The Time of the Hero | The Secret Self: Boa in Vargas Llosa's La ciudad y los perros
In the following essay, Roy Kerr examines the narrative structure of Mario Vargas Llosa's novel by examining Vargas Llosa's use of the character Boa, whose narration combines generalities and specifics to reveal not only the story of the novel, but aspects of the writer as well.
All narrative has a minimal pair of essential characteristics: ‘‘the presence of a story and a storyteller’’. Narrators assume diverse voices and perspectives in telling their tales. A useful distinction in this regard is between narration in which the narrator is present as a character, and that in which the narrator is absent from the tale. When a protagonist narrates a portion of a work of fiction, part of our notion of his character arises from the perception of him in the role of storyteller. Analysis of a fictive narrator's comments may reveal aspects of the character's...
[The entire page is 1466 words long]
Join eNotes
The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:
Summary and Analysis – Themes – Characters – And much more...
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
Related Topics
Tell a friend about The Time of the Hero at eNotes.
