This story by Alejo Carpentier explores the theme of existence as a circular process. It begins with the demolition of a mansion following the death of its owner, and travels backward in reverse chronological order. It not only regresses through the man’s adult life and childhood to his exit from the womb, but continues until “everything” is restored to its original state, leaving a desert where his family home had once stood. Other themes include time, decay, colonialism, the excesses and failings of the Cuban aristocracy, the temporal nature of power, wealth and material possessions.
