The Obscene Bird of Night (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: José Donoso
- First Published: 1970
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Magical Realism
- Time of Work: One year in the 1960’s, with flashbacks to the eighteenth century and the periods during and after World War I
- Setting: Chile
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Magical Realism
- Subjects: 1960’s, Surrealism, Mental illness, Reality, Servants, Disabilities or physically challenged persons, Chile or Chileans
- Locales: Chile
Characters Discussed
Humberto Peñaloza (ewm- BEHR-toh pehn-yah-LOH-zah), also known as Mudito (mew-DEE-toh), or “Little Deaf Mute,” who has served as Don Jerónimo Azcoitía’s secretary, the Azcoitía family historian, and the overseer of Don Jerónimo’s estate, La Rinconada. In the process, he has worked for the family most of his life. As a youth, in an effort to “be someone,” Humberto imagines a fusion between his personality and that of Don Jerónimo. Living in the family’s home for the retired female servants of rich families as the novel opens, Humberto...
[The entire page is 844 words long]
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