| Sumario: | This study examines Colombian author Gloria Susana Esquivel’s novel Animales del fin del mundo (2017). Narrated in first-person in the past tense, the novel follows seven-year-old Inés as she navigates an austere home life while also attempting to understand the urban violence that punctuates her affluent neighborhood amidst Colombia’s decades-long internal armed conflict. Caught in familial strife, yet unable to escape her home, Inés must keep to herself, often inventing imaginary friends and games to play in the absence of others. This study analyzes her invention of alter egos serving during child’s play as vehicles of self-discovery allowing her to play, converse, and find herself both literally and figuratively. Her relationship with child’s play, however, is complicated when Inés meets María, the housekeeper’s granddaughter. Though Inés initially idolizes María, admiration slowly turns to jealousy and rivalry, with their child’s play feeding Inés’s exploration of prejudice, greed, and pride. This study thus explores how Inés comes into her own voice as she begins to articulate expressions of class struggle and socioeconomic disparity between her and María through animal symbology, allowing Esquivel to push the boundaries of conventional notions of childhood innocence and female docility.
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