ariansanchez

A fictionalized account of the assassination of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, the mid-twentieth century dictator of the Dominican Republic, Feast of the Goat should have been a swift and thrilling novel. Unfortunately, the author’s clunky and uneven storytelling structure ultimately drowns the fascinating plot in a multitude of half-drawn characters. Having a personal interest in Latin-American and Caribbean history and literature, I was interested to read Mario Vargas Llosa’s retelling of Trujillo’s killing at the hands of a covert group of rebels, and intrigued by the intertwined storyline of Urania Cabral, the daughter of one of Trujillo’s inner circle, who remembers the dictator’s last days from a distance of 35 years. The book begins with her surprise return visit to the Dominican Republic, after a self-imposed exile in the United States beginning at age 14. During this time, by her own choice, Urania has been estranged from her family left behind in the Dominican Republic. Over the course of the novel, the reason unfolds: as a child, her father Augustín Cabral, an upper-level minister in Trujillo’s coterie, had fallen from the despot’s good graces. In order to try and win back his good standing, he did the unthinkable- offering his virgin teenage daughter to Trujillo for a night of sexual pleasure. For the first half of the book, each chapter bounces between three points of view: that of Urania, age 49, back in the Dominican Republic for the first time, visiting her aged and invalid father; that of Trujillo himself, on the last day of his life; and an alternating viewpoint amongst four of Trujillo’s assassins, waiting on the side of the road where they know his chauffeured car is soon to pass, and from where they will cut it off and shoot him dead. This is already a good deal of characters to keep track of, but it works for a while. However, at the midway point of the book Trujillo is killed, and the structure, such as it was falls apart. To replace the loss of Trujillo’s perspective, Llosa filled the tyrant’s void with voices of additional cohorts in the assassination plan. He also returns to some others to whom he has dedicated previous chapters, but there seems to be no consistency in voice. As a result, I found it difficult as the reader to keep track of all the characters and their various back-stories. Urania’s plotline gets lost amidst all of this, which is the true pity, because she is the one constant throughout the book. However, her character is never fully developed and as a result I felt little compassion for her. Why does she return to the Dominican Republic after all these years? Why now? There seems to be no motivation for her actions. She is a cold person, and the slow, painful unveiling of her story is meant to explain and justify her aloofness, but she never really endears herself to the reader. Though I wanted to care for her, and about her suffering, I simply did not. One side note about the book: it is not for the faint. Scenes of torture and monstrosity are painstakingly depicted. I wish Llosa had relished streamlining his story and developing his characters as much as he seems to have relished writing these gruesome episodes.

2020-12-23 03:51