 The succession of characters (as well as places) that replace each other without fully developing on their own (or blocked from developing, in a sense) represent Carpentier's view of the social context in which forces are preventing characters from developing.As a young writer, Carpentier spent a great deal of time in Europe.Due to his European heritage, Carpentier had a firm grasp of the French language and was also well versed in the French surrealist tradition.