The Storyteller: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Storyteller: Analysis of Major Characters" explores the intricate relationships and nuanced identities of the characters within a narrative centered on the Peruvian Amazon and its indigenous cultures. The narrator, a middle-aged Peruvian writer, embodies a blend of intellectual curiosity and personal loss, driven by a desire to uncover the mysteries surrounding his life and his friend Saúl Zuratas. Saúl, notable for his striking appearance and marginalized identity as a Peruvian Jew, represents a passionate yet detached figure, deeply invested in the struggles of indigenous peoples. His eventual disappearance leaves the narrator grappling with feelings of rejection and an obsessive quest for understanding.
The storyteller, who shares wisdom about the Machiguengan beliefs, serves as a humble conduit for cultural knowledge, presenting stories with a blend of humor and authenticity. The character Tasurinchi acts as a benevolent creator figure, embodying the collective spirit of the Machiguengas through various personas tied to their cultural narrative. Additional characters, such as the Schneils, an American couple conducting linguistic research, provide further context to the cultural interactions at play. This analysis invites readers to consider the complex dynamics of identity, memory, and the significance of storytelling in preserving cultural heritage.
The Storyteller: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Mario Vargas Llosa
First published: El hablado, 1987, in Spain (English translation, 1989)
Locale: Lima, Peru; the Peruvian Amazon; and Florence, Italy
Plot: Philosophical realism
Time: The 1950's to the 1980's
The narrator, a middle-aged Peruvian writer who is similar to and virtually a stand-in for the author. He is a novelist, essayist, and television writer and producer. A consummate intellectual, he is defined by his ideas and his intellectual pursuits; little else of his life is portrayed. The narrator is a man driven by curiosity and his need to clarify mysteries that have hung over his life for decades. His fascination with and affection for his old friend Saúl resulted in a void when Saúl retreated from the narrator's life. The narrator's sense of loss and rejection translate into a nearly obsessive desire for answers, about both Saúl and the Machiguengan people. As a writer, he believes that satisfaction will come through his writing, and he sets for himself the challenge of coming to a logical understanding of what has transpired over the years.
Saúl Zuratas (sah-EWL sur-AH-tahs), a striking, tall man with bright red hair and a consistently disheveled appearance. As a Peruvian Jew, he is somewhat marginalized from the social mainstream. Furthermore, he has an enormous purplish birthmark covering half his face. He has great interest in and sympathy for others who are threatened or marginalized, including endangered peoples and cultures such as the Machiguengas of the Peruvian Amazon. Saúl's nickname, “Mascarita,” or “Mask-face,” appropriately conveys his detached, distant quality. He is committed to his studies and increasingly to the history of and issues surrounding the indigenous peoples of the Amazon. A fierce debater, Saúl strongly expresses his views to his friend, the novel's narrator, and does not hesitate to let their intellectual differences come between them. Ultimately, Saúl disappears from the narrator's life and becomes something between a memory and a phantom.
The Storyteller, the narrative voice of the novel's interspersed chapters relating the beliefs and customs of the Machiguengas. The storyteller is a wise and humble man who speaks in a simple, unassertive language that conveys important information without self-consciousness or sophistication. The storyteller has learned all he knows by listening to the Machiguengas. He ultimately takes no responsibility for the stories he tells, following anecdotes and bits of lore with the disclaimer, “That, anyway, is what I have learned.” The storyteller relates his fears, emotions, and doubts with candor and a touch of humor. As a storyteller, his life is one of wandering among the jungle from community to community, accompanied by his mascot, a disfigured parrot that sits on his shoulder, regaling his listeners with stories that last for hours on end. He tells of his facial marking and his acceptance into the tribe. It is strongly suggested, but never specifically confirmed, that the storyteller is actually Saúl Zuratas; within the world of the novel, however, they are presented and function as two distinct characters.
Tasurinchi (tah-sewr-EEN-chee), the benevolent Machiguenga creator. The Machiguengas believe that their god is evident in each male, so in referring to one another, and in recounting their stories, they call each man Tasurinchi, differentiating among them with identifiers such as “Tasurinchi, the herb doctor” or “Tasurinchi, the one who used to live by the Mitaya and now lives in the forest up the Yavero.” Tasurinchi is many different characters; the use of the name unifies them into a coherent persona. Tasurinchi is a generally good man who takes lessons from the world around him, lords over his wife, and avoids contact with white people. He has a deathly fear of sneezes, knowing from experience that the white man's common cold means tragedy for the Machiguengas.
The Schneils, a husband-and-wife team of American linguists working with the Machiguengas.
Don Salomón (sah-loh-MOHN), Saúl Zuratas'aging father.