Destiny and Desire
It is difficult not to be drawn into a no that begins with the severed head of the protagonist telling his tale. So opens Destiny and Desire with the violent death of Josué Nadal, who then narrates his story from where his head rolls in the surf of the Pacific Ocean. Growing up in unusual circumstances in late 20th-century Mexico City, Josué is looked after by paid caretakers. He forms an early attachment to Jericó, a boy a year older who shields Josué from schoolyard bullies. The two youngsters share a mutual bond as orphans; charismatic Jericó has no last name. The tie of friendship, of something more than friendship is strained in adulthood as the young men’s lives diverge; Josué enters the business world under communications magnate Max Monroy, and Jericó that of politics as an aide to President Carrera. Their destinies, mysteriously directed by lawyer Antonio Sanginés, the provider of the monthly stipends that maintained Josué and Jericó in childhood, rush up to meet them. The cipher of the past is explained; Josué and Jericó’s true relationship to one another and their powerful mentors is revealed.
The central question of the novel, “And what is … destiny?” is answered by the learned Father Filopáter, intellectual mentor to the young protagonists: “It isn’t fate. It is simply disguised will. The final desire.” The unique narrative features the dead and the living; from the grave, Antigua Concepción, the mother of Max Monroy, figures heavily in Josué’s ultimate fate. Mexico City itself, “the great devouring capital city,” is yet another character in this story of betrayal, revenge, and the ties that bind. Carlos Fuentes explores the themes of destiny and desire in a unique, challenging, and ultimately rewarding tale.
