The Time of the Hero

The Time of the Hero, novel by Mario Vargas Llosa, published in 1963 as La ciudad y los perros (“The City and the Dogs”). The novel describes adolescents in a Peruvian military school striving to survive in a hostile and violent environment. The corruption of the military school suggests a larger malaise afflicting Peru. The novel has a complex structure, with a nonlinear chronology and multiple narrative voices. Following its publication, the Peruvian military incinerated hundreds of copies of the book in an official ceremony.

The story concerns the theft of an examination paper by the cadet Cava. This act was carried out under orders from Jaguar, the brutal top cadet. The theft is reported by a lowly cadet whom Jaguar consequently murders during military maneuvers. Concerned for the school’s reputation, the administrators choose to ignore further evidence of Jaguar’s guilt.