The Rabid Toy () is Argentine author Roberto Arlt's first novel, published in 1926.
Plot summary
Silvio Astier is a sickly, melancholy teenager living in a miserly barrio in Buenos aires. He spends his time doing petty crimes such as forgery and larceny with his two best friends, the kind Enrique Irzubeta and Lucio, whose arrogance contrasts his frailty. His lack of education does not stop Astier from being knowledgeable in general culture, literature and chemistry in particular, and from day-dreaming with richness and fame. The three friends celebrate nightly gatherings at the Club de los Caballeros de la Media Noche (which can be translated as Midnight Knights' Club or Midnight Gentlemen Club).
After one particular armed heist nearly gone wrong, the friendship dissolves, and Astier now makes his way through the city underworld, trying to appease his existencial angst and quiet his frustrations with life. Not helping are the facts that his father has left, that he has to take care of his mother and siste, and that most of his enterprises meet perfect failures. He meets characters of increasingly dubious nature as the story progresses, culminating the second part of the book with an attempted suicide.
The third and final part has Astier taking a more positive view on life. He reconciles with his family and meets yet again the useless Lucio, who has now joined the police. He hears from him that Enrique has wound up in jail. Astier himself tries to join the army, but fails yet again. He is eventually taken care of by the villainous El Rengo, an evil mulato with a penchant for grand larceny.
The novel climaxes with Astier telling on El Rengo before a major heist, his subsequent violent arrest, and Astier's interview with the would-be victim, an architect. The end remains ambiguous, as the architect seems to take a liking for Astier, and promises him a chance at his dream life away south. Astier leaves the room with hope regained, and the novel ends.
Main Characters
Silvio Astier - the sickly, melancholy protagonist who, despite his failures and frustrations in life, dreams on in delusions of grandeur, and is essentially well-meaning. He has a penchant for forgery, larceny and arson.
Enrique Irzubeta - Astier's best friend, the son of a large family. Pedro resembles Astier in that, despite their poor social background, are both knowledgable in general culture (literature and chemistry in particular). He winds up in jail.
Lucio - Astier's other friend, who is extremely arrogant and deft with the revolver. He winds up working for the police.
El Rengo - a shady mulato that takes Astier under his protective wing.
Other pages about Argentine novels
-Bomarzo (Mujica Lainez) -Don Segundo Sombra -El gran teatro -El juguete rabioso? -El laberinto -Hopscotch (Julio Cortazar novel) -Kiss of the Spider Woman (novel) -La casa -On Heroes and Tombs -Pubis angelical -Tartarian Nights -The Little School -The Oxford Murders (novel)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article El_juguete_rabioso
