Under the Jaguar Sun Literary Elements

Postmodern fiction

20th century; Oaxaca, Mexico

An unnamed first-person narrator from Italy

Philosophical, evocative, serious

The two main characters are an unnamed narrator and his wife, Olivia; while the couple do not fall into the categories of protagonist and antagonist, there are still conflicts within their relationship.

The relationship between the narrator and Olivia is emotionally strained and 'the physical bond' between them is 'going through a phase of rarefaction, if not eclipse'. There is also the background conflict of European travelers encountering the culture of Mexico for the first time.

The narrator realises that his relationship with Olivia needs to be reciprocal, which leads him to the wider conclusion that all aspects of life feed off each other (as part of 'the universal cannibalism that leaves its imprint on every amorous relationship').

Salustiano's discussion of the serpent image foreshadows the later symbolism of the ouroboros.

The narrator is more prone to overstatement and exaggeration than understatement: he uses this stylistic technique to elevate the act of eating to a profound reflection on how humans interact with the world and with each other.

There are several allusions to Aztec and Olmec sacrificial rites, as well as Mayan temples. The 'jaguar sun' is itself a reference to a relief within the Temple of the Sun. The phrase 'universal cannibalism' might also be an allusion to Herman Melville's description of 'the universal cannibalism of the sea' in Moby-Dick.

The painting of the nun and the priest; the symbol of the serpent eating its own tail; various Mexican dishes; the 'sacred architecture' of Oaxaca; Olivia's teeth; the imagery of ritual sacrifice and human cannibalism.

The narrator describes Olivia's relationship with food as incredibly intimate and personal, before suggesting that she is not 'closed into herself' but 'on the contrary, the desire her whole person expressed was that of communicating to me what she was tasting'.

The painting described in the first paragraph of the story ('a large, dark canvas that portrayed a young nun and an old priest standing side by side') depicts a relationship that the narrator later likens to his marriage with Olivia. His 'love', like that between the nun and priest, is also 'perfectly chaste and at the same time infinitely carnal'.

The theme of 'universal cannibalism', which suggests that everything in the world is feeding off everything else, naturally lends itself to metonymy and synecdoche. For instance, the narrator's engagement with specific Mexican dishes stands in for his engagement with Mexican culture as a whole, while the communal process of eating is also treated as a substitute for verbal communication.

Reverse personification occurs when the narrator imagines himself as food being consumed by Olivia ('I could feel her tongue lift me against the roof of her mouth, enfold me in saliva, then trust me under the tips of the canines')