The Feast of the Goat

Trujillo believes power is sustained by virtue of discipline. The novel both questions and affirms discipline, rigor, and routine. Trujillo is famously disciplined and rigorous in his lifestyle, which, from his perspective, makes him more moral than others, thus liberating him from moral self-examination. Because he never varies from those routines, however, the assassins have no trouble predicting his actions. Trujillo values the military for its discipline, yet following his assassination, it is the military man, Pupo, who falls apart, while his intellectual counterpart Balaguer stays composed under pressure.

Urania, too, finds value in discipline, as her life consists of work, study, and exercise. The two biggest villains in her life, Agustín and Trujillo, exhibit similar discipline, demonstrating that rigidity can be both an unconscious response to trauma and a self-willed exertion of personal power. 

Feast frequently pits physical strength against intellectual, often through character foils. Characters like Trujillo value the machismo of strongmen and military types. They judge men of thought inferior to men of action, believing that the ability to force people into submission vindicates their views. Men of thought like Balaguer are broadly dismissed, yet the novel demonstrates the value of intellect when strength gives way, most prominently in the contrast between Pupo and Balaguer following the assassination. Ultimately, Vargas Llosa weds the two together, reconciling the need for both. Urania nurtures her intellect and cultivates physical stamina. After relying on strength to carry out the assassination, Imbert’s rediscovery of intellectual passion sustains him through months of isolation. 

Nothing facilitates Trujillo’s reign of terror like his proclivity for assaulting women at will. Men in government are expected to hand their wives over to His Excellency whenever he requests them; his son Ramfis exploits women sadistically, something Trujillo only opposes because of poor public perception. Agustín’s willingness to hand his 14-year-old daughter to Trujillo—an offering he hopes will restore him to Trujillo’s good graces—underscores the perception that women are the property of men and have no agency over their own sexuality.

The ever-present threat of violence against women, whether from perceived enemies or Trujillo himself, keeps the population submissive and prevents them from mobilizing against the dictatorship. Ironically, Trujillo uses the threat of sexual violence against women to justify ethnic cleansing of Haitians, claiming that because Haitians are raping women at random, and his only recourse is to kill them. Men like Agustín willingly give their daughters to Trujillo, whether out of fealty or terror, in an effort to keep themselves safe or promote their own interests. Such transactions destroy family relationships, and the effects on women like Urania last for years beyond the initial trauma.