Essay Questions

Explain the style of the narration.

The narrator uses a form of narration referred to as being in a documentary style. This type of narrating is quite unusual and it gives the story a unique feel. This style of narration is also used to give the story a feel of reality and to transmit the idea that these events actually took place. In fact, all the events are presented as being true or at least extremely probable.

Which was the inspiration for the place where the action takes place?

The city where the action takes place is a fictional one but it is inspired by a real-life place. The author was born and lived for a big portion of his life in a little town from Argentina called General Villegas. The town had no high school so the narrator had to leave his parents to continue his study. Through this novel the author wants to transmit the idea even though a community may be extremely small, this does not mean that life has to be boring and uneventful.

Why was Carlos forgiven for his actions but while the women he seduced were criticized harshly?

One of the main ideas we find in the novel is that men cannot help themselves but behave in an immoral way. When these men do something unacceptable such as sleeping with a woman who is not their wife, they are easily forgiven because they are not seen as responsible for their actions. This however is not the case for the women who end up sinning. Those women are automatically seen as deplorable women who must be punished for their actions. This difference in the way things are perceived is a result of the time when the action takes place and represents the commonly accepted ideas of the time.