of the Western world. A clash of worlds and the cultural confusion that results are aptly summarized when Lituma states, when commenting on the mountain people, “Because you're mysterious and I don't understand you … I like people to be transparent.” This observation is consistent with the historical context of the Spanish Conquistadores view on the natives they first encountered during the conquests. Such was the vast extent of disconnect between the two groups, Spanish colonizers ethnocentric perspective questioned if the natives were more animal than human. Historically, this disassociation with the native’s humanity provided justification for the European settlers to barbarically slaughter the “others” to achieve their own gains. Specifically within the real historical contextual background of Peru, their once proud Inca Empire was completely extinguished in 1532 by a group of Spanish conquistadors, led by Francisco Pizarro, culminating in the defeat and capture of Inca Emperor Atahualpa (Spain, 1841).
In a true reversal of fortune from the historical script, in Death in the Andes it is the indigenous people that are vengefully treating the Europeans as less than human. Killing the “others”, as if they were animals fit for slaughter, in numbers at their own digression and to meet their own ends. Seemingly executed simply for the crime of being an outsider to the region, in one chapter a pair of French tourists are introduced, only to be killed off quickly after by way of stoning. This disassociation with the violence the indigenous people are a party to is encapsulated when the main protagonist Lituma states, “All those deaths just slide right off the mountain people”.
There is much stark symbolism than can be interpreted based on the description of the three key figures, whose disappearance and subsequent ritualistic murders at the hands of the indigenous mountain people are the central basis for the plot. The “albino” can clearly be interpreted as the symbolic incarnation of the European or “white man”. The mute, himself a Siucani native of indigenous dissent, is a more subjective and complex interpretation. Perhaps through the killing of the mute, or man without a voice, the indigenous people are symbolically ending their silence and lack of social and political power as a result of the subjugation from the Europeans. The highway construction foremen or “boss” could be viewed as the symbol of insidious European power over native culture.
I believe the purpose of these thematic devices was not intended by the author to be taken in literal terms. We as the audience should not infer from the narrative that the author is in support of bloody and violent retribution, in the form of a revolt and mass killings of Europeans at the hands of indigenous people. Rather, the intent was to illustrate the absurdity of the inhumane treatment the natives endured through the subjugation of its people historically, simply for being different physically and culturally. The author deftly is able to build empathy from the reader for the past, and current, treatment of indigenous cultures by showing the atrocities of ethnocentricity from a reverse perspective. Therefore, the overriding message is that we must strive for a balance of equality and power, returning the voice and dignity to indigenous cultures. Moreover, we should seek to mitigate cultural confusion by attempting to understand and respect cultural differences between diverse groups.
Llosa’s message involving the historical context of the Spanish conquest, and atrocities that followed as a result of cultural confusion and intolerance, is one that is deeply engrained as part of the Latin American experience. We see it in all forms of Latin American artistic expression, including in the subject matter of many of the globally recognized works of muralist Diego Rivera. Additionally, being such a highly socially aware and political message at its heart, it should be no surprise that the author himself is deeply politically engaged. In fact, In 1990 Mario Vargas Llosa ran for the Presidency of his homeland Peru. He garnered a plurality of 29 percent in the first round of balloting but lost the runoff to an obscure agronomist named Alberto Fujimori, who received 57 percent of the final vote (Kellman, 1996).
Overall Analysis and Evaluation
On balance, I would recommend this book as an interesting read, able to deliver a powerful message though its socially and politically aware themes. It was apparent that the author, of Peruvian dissent himself, was speaking from a place of knowledge and experience which revealed itself through the authenticity and honesty of his writing. Llosa’s knowledge and mastery of his subject matter was illustrated through his intimate understanding of indigenous Peruvian cultural practices and political movements, explored in detail throughout the narrative. For example, the Shining Path is a contemporary Maoist political movement that exists in Peru, and wields its power through violent guerrilla tactics of terrorism (Shining Path, Britannica), as portrayed in the book. Additionally, his real-life involvement with Peruvian politics infuses ethos to the politically loaded messages throughout the construct of the narrative.
This authenticity was enhanced by the casual style of the writing and dialogue, which was gritty and reflective of the everyday people, embroiled in this plot of extraordinary circumstances. One such example was a line in which Lituma states, “Fix us some coffee for this shit weather.”, clearly Llosa’s dialogue was not confined by any pretense or attempts to create poetic prose, rather used as a means by which to reflect the authenticity of everyday life.
While the dialogue and character development was without artistic ambiguity as a result of pretense, the numerous allusions to past cultural texts, and some seemingly disjointed and unimportant sub-plots, made the reading a laborious task at times to form congruency and clarity of plot and message.
Putting aside these shortcomings, from a holistic perspective, the book had an important message that was delivered with a “readable” aesthetic of down to earth real-life appeal. Like any great novel should, it engaged the reader with interesting dialogue and character development, while also providing the reader with important messages of meaning for reflection. The author ultimately succeeded in conveying his message of the importance of cultural understanding and equality, amongst the diverse and often fractured people of Latin America.
Conclusion
In conclusion, despite the complexities and many layers of the author’s writing style, in Death in the Andes; Llosa has been able to subversively, yet unmistakably, portray an important social and political message of the negative consequences of cultural intolerance. Through a clever juxtaposition of the historical power balance between indigenous and European culture, the audience cannot help but gain a perspective of empathy for the historical injustices and violence perpetrated against the indigenous cultures of Latin America. The credibility and experiential knowledge the author brings to his subject matter, further serves to validate and underscore this work as an important and distinctive piece of Latin American literature.
References
Bell, Madison (1996), Mountains of the Mind, New York Times, accessed June 12, 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/06/28/specials/llosa-andes
Kellman, Steven G. (1996), Vargas Llosa Returns to His Peaks, The Atlantic Monthly Online, accessed June 18, http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/96mar/vargasl
“Shining Path”, Encyclopedia Britannica Online, accessed June 19, 2012,
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/540794/Shining-Path
Spain (1841), Recopilación de leyes de los Reynos de las Indias, Boix, Oxford University Archives.
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