The success of the humor in Mario Vargas Llosa's novel Captain Pantoja and the Special Service is directly related to the disunion between the subjects discussed (primarily the discussion of prostitution and sexuality) and the tone of the language the characters use to relate to these subjects. Specifically, the language used by the novel's protagonist Captain Pantoja in his military dispatches on or relating to the establishment of a Special Service of prostitutes. The language of the military is based on numbers, facts, planning, clarity, and politeness. Pantoja's dispatches to his commanding officers--presented in the novel in an epistolary style--demonstrate the hilarious inability for military language to comprehend or examine sexuality. The most clear example is Pantoja's detailed research and description of the establishment of the Special Service. His various investigations (all presented in the crisp language of the military) accounts for the logistics of a bordello, the amount of soldiers/services required, but completely forgets about the menstruation of the prostitutes in the army's employ. This disunion is mirrored elsewhere in the novel. The telescopic dialogue cuts back and forth between different scenes, the setting of the city vs. the setting of the jungle, all parallel the disunion of the language. Llosa's skill lies in being able to make this impossible reconciliation hilarious and not tragic.