▁his ▁appearance ▁is ▁" cont in ually ▁re - evalu ated , ▁re - defined , ▁and , ▁ultimately , ▁re - construct ed ▁according ▁to ▁his ▁per ception ▁by ▁others , ▁similar ▁to ▁Ast ur ias ' s ▁own ▁novel istic ▁( re ) vision ▁of ▁E str ada ▁Cab rera ' s ▁regime ". ▁According ▁to ▁literary ▁critic ▁Hugh es ▁Dav ies , ▁the ▁President ▁" re pres ents ▁political ▁cor ruption ▁but ▁his ▁presentation ▁as ▁an ▁evil ▁de ity ▁who ▁is ▁worship ed ▁in ▁terms ▁that ▁mock ingly ▁echo ▁religious ▁rit ual ▁elev ates ▁him ▁to ▁a ▁myth ical ▁plane " ▁and ▁he ▁is ▁" an ▁invert ed ▁image ▁of ▁both ▁the ▁Christian ▁and ▁May an ▁de ities ▁since ▁he ▁is ▁the ▁source ▁only ▁of ▁death ". ▁The ▁dict ator ▁also ▁has ▁an ▁element ▁of ▁mystery ▁about ▁him — it ▁seems ▁that ▁no ▁one ▁knows ▁where ▁he ▁is ▁because ▁he ▁occup ies ▁several ▁houses ▁on ▁the ▁out sk ir ts ▁of ▁the ▁town . ▁Myst ery ▁also ▁surr ounds ▁the ▁questions ▁of ▁when ▁and ▁how ▁he ▁sle eps . ▁In ▁the ▁novel , ▁rum ors ▁ab ound ▁that ▁he ▁sle eps ▁beside ▁the ▁tele phone ▁with ▁a ▁wh ip ▁in ▁his ▁hand ▁while ▁others ▁claim ▁that ▁he ▁never ▁sle eps ▁at ▁all . ▁▁ ▁Because ▁the ▁appearance ▁of ▁the ▁President ▁is ▁inf re quent ▁in ▁the ▁novel , ▁readers ' ▁per ception s ▁of ▁him ▁are ▁formed ▁through ▁other , ▁often ▁minor , ▁characters ▁and ▁episodes . ▁As ▁such ,