The Challenge

The Challenge Summary | Detailed Summary

"The Challenge" is Mario Vargas Llosa's short story of machismo and honor among young Hispanic men in a classic scenario of physical conflict, man versus man.

At the beginning of the story, the narrator describes how a man named Leonidas enters the River Bar where the narrator and some other friends are having some beers, as is their usual Saturday night routine. The narrator pours a beer for Leonidas and can tell that Leonidas is preoccupied with something. When prompted, Leonidas reveals that a man named Justo will be fighting another man tonight and wants his friends in the bar to come.

One of the men at the table, Briceno, asks Leonidas what caused the fight, and Leonidas says that Justo met up with his opponent at a place called Catacaos earlier today. One of the other friends, Leon, tells the distracted Leonidas that Justo knows how to fight and knows what he is doing.

Leonidas finishes his beer and tells the young men that the fight will be tonight at "the raft" and that Justo will look for them at the bar at ten-thirty before the eleven o'clock fight. The friends watch Leonidas walk down the street, and Briceno tells the others that Justo is sure to be killed by the Gimp, the man who has challenged Justo to the fight.

The young men separate briefly, and the narrator returns home to change clothes and get a knife, which he wraps in a handkerchief and puts in his back pocket. Telling his wife that he will be home again soon, the narrator leaves his house to return to the River Bar. The bar owner, Moses, tells the narrator that Justo has been antagonizing the Gimp for quite awhile and that this fight tonight has been inevitable.

Moses offers help and tells the narrator that last night in the bar, the Gimp and his friends were bragging about how they intend to kill Justo. The narrator declines Moses' offer to help in the fight and leaves the bar, where he sees Justo sitting at one of the outside tables.

Justo seems scared and vulnerable sitting alone, and the narrator asks Justo what happened to bring about the fight tonight. Justo replies that he encountered the Gimp and his friends at a bar called The Sunken Cart where a priest intervened to stop an immediate fight. Then, the Gimp posed the challenge to Justo to fight at "the raft" tonight.

The narrator offers up his knife to Justo, who compares it to the one he has brought. Justo decides to use his own knife because he is comfortable with it. After drinking a beer and having a cigarette, Justo suggests that he and the narrator leave to head out to the site of the fight.

Upon seeing Justo, Leon and Briceno are full of bravado and lighthearted confidence for Justo. As the young men walk toward the riverbank, Briceno notes that it is a very cloudy night and that the Gimp will not want to fight in the dark. Justo does not encourage speaking of delaying the fight until tomorrow, and the friends are quiet until they reach "the raft."

"The raft" is the remains of a dry carob tree that fell into the river, and it stretches almost the entire way across the riverbed. The tree's size and weight make it prohibitive to move except by the ebb and flow of the water, which moves it slightly every once in awhile.

The Gimp and his colleagues are already in place at the site of "the raft," and the narrator moves toward the group and identifies himself as Julian Huertas when prompted by the Gimp's friends. The Gimp approaches Julian and wants to know why Leonidas has come along. To Julian's surprise, Leonidas is arriving in the dark to join Justo's supporters and walks up to the Gimp to challenge him over his right to be here at the fight.

As Justo's representative, Julian is extended the courtesy of inspecting the Gimp's knife, and Julian does so as Leonidas holds a lighted match with trembling hands. Chunga is appointed to inspect Justo's knife and does so after Justo throws it. Chunga has to bend to retrieve it from where it has fallen in the sand. Justo challenges Leonidas on why he has come tonight, and Leonidas declares that he has a right to be here just like all the rest of the men.

The two sides are ready for the fight, and Justo and the Gimp approach each other after Leonidas provides Justo with some last minute instructions on how to win. Justo wraps his left arm in Leonidas' poncho, approaches the Gimp and makes the first attack. Justo's friends watch as Justo manages to lunge and slash the Gimp, but the Gimp is much more experienced and manages to get Justo in closer where he can wound Justo.

The two men remain engaged in a close range fight, and for awhile it looks as if they are one person struggling in some macabre gyrations. Suddenly the two men break apart, and Leon suggests that someone make an attempt to break them up. The Gimp and Justo roll together on the sand, slashing each other until the Gimp rises and yells to Julian to tell Justo to give up.

Justo does not surrender, and he and the Gimp fight again. Now the Gimp yells at Leonidas to tell Justo to give up, but Leonidas yells back at the Gimp to shut up and fight. Justo tries once more to attack the Gimp, but Justo's wounds have sapped his strength. He is unable to move and collapses to the ground.

Justo's friends rush to his prone body and realize that Justo is dead. Leon and Briceno wrap Justo in their jackets, and Julian covers Justo's face with Leonidas' poncho. Justo's body is hoisted onto the shoulders of Julian, Leon, Leonidas and Briceno. Leon tells Leonidas not to cry because no one has ever been as brave as Leonidas' son. Leonidas does not reply as the four men bear the body of Leonidas' son to his home.