The Tattooed Soldier (1998) is a novel written by author and journalist Héctor Tobar. Tobar worked for the LA Times at the time of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, and his work covering that event contributed to a Pulitzer Prize. This experience directly informs this novel, which is set in LA in the weeks prior to the riots, as well as in Guatemala. Much of Tobar’s work focuses on the relationship between the United States and Latin America, a complex dynamic that shapes the novel’s key themes.

Plot Summary

The novel follows the lives of two Guatemalan immigrants. Both men survived the long period of violence and repression that dominated Guatemala in the 20th century. Antonio Bernal was a victim of this period, losing his wife and son, while Guillermo Longoria was the violent soldier who killed Antonio’s family. Despite Longoria’s past, he is also depicted as a victim of the Guatemalan government, as he was kidnapped by the military and pressed into service as a young child.

As the novel begins, we experience Antonio’s first days of homelessness. Unable to pay rent, he and his Mexican roommate José Juan Grijalva find themselves on the streets. While homeless, Antonio discovers that the man who killed his family is also in Los Angeles. Antonio then becomes obsessed with killing Longoria; he stalks Longoria, breaks into his apartment, and secures a gun as part of his plan for revenge. As this unfolds, the novel confronts readers with several moral dilemmas, such as whether to sympathize with Longoria, and whether Antonio is right in pursuing and killing his foe. The drama entangling Antonio and Longoria develops against the backdrop of the LA riots, which erupt after the acquittal of the police officers who videotaped the beating of Rodney King, an African American man. As the city falls into violence, seeking restitution for personal and social grievances, Antonio manages to shoot and kill Longoria, avenging his family and the others Longoria killed.

Tobar makes the novel more dynamic by showing the intricacies of his characters’ lives, including their encounters with close friends and other figures. He accomplishes this by using a third-person limited point of view, which means the narration alternates between the perspectives of the novel’s main characters: Antonio, Longoria, and Antonio’s wife Elena.

While the novel is primarily set in LA during the early 1990s, the narrative includes many flashbacks to the past in Guatemala that explore Longoria’s military life and Antonio and Elena’s radical student milieu. The book’s key themes explore identity, the experience of Latino immigrants in the United States, violence and dictatorship in Guatemala and El Salvador, and the parallels that exist between the United States and Latin America, particularly regarding homelessness, poverty, and social justice.