Don Anselmo

Don Anselmo (ahn-SEHL-moh), an imaginative individual, a harpist and founder of the original “Green House” in Piura. Along with several others, Anselmo provides residents of this barrio with a much needed sense of pride and self-esteem. He temporarily fills the community’s need for a positive self-image. In the novel, the rise and fall of Anselmo and the Green House are paralleled. Even though he and the Green House ultimately are defeated, Anselmo attains heroic stature as a result of his courage, perseverance, and capacity for sacrifice.

The Sergeant

The Sergeant, Lituma (lee-TEW-mah), a national policeman from Piura who is stationed near the jungle. The story of Lituma’s confrontation with Chapiro Seminario, and the latter’s death in a macho game of Russian roulette suggested by Lituma, provides a clear illustration of how group values, when put to the test, deprive the individual of the independence of judgment, response, and feeling that are necessary to achieve personal autonomy.

Bonifacia

Bonifacia (boh-nee-FAH-see-ah), also called Wildflower, an Indian girl of mysterious origins who is taken from her home and reared in a convent. Her one outstanding physical characteristic is her green eyes. Expelled from the convent when she allows the other Indian girls to escape, she is ultimately forced into prostitution as a means of survival. Although largely deprived of her personal and cultural past at the mission, Bonifacia acquires no solid basis on which to fashion an identity or a position in society. Her fate illustrates the role of the church and the military in the conquest and “civilization” of Peru.

Fushía

Fushía (few-SHEE-ah), a Japanese Brazilian contrabandist who deals in illegal rubber. As the novel’s antihero, he embodies both good and evil; he is both victim and victimizer. During Fushía’s month-long river voyage from his island to the leper colony of San Pueblo, he seeks answers to vital questions concerning his existence. Although many of his illusions are shattered on this trip, Fushía nevertheless clings to the belief that he can control his final destiny. Gradually and irrevocably, his own distorted view of life and the pressures of his hostile environment destroy him.

Aquilino

Aquilino (ah-kee-LEE-noh), Fushía’s friend and boatman. Aquilino engages Fushía in numerous conversations on their river voyage, thereby eliciting the recapitulation of significant events from Fushía’s past. Aquilino’s primary function in the novel is to act as a moral and spiritual guide to Fushía. As he probes deeper and deeper into Fushía’s troubled past, questioning motives and pronouncing ominous judgments, there is an omniscience about him that further emphasizes the mythic quality of Fushía’s story. He takes a stoic position concerning Fushía’s fate.

In Vargas Llosa's novel, the characters are not given deep psychological exploration. Their lives are portrayed superficially, and the reasons behind their actions are seldom examined. This approach leaves motivations vague and unresolved. The author seems to intend for readers to engage actively, as they must interpret each character's motives through dialogue and the situations presented.

The narrative unfolds in the locales of Piura and Santa Maria de Nieva, featuring characters such as Bonifacia (also known as Wildflower), Jum of Urakusa, Fushia, Anselmo, and a group called Los Inconquistables. Among them, Bonifacia stands out most vividly. She is an Aguaruna Indian girl, around eight or nine years old, who is seized by Spanish nuns for conversion at their jungle mission, where she is renamed Bonifacia. As she matures, she marries a soldier known only as the Sergeant, who is stationed at a...