Cultural Mixing in a Global World - Dramatic Irony in Llosa's "The Storyteller"

Many critics of Mario Vargas Llosa's The Storyteller believe Saul is guilty of hypocrisy because his actions contradict his words. He obsesses over the importance of keeping the Machiguengas completely separated from Western culture because he believes any interaction will leave a permanent footprint on this primitive society. However, Saul himself, an outsider, becomes one of the most influential persons among the Machiguengas as he inserts himself into their way of life in the role of the Storyteller. The question is: Is this hypocrisy? Or is it simply irony? There are many passages in the text that strongly support the view that Saul is not a hypocrite. Saul's efforts would be hypocritical only if he were aware that his beliefs and his actions were contradictory. However, he seems to be oblivious to his impact on the Machiguengas. Therefore the point of the text is not that Saul is a hypocrite. Rather, the author, Mario Vargas Llosa, uses dramatic irony as a literary device to illustrate his thesis that it is impossible to prevent cultural hybridism in a global world. The dramatic irony serves to keep Saul in the dark about his own actions, and enables Llosa to compare Saul's naïve nature to that of the world in general.

Dramatic irony is a literary device that presents a conflict between appearance and reality. It may be intentional or unintentional on the part of a character, but is always intentional on the part of the author. It is also a tool by which the reader perceives something that the character in the story is unaware of. On the other hand, hypocrisy implies a double-standard or deliberate deception or dishonesty. Llosa's narrative suggests that Saul is unaware that his actions are soiling the purity of this indigenous group.

From the very beginning, Saul has serious concerns about the ethics of research and fieldwork. Saul's believes that "with our tape recorders and ball-point pens we're the worm that works its way into the fruit and rots it" and that the actions of the ethnologists are similar to the activities of "the rubber tappers, the timber cutters, the army recruiters, and other mestizos and whites who were decimating the tribes" (Llosa 32). In later conversations with the narrator, Saul reasserts his position, proclaiming that "the only way to respect [the Machiguengas] is not to go near them...not touch them" because he believes "our culture is too strong, too aggressive" and "devours everything it touches" (98-99).

However, Saul does eventually "go near" them. In his effort to become part of them, he changes them forever. We are led to believe that Saul enters the Machiguenga civilization for noble reasons, born out of his respect and appreciation of their culture, unlike the ethnographers who do so for professional reasons. When he talks about Saul's motives, the narrator suggests that Saul did not deliberately pollute the Machiguengas. The narrator explains that Saul Zuratas had "irrevocably decided that he was going to change his life, his name, his habits, his traditions, his god, everything he had been up until then," and that he "left Lima with the intention of never coming back, of being another person forever" (243).

While in the beginning of the book, Saul's stories are more consistent with the values and traditions of the Machiguengas, he later begins to incorporate Western themes into his stories. He seems to slip into this in a subconscious way, not deliberately. Perhaps this happens because he cannot escape the influence of his own Jewish identity and the Judeo-Christian values he has lived with for so long. After all, the Bible itself, particularly the Old Testament, is a collection of stories handed down through word of mouth for generations, which has served to unify the Diaspora who have left or been thrown out of lands across the globe since time began.

We begin to be wary that Saul's objectivity has been compromised when his tales start to incorporate themes from Kafka's The Metamorphosis, the story of Jesus Christ, and the Exodus of the Jews. In particular, one of his tales suspiciously echoes the life of Jesus and the concept of the Holy Trinity. He begins with the birth of a special child, who he quotes as saying "I am the breath of Tasurinchi, I am the son of Tasurinchi, I am Tasurinchi. I am all three things at once" (215). Like Jesus, this Jehova-Tasurinchi has his own magic and is able to heal people. He also meets the same fate as Christ. They put a crown of thorns on his head and "nailed him to two crossed tree-trunks and left him to bleed" (217). And, like Jesus, he comes back to life. Later, Saul tells other stories that remind us of the Exodus of the Jews, another people who, like the Machiguengas, started walking to preserve their culture and never stopped.

Sadly, Saul remains unaware of the inconsistency between his beliefs and his actions, and this is what creates much of the dramatic irony in the text. However, the irony doesn't stop there. For example, had Saul actually been born into Machiguenga culture, a way of life he respects and wants to preserve, he would have been killed as an infant because of his revolting facial deformity. This is an irony that Saul is aware of, and it is reflected during one of his stories. He talks about children born imperfect, like himself, that were "breathed out by Kientibakori" and questions why he was allowed to live (212). He notes that "I was born a monster [but] my mother didn't throw me into the river, she let me live" (212). Is Saul being hypocritical by embracing a culture that would have killed him at birth? Saul would say no, because he believes their cruelty was "the price they pay for survival" and was therefore "an admirable trait" (27). Further, the narrator believes it is this deformity that draws Saul to the Machiguengas, and questions whether Saul "unconsciously identified with those marginal beings because of the birthmark that made him to a marginal being" (28).

Still another irony is that while Saul wants to preserve the Machiguenga identity and feels strongly about avoiding the corruption of indigenous cultures, he himself is a hybrid; his mother is Christian and his father is Jewish. Further, he identifies most closely with his Jewish identity, a way of life that has been battered by oppressive civilizations since time began and yet still survives to this day. If the Jews could overcome and adapt to the pressure to change, perhaps the Machiguengas could as well. Ironically, Saul doesn't see this.

Mario Vargas Llosa uses this dramatic irony throughout the book to illustrate his thesis that it is impossible to prevent a melting pot of cultures in an interconnected world. Llosa is as much a storyteller as Saul, and in fact uses the character of Saul to give voice to his point of view. We can conclude that Llosa believes all those who think it is possible to prevent the adulteration of indigenous cultures are as naïve as Saul himself. In order for Llosa to make his point, Saul must remain unaware of the consequences of his actions. The use of dramatic irony as a literary device serves to keep Saul in the dark, and thereby allows Llosa to present his argument.

Works Cited:

Llosa, M. (1989). The Storyteller. (Translated by Helen Lane) Picador.