Javier Mallarino

Javier Mallarino is the main character in this novel. He is a political cartoonist who never intended to make his living drawing caricatures. He wanted to be a painter and began drawing caricatures to earn money until his career as a painter could develop.

When the novel begins, Mallarino is preparing to go to an awards ceremony where he will be honored as Colombia’s leading political cartoonist. During the ceremony, he is given a medal and presented with a postage stamp with his likeness on it. It is the capstone of his career.

On the next day, Mallarino is visited by a woman named Samanta Leal. Leal tells him that she once visited in his house. She tells him that she does not remember what happened that night at his house. Furthermore, she was never told by her parents what was believed to have happened to...