The purpose of this paper is to show that the emasculation, referred to in an elliptical way, suffered by the main character of Mario Vargas Llosa’s The cubs (1967), is part of a sacrifice. The loss of the virile organ may represent the giving of a gift in order to obtain something good: the equality of social opportunities in a community of friends. The mentioned actor who was excessively superior to his friends, in all aspects, suffers an amputation, which reduces his abilities and equals them to those of his peers, making the coexistence possible. It should be pointed out that this configuration arises from the analysis of the first part of the novel.