Lawrence Thornton's Imagining Argentina is a book that depicts the struggles of the Dirty War. The story takes place in the nineteen seventy's. There are thousands of people that have been kidnapped, imprisoned, and killed. Carlos and his imagination will help motivate the people of Argentina, and never let the Generals destroy what the Argentina people stand for. I will first show how Carlos uses his imagination to give the people hope to keep on searching but most of all to not give up hope. Then I will explain Carlos's trip to the south to show how it kept him from losing hope. Then I will compare Imagining Argentina and Jorge Luis Borge's short story The South to show how important the power of the imagination is. The last point I will make is how Carlos imagination is used as a tool to fight back against the Generals. Carlos is blessed with an unbelievable gift that speaks to everyone in Argentina. His power of hope is the one thing that cannot be taken away and this is what ends Argentina's suffering. .
The people of Argentina are slowly disappearing for no reason. The leading character in the book Carlos comes home one night to find his wife Cecilia missing. The next day he is informed by a neighbor that his wife was taken out of her home by two military men and forced into a green ford falcon. Carlos calls Martin the author of the book over to talk about her missing. Martin thinks, "I've heard enough about kidnappings to know that nothing could be done, and I was persuaded that if they hadn't already killed her, she was as good as dead"(pg 26). This is the first scene where we see the power of Carlos. He is left with nothing but doubt but somehow he still believes he will see his wife again. Carlos will never give in or give up.
Carlos is one of the many people in La Broca that has a loved one missing. "How could it be? Most of the time nothing remarkable happens to the people close to you.