The President-Post II

I have to say it again...The President was a much better read than Facundo even though it rivals the latter in terms of graphic descriptions of violence...but enough about that.

Now...is it just me, or is it somewhat implausible that Angel Face does not seem to realize that he's being set up until it's too late? He knows what the regime is about and is aware of their methods and yet he still believes they'll just let him reach the United States...? This part of the novel really left me scratching my head. I can understand the self-preservation by Major Farfan (unless it was a set-up from the beginning in order to test Angel's loyalty) or Rodas' seeming lack of emotion as he talks about his wife's illness and subsequent life in the convent...but not Angel Face's lack of caution.

That lack of caution, I imagine, is in part due to the sense of invincibility he may feel in his capacity as "the favourite." This novel, then, may be read as a cautionary tale. Nobody is safe and nobody can escape the omnipresent gaze of the government in a dictatorship, and indeed, nobody can be assured of remaining in a favoured position, even if they have not done anything particularly offensive. Indeed, the higher one is within the power structure the greater the subsequent, almost inevitable, fall. Farfan and Rodas are able to return to their duties or attain even higher posts while Angel Face is literally tortured to death, both physically and psychologically.

The psychological aspects...the constant fear...the lack of information...people reporting each other's actions to the governemnt all made the living conditions depicted in this novel so difficult to read about. The descriptions of the physical violence were also hard to get through but in a different way. It did not feel like the reader was also being physically tortured (perhaps with the exception of the description of Angel Face's last days) but the mind games, I felt, really brought it home for the reader. Perhaps I am not articulating this well but what I am trying to say is that essentially, reading some of the more psychologically intense passages, it almost feels like the reader is experiencing what the characters are...But...I ramble.

I was also disappointed that we do not find out more about the Zany and what exactly made him the way he was...although I would hazard a guess that he was ("madness" and all), at least in part, a product of the regime. How can anyone remain "normal" (whatever normal means) under such circumstances?