Characterisation of Luis Recoba

The protagonist of “Pretending to Know the Words” by Helen Cooper, Luis Recoba, is presented throughout the text as two different characters—as depressed Luis and as successful football player Recoba. It is only at the end that we find out that they are the same person.

Luis’ outer characterisation informs us that he is from Uruguay but lives in the UK where he plays for a major football team. The big house and his success as a football player also imply that he is wealthy. A brief physical portrait is also conveyed, describing Luis during the football match: “His mouth inched into a roar, his lips shrank back, his dark eyes glittered.” (ll. 14-15)

Inner characterisation

Luis Recoba’s inner characterisation focuses on two different aspects of his identity—the depressed Uruguayan who misses his mother and cannot adapt to living in the UK, and the success-driven football player.

Initially, Luis comes across as depressed, missing his mother and his mother-language, and feeling like he does not fit in his house in England:

Luis had not moved in a while. He was slumped on a wide leather sofa, gazing at his reflection in a blank plasma screen. He imagined phoning his mother, all those miles away, and saying something strange. Something like, this giant house hates me. (ll. 1-3)

Luis feels a “burn of envy” (l. 16) when he looks at himself playing the game that won his team the national championship. This is because, as a football player on television, he gives the impression of being successful and happy.

In fact, Luis is very depressed and has a love-hate relationship with himself. He feels guilty for his success and incapable of adapting to his new successful status: “Nor could he feel even a spark of excitement. Recoba had earned him this house, this furniture the car in the drive. Yet Luis couldn’t summon anything close to gratitude.” (ll. 91-93)

This is why he cuts himself with the kitchen knife and ultimately takes some pills to end his life. This suggests that he is seriously depressed and that any attempts he makes to make himself feel better (such as playing football and buying a nice car and house) are not working.

As Recoba, he is a passionate football player, dreaming of and succeeding in winning the championship. Before playing, he feared his emotions will detain him from playing well and achieving his dream.

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