 The novel 's title is taken from the popular Dominican merengue Mataron al chivo ( " They Killed the Goat " ) , which refers to Trujillo 's assassination on May 30 , 1961 . Merengue is a style of music created by Ñico Lora in the 1920s and actively promoted by Trujillo himself ; it is now considered the country 's national music . Cultural critics Julie Sellers and Stephen Ropp comment about this particular merengue that , by envisaging the dictator as an animal who could be turned into a stew ( as frequently happened with goats struck down on the Dominican Republic 's highways ) , the song " gave those performing , listening to and dancing to this merengue a sense of control over him and over themselves that they had not experienced for over three decades . " Vargas Llosa quotes the lyrics to Mataron al chivo at the beginning of the novel . 
 The novel <a href='null_genetive' title='1'><mark>'s</mark></a>title is taken from the popular Dominican merengue Mataron al chivo ( " They Killed the Goat " ) , which <a href='uninflect' title='2'><mark>refers</mark></a> to Trujillo <a href='null_genetive' title='3'><mark>'s</mark></a>assassination on May 30 , 1961 . Merengue is a style of music created by Ñico Lora in the 1920s and actively promoted by Trujillo himself ; it is now considered the country <a href='null_genetive' title='4'><mark>'s</mark></a>national music . Cultural critics Julie Sellers and Stephen Ropp comment about this particular merengue <a href='null_relcl' title='5'><mark>that</mark></a>, by envisaging the dictator as an animal <a href='null_relcl' title='6'><mark>who</mark></a>could be turned into a stew ( as frequently happened with goats struck down on the Dominican Republic <a href='null_genetive' title='7'><mark>'s</mark></a>highways ) , the song " gave those performing , listening to and dancing to this merengue a sense of control over him and over themselves that they <a href='been_done' title='8'><mark>had</mark></a> not experienced for over three <a href='negative_concord' title='9'><mark>decades</mark></a> . " Vargas Llosa <a href='uninflect' title='10'><mark>quotes</mark></a> the lyrics to Mataron al chivo at the beginning of the novel . 
The novel  title is taken from the popular Dominican merengue Mataron al chivo ( " They Killed da Goat " ) , which refer to Trujillo  assassination on May 30 , 1961 . Merengue is a style of music created by Ñico Lora in the 1920s and actively promoted by Trujillo hisself ; it is now considered the country  national music . Cultural critics Julie Sellers and Stephen Ropp comment abt dis particular merengue , by envisaging the dictator as an animal could b turned into a stew ( as frequently happened witt goats struck dwn on tdaDominican Republic  highways ) , the song " gave those performing , listenin to and dancing to this merengue a sense of control over em and ova themselves that they done not experienced for over three no decades . " Vargas Llosa quote the lyrics to Mataron al chivo at the beginning of the novel .