the book is partly fictional, as well: sarmiento draws on his imagination in addition to historical fact in describing rosas. in "facundo", sarmiento outlines his argument that rosas's dictatorship is the main cause of argentina's problems. the themes of barbarism and savagery that run through the book are, to sarmiento, consequences of rosas's dictatorial government. to make his case, sarmiento often has recourse to strategies drawn from literature.