Mascarita and Heisenberg

In Mario Vargas Llosa’s The Storyteller I was surprised by the sheer number of characters named Tasurinchi. Even to the end, I continued to be flabbergasted at the introduction of yet another Tasurinchi. At least, I think it was another. But then, how can I ever be sure? They’re all Tasurinchi’s, after all. The number was simply confusing. It seems the Machiguengas already knew what we have learned—that there is nothing new. “History marches neither forward nor backward: it goes around and around in circles, repeats itself.” (p.240) They get out ahead of the game in their naming, forgoing to ruse of originality.

Another thing I found interesting was the different versions of stories Mascarita would tell. “That’s how it’s come about, it seems.” (p.127) and then another version and “That’s how after began, perhaps.” (p.129) Just like Calasso tells different versions, so does Mascarita, as Scott talked about in his blog. I would like to draw another parallel as well. I recently read the play Copenhagen by Michael Frayn for another class. The storyline is scientists Niels Bohr and Werner Heisenberg posthumously attempting to determine the exact events of a night in 1941 in the middle of WWII. Memory has long since clouded and version after version is proposed, with no definitive ever found. An echo is felt here, as it is in much of life.

Another comparison to Copenhagen is that Mascarita doesn’t seem to know why he is drawn to the Machiguengas. No concrete explanation can be articulated. Similarly Heisenberg does not know why he came to visit Bohr on that fateful night. “The sort of decision arrived at by saints and madmen is not revealed to others. It is foraged little by little, in the folds of the spirit, tangential to reason, shielded from indiscreet eyes, not seeking the approval of others—who would never grant it—until it is at the last put into practice.” (p.34) Why did one German scientist and one red-headed Peruvian Jew choose to do the things they did? We don’t know, we can only speculate.