As in The Green House (1966), Vargas Llosa defines each character through his actions, dialogue, and circumstances affecting his conduct. Although the motives behind each character's actions are never clarified, there are several whose motives are not difficult to discern given their extensive participation in the story's plot and many subplots.

The story is told essentially by five main narrators: Santiago Zavala, a newspaperman and son of the wealthy industrialist Fermin Zavala; Cayo Bermudez, head of police and intelligence and Minister of Internal Affairs; Amalia Cerda, a servant at the Zavala's house; Ambrosio Pardo, a chauffeur for Bermudez, later for Zavala, and finally for Amalia's husband; and Queta, a prostitute at the brothel run by Hortensia. Their stories are told within the framework of an ongoing conversation between Santiago and Ambrosio in a sleazy bar named The Cathedral. Santiago runs into Ambrosio, his father's former chauffeur, in the bar...