The allegorical story “House Taken Over” comes from Julio Cortázar’s collection of short stories Bestario (1951, “Bestiary”), though it was originally published in 1946. In this story, the realistic and trivial reality the characters experience in the beginning is destroyed by a haunting, disruptive presence. The story is commonly accepted to be an anti-Peronist piece of fiction as a response to the infamous regime of Juan Perón, the president of Argentina from 1946–55.

Summary

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Characters

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Literary Devices

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Deeper Study

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