The Feast of the Goat: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Feast of the Goat: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the complex and often unsettling dynamics surrounding the regime of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina, the dictator of the Dominican Republic. The narrative features a blend of historical and fictional characters, each representing different facets of life under Trujillo's oppressive rule. Trujillo himself is depicted as a charismatic and formidable leader, known for his ruthless control and manipulative charm, which shapes the fates of those around him.
Key figures include Urania Cabral, a fictional lawyer whose traumatic past connected to Trujillo's sexual predation underscores the personal toll of dictatorship. Her father, Agustín Cabral, symbolizes the moral compromise many faced in the regime, while other characters like Colonel Johnny Abbes García and conspirators such as Antonio Imbert Barrera illustrate the risks and complexities involved in opposing Trujillo. The narrative also examines the tragic consequences of betrayal and the pervasive atmosphere of fear that defined life in the Dominican Republic during Trujillo's rule. Overall, the character analysis reveals the intricate interplay of power, loyalty, and resistance in a historical context marked by violence and subjugation.
The Feast of the Goat: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa
Alternate Title: La fiesta del chivo
First published: 2000 (English translation, 2001)
Genre: Novel
Locale: Ciudad Trujillo (present-day Santo Domingo), Dominican Republic
Plot: Political realism
Time: Early 1920s-early 1960s; 1996
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina, the real-life president and dictator of the Dominican Republic for more than thirty years. Sycophants address Trujillo as Generalissimo or Chief; enemies secretly refer to Trujillo as the Goat for his habit of consuming everything and for his insatiable sexual appetite. Known for his charm, magnetic personality, impeccable manners, unsettling gaze, and penetrating voice, he is infamous for testing cohorts, whose fortunes rise or fall depending upon their reaction. He can work long hours without tiring or apparently sweating, and he is an impeccable dresser whether in resplendent uniform or ordinary street clothes. As president, he reforms and modernizes his country while building a dissident-stifling power base by placing cronies or family members in key positions throughout the government, military, and social, financial, and economic institutions. Late in life, Trujillo's prostate difficulties result in incontinence and impotence, causing him to worry about his masculinity—a concern cut short by his assassination.
Colonel Johnny Abbes García, a genuine historical figure and head of the Dominican Republic's Military Intelligence Service (SIM). A former sports reporter, he has a talent for ferreting out information and using it to bring down others. Short, fat, sloppy, and sadistic, Johnny skillfully plans and executes a variety of imaginative clandestine operations at Trujillo's behest. He arranges killings, ruins reputations, or orchestrates disappearances, particularly of Dominican exiles in Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, New York City, and elsewhere. After Trujillo's assassination, he interrogates, tortures, and then executes conspirators involved in the dictator's death. Johnny eventually leaves the Dominican Republic for neighboring Haiti, where he and his family are murdered allegedly for conspiring to overthrow the Duvalier regime.
Urania “Uranita” Cabral, a fictional forty-nine-year-old New York lawyer. She is a native of the Dominican Republic and flees the country without explanation at age fourteen. Urania is considered attractive but has remained unmarried. During her time away from home, she rarely communicates with relatives and friends left behind. She returns to the city of Santo Domingo following news of her aged father's stroke. Gathered with her long-lost elderly aunt Adelina and cousins Manolita and Lucindita—who are as old as she—Urania graphically explains why she left: her disgraced father, hoping to be restored to his position of authority, offered his innocent daughter to Trujillo, who seduced and sexually assaulted her.
Agustín “Egghead” Cabral, the fictional former minister of foreign affairs under Trujillo. Eighty-four years old in 1996, the intellectual widower has suffered a stroke and is unable to speak when his only daughter, Urania, returns to the Dominican Republic. He falls out of favor in the government in the late 1950s after failing to let Trujillo seduce his young daughter, and he then tries to recoup his loss of position by sacrificing Urania to the dictator's lust several years later.
Joaquín Balaguer, a genuine historical figure. A mild-mannered, soft-spoken scholar of small stature, he serves as president of the Dominican Republic for three nonconsecutive terms before his death at age ninety-five in 2002.
Juan Tomás Díaz, a former general. A leader among conspirators against Trujillo, he joins the assassination plot because he was forced to retire from the military. He is killed alongside Antonio de la Maza in a shootout.
José René “Pupo” Román, another former military general and coconspirator. His vacillation after Trujillo's assassination results in his torture and death and the deaths of most of the assassins.
Salvador Estrella “Turk” Sadhalá, a construction worker. Deeply religious and morally motivated, he is a close friend of Antonio Imbert Barrera among a dozen conspirators in the assassination of Trujillo. In an effort to spare his family, Turk surrenders after the dictator's death and suffers horrific tortures before being executed.
Amado “Amadito” García Guerrero, a lieutenant and military adjutant. He is embittered because he was forbidden to marry the woman he loved and forced to execute her brother, an alleged communist. Amadito is a major conspirator against the dictator and is later killed in a shootout.
Antonio Imbert Barrera, a former government official whom Trujillo removed from office. He is a leading conspirator against the dictator. Following the assassination, he flees the country. One of few conspirators to survive and considered a national hero, he briefly serves as president of the Dominican Republic in 1965 and survives an assassination attempt in 1967.
Antonio de la Maza, a sawmill manager and a conspirator against Trujillo. He joins the assassination team out of revenge for his late brother, whom the regime executed. Following Trujillo's death, he makes a crucial mistake, leaving evidence behind that allows the regime to track down the assassins. He is killed in a shootout a few days after the dictator's death.
Rafael “Ramfis” Leónidas Trujillo Martínez, the adopted son of the dictator. A mentally unstable playboy, polo player, and companion of fellow Dominican playboy and ambassador Porfirio Rubirosa, Ramfis is notorious for his many affairs, particularly with Hollywood stars. He takes charge of the government following his father's death and cruelly orchestrates the torture and executions of most of the conspirators. He eventually flees the country with his family and a stolen fortune before dying at age forty in exile in 1969.
Radhamés Leónidas Trujillo Martínez, son of Rafael Trujillo and younger brother of Ramfis, named for a character in the Giuseppe Verdi opera Aida. In exile, he follows in the footsteps of Ramfis as a playboy. During the mid-1990s, Radhamés is presumed dead when he goes missing in Colombia.