The Savagery of Colonial Capitalism and the Problem on the Indigenous Peoples Embodied in Vargas Llosa's The Dream of the Celt

Abstract

For Vargas Llosa, “Literature Is Fire” that burns corrupted and obsolete things. A truewriter has to protest, point out contradictions, and criticize in order to change thereality. Vargas Llosa’s novel, The Dream of the Celt tells the story of Roger Casement,a prominent British diplomat and an Irish independence activist. The novel “literarily”explores the plunder of colonial capitalism, including the torture, exploitation, andgenocide of indigenous peoples in the Congo and the Peruvian Amazon. The chaptersthat deal with the ‘Amazon problems’ reveal the savagery and greed of capitalism andhuman rights violations against indigenous peoples. The novel teaches us that whathuman beings really require is the restoration of humanity rooted in freedom andjustice. This paper seeks to ‘expose’ the atrocities of barbaric capitalism perpetratedby rubber businessmen, examining the restoration of the rights of indigenous peoples.Results of this study will provide not only an opportunity to explore the historical andsocio-cultural values of Vargas Llosa's literature, but also the opportunity tounderstand the wounded history and the sick reality of Latin America.