Vargas Llosa's "The Bad Girl" - Week Two

The relationship between the Bad Girl and Ricardo continues to evolve throughout the rest of the book.  Ricardo sees the Bad Girl in Paris, then he sees her in London.  When he sees her in London, she is married to a very rich Englishman whom she says she loves.  Later in the novel, Ricardo meets the Bad Girl again when she is the mistress for an extremely wealthy Asian man.  Each time that Ricardo meets the Bad Girl, it is like he is meeting someone else because she is never the same person twice, and she also pretends not to know him.  I think this plays a lot into desire.  We think that we want one thing, but in actuality we do not. Ricardo thinks that he loves the Bad Girl and that he wants to be with her, but this is not really the case.  Ricardo desires the Bad Girl because she is his complete foil and because of the fact that he cannot have her.  Ricardo is very boring and unadventurous, whereas, the Bad Girl is completely spontaneous and always on the move.  On the one hand, Ricardo stays attracted to the Bad Girl because she is everything that he would like to be.  He moves to Paris in the hopes of creating a new and exciting life, but this falls shorts when he becomes a translator.  However; the Bad Girl merely creates excitement just by existing.  Another reason why Ricardo stays attracted to the Bad Girl throughout the book even though she clearly takes advantage of him is because he desires excitement not the Bad Girl.  Every time Ricardo meets the Bad Girl, she is someone new and different.  This keeps Ricardo on his feet and adds passion to his life.  Ricardo lives the same mundane life every day changing nothing in his routine.  But thinking about the next encounter with the Bad Girl and then especially when he does see her again, gives him the stimulation he needs in his life.  This is why what he thinks he desire is The Bad girl, but what he really desires is the effects she brings.  I wonder if Ricardo actually tamed the Bad Girl and had a serious relationship with her, if he would actually be fulfilled in his life?  Personally, I do not think that he would be.  I think that he would become bored and find the next exciting girl who comes along because he does not desire love or a relationship, but rather passion and excitement.