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Few novels in contemporary
literature manage to combine so powerfully the aesthetic beauty of language,
philosophical depth, and historical complexity as The War of the End of the
World (1981), by Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa. This monumental work
is not only a landmark in Latin American fiction but also an inspiring example
of how literature can serve as a bridge between cultures, eras, and disciplines.
Inspired by the Brazilian classic Os Sertões (1902) by Euclides da
Cunha, Vargas Llosa masterfully recreates the saga of the settlement of Canudos
in the backlands of Bahia. He invites us to reflect on power, faith,
fanaticism, and the resistance of the people. It is a story that moves,
educates, and mobilizes us—and it can even become a powerful pedagogical tool
when integrated with contemporary methodologies such as MAT, ThM, and TBMB,
developed by educator Antônio Carlos dos Santos.
The War of the End of
the World is based on a real
episode in Brazilian history: the conflict between the newly formed Republic’s
army and the followers of Antônio Conselheiro, a messianic leader who preached
a life of faith, social justice, and resistance to the elite’s imposed model of
progress. The novel, however, goes far beyond a historical retelling. Vargas
Llosa gives voice to complex, multifaceted characters that represent the
contradictions of the human condition. A Scottish journalist, a blind
visionary, a brutal yet loyal jagunço (bandit), a prostitute in search of
meaning—all are living pieces in a narrative mosaic that forces us to move
beyond easy judgments and embrace empathy as a tool for understanding others.
Recent studies from
Harvard University (2023) have analyzed how Vargas Llosa’s narrative, with its
multiple perspectives and intertwined plots, stimulates brain areas responsible
for empathy, moral reasoning, and social cognition—functions widely studied in
cognitive neuroscience. By placing us inside the minds of so many different
characters, reading The War of the End of the World becomes a
transformative experience. It fosters the development of "second-order
thinking"—the ability to think about others’ thoughts—something essential
for human coexistence and civic education.
In this sense, Vargas
Llosa’s work can be used in classrooms to promote interdisciplinary teaching.
One example is the use of the MAT (Mindset, Action, and Theater) methodology,
which encourages students to take an active stance toward knowledge. In schools
in Colombia and rural Brazil, educational projects have already adapted scenes
from the novel for theater, promoting debates on justice, inequality, and
faith. By dramatizing the tensions between the urban world and the backlands, students
not only learn about the history of Canudos but also develop socio-emotional
skills and critical thinking.
Another practical
application comes from the ThM (Theater Movement) method, also created by
Antônio Carlos dos Santos. This method uses bodily movement and dramatic
expression to recreate historical events such as Antônio Conselheiro’s speeches
or the army’s marches. In a public school in Recife, students created a
performance where they represented different social groups involved in the conflict—military,
peasants, religious figures—and concluded with a forum discussing parallels
between Canudos and today’s urban struggles. The activity sparked empathy, a
sense of justice, and youth empowerment.
The TBMB (Mané Beiçudo
Puppet Theater) method has proven especially effective in early childhood and
elementary education. In a pedagogical experiment conducted by teachers in Belo
Horizonte, cloth puppets represented the novel’s characters in a playful and
accessible way. Children aged 8 to 10 were thus able to grasp symbolic themes
such as exclusion, resistance, and cultural diversity. The use of puppets as
knowledge mediators also boosted students’ self-esteem and sense of cultural
belonging.
Vargas Llosa’s
decision to adapt Os Sertões into a fictional universe is, in itself,
both a tribute and an act of boldness. Euclides da Cunha, an engineer,
journalist, and thinker, wrote one of the most complex works in Brazilian
literature, blending geography, sociology, and poetry. For Vargas Llosa, the
challenge was to translate this hybrid universe into a compelling, accessible,
and universal narrative. In interviews, the author admitted to becoming
obsessed with the figure of Antônio Conselheiro, seeing in Canudos a living
metaphor for the clash between modernity and tradition. This obsession led him
to Brazil, to extensive research, to ancient maps, and to collaborations with
Brazilian scholars such as historian Lilia Schwarcz and writer Ariano Suassuna,
who influenced the cultural details of the novel.
The novel also carries
a powerful warning: the danger of fanaticism—be it religious, political, or
ideological. While valuing the backlands people’s struggle for dignity, Vargas
Llosa shows how extremism can distort even the noblest causes. This narrative
balance is one of the novel’s greatest achievements, enabling rich discussions
in ethics, philosophy, and citizenship. Bringing this debate into schools,
universities, and social projects is a way of forming more critical readers and
more conscious citizens.
In the humanities, The
War of the End of the World has been the subject of analysis in
universities such as Sorbonne, Oxford, and USP, which highlight its relevance
as both a literary and historical document. At USP in particular, an
interdisciplinary research group was created to study literature and human
rights through the novel, involving fields such as law, history, literature,
and anthropology. Meanwhile, the University of Lisbon published a recent study
(2022) comparing the novel’s narrative structure with storytelling techniques
used in contemporary cinema and series, demonstrating the modernity and
vitality of Vargas Llosa’s language.
For all these reasons,
The War of the End of the World is a work that should be read, reread,
debated, staged, dramatized, and lived. It shows us that literature is not an
intellectual luxury but a human necessity. That telling stories is also a way
of resisting, educating, and transforming. That the past, when well understood,
can illuminate the present. And that great books like this do not end when we
turn the final page—they stay within us, inspiring actions, projects, and
dreams.
In this context, the
play “Gravata Vermelha: quando Antônio Conselheiro encontro Santa Dica de
Goiás” (Red Tie: When Antônio Conselheiro meets Santa Dica de Goiás), by
Antônio Carlos dos Santos, deserves special mention: “when the Canudos massacre occurred in 1897, Alfredo gave the last
rites to Antônio Conselheiro and received a secret mission from him. Alfredo
was the right-hand man and the head of the Conselheiro’s Personal Guard – the
Catholic Guard. Having received the secret mission from the blessed, Alfredo
fled the scene of the massacre with his family and for 28 years wandered
through the interior of the country in search of Lagolândia, the land where the
blessed of Bello Monte predicted the appearance of Santa Dica de Goiás.”
In times of
uncertainty and fragmentation, revisiting The War of the End of the World
is an act of hope. A gesture of reconnection with the power of the word and
with the human ability to create beauty from pain. It reminds us that even in
the harshest backlands, the richest imagination can bloom. And that, as Vargas
Llosa teaches us, literature remains one of the most powerful tools to change the
world—starting from within each one of us.
Access the books by Antônio Carlos dos Santos on amazon.com or amazon.com.br
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