Mad Toy by Roberto Arlt

Mad Toy by Roberto Arlt, is written in an episodic style. The story reflects on the life of Silvio and his challenges with poverty. His story is divided into four chapters where we see how he is inspired by the fantasy world of literature but is stuck in a reality where he is to fetch for himself. Silvio, as we are told, has grown up with books and surrounds himself with literature enthusiasts. He tries to survive in the real world with ideas that he has learned from books. Silvio, along with his friends, forms a club which initially was for the sake of fun but later the club members indulge in thefts that range from stealing books (and later reselling them) to the theft of lightbulbs. The second chapter reflects on how Silvio is turning into an adult and it is time for him to earn a living for himself as there is not enough money for him to read or write. When he finally finds a job, he is stuck with unbearable living conditions at a bookstore. The key element in this chapter is the daily conflict between the owner and his wife.

Silvio is yet again surrounded by books in the third part. He has come up with amateur and clever inventions, but like literature, there is not much that he can do about this hobby. He finally gets admission in the military school of aviation. This dream of his is also shattered as “We don’t need smart people here, just dumb brutes who can work”, he’s told. Finally, in the fourth part, Silvio finds another job as a salesman. He is content with his work as he gets to handle blank papers, if not dealing with books or literature. He finally makes some success despite the initial frustration nevertheless his frustration continues. He faces a moral dilemma -either to carry out this crime and leave everything he knows or to turn on his fellow conspirator

For me, the story stood out! Silvio’s life revolved around the world of literature and had friendships based on the idea of lending books. I can not help but relate to this as I too had certain friendships based on exchanging books. He knows the importance of books as one needs to pay for the story they want to read and we are certain of that by the line “Take care of him, child, it costs money”. Another thing that I found very unique was that even though none of the characters were vividly described, they were explained in such a way that each character had a unique and important role to play in the story. 

My question to you is did you think that it was justified for the “thieves club” to steal as they had also worked hard like any other person who earns money?