Demetrio Macias Characters In The Underdogs

His careful language exemplifies a quasi-diplomatic approach in controlling his followers. Brunk also emphasizes that “many other jefes […] resented what Zapatista headquarters had become: the centralizing product of Zapata’s interaction with urban intellectual parties” (350). This internal struggle stemming different actor’s perspective on what was happening to Zapatismo provides a more nuanced look at a pivotal group in the Mexican Revolution.

Thesis Statement: How Joaquín Guzmán Loera became a mythical figure in Mexico, both a narco folk hero and a villain

In John Chasteen’s book Heroes on Horseback we learn about the life and struggle of the brothers Saravia. These two brothers Gumercindo and Aparicio led rebellious movements in Brazil and Uruguay. These rebellious movements not only galvanized thousands of people from rural areas but also threatened large governments that had both numbers and weaponry in their favor. One important thing about the brothers that Chasteen mentions is not their prowess in battle or their tactical movements but fact that they were able to inspire so many individuals and unlike many rebel leaders did not become generals until after they had secured an army worthy of their cause. Despite the fact that these brothers drew men from rural society, it was in fact the

I believe that the author tries to lead the reader in to sympathizing for the people when the author wrote, “The rebels swept into town like a stampeding herd…. Chickens took wing, dogs ran for their lives, women and children scurried out of sight, until the only living soul left in the market was Belisa Crepusculario.” Because this quote from the story shows how everyone’s scared of both the Colonel and El Mulato except for Belisa.

Author Mariano Azuela's novel of the Mexican revolution, The Underdogs, conveys a fictional representation of the revolution and the effects it had on the Mexican men and women who lived during that time. The revolutionary rebels were composed of different men grouped together to form small militias against the Federalists, in turn sending them on journeys to various towns, for long periods of time. Intense fighting claimed the lives of many, leaving women and children behind to fend for themselves. Towns were devastated forcing their entire populations to seek refuge elsewhere. The revolution destroyed families across Mexico, leaving mothers grieving for their abducted daughters, wives for their absent husbands, and soldiers for their

In contrast many people criticized Pancho Villa as being a bandolero, a thief, a killer, and overall criminal. A man who began his career as an outlaw and bandit, became a symbol of the revolution to Mexican peasants during and after his death. Despite documented evidence of his cruelty and unreasonable disregard for human life in the way he sacked innocent people from their food and killed indiscriminately in his raids throughout the revolution, Pancho Villa was popular amongst the poor, as he was known to share stolen goods amongst the poor who suffered from Porfirio Diaz’s

Macias is clearly not interested in the comforts of material riches and physical safety as Cervantes is. While Cervantes later decides to escape abroad, Demetrio, pursuing his own interest in proving himself as an intrepid man and warrior, decides to continue to fight for the revolution despite knowing that there appears to be no end in sight and at the same time sensing the initial purpose of the revolution slowly turning vague.

In addition, Trujillo was friends with the head of the armed forces, and friends with his wife’s lover. One day Trujillo told the general about his wife having an affair with another man, and Trujillo became the head of the armed forces soon after the general shot his wife and her lover. (17). Even though the sisters didn’t want to believe it the accusations against their president, but began to realize how true they were. Over time the sisters met others that didn’t agree with their president’s ways, and that is how the Mirabel sisters came to join the Virgilio Morales.

Mariano Azuela's novel, The Underdogs, is a male-dominated novel. The story of the exploits and wartime adventures of a rebel band during the Mexican Revolution is primarily driven by men; the majority of the characters are men who are separated from their families and lives and who are fighting for a cause in which they strongly believe (at least at the beginning of the novel). Despite the masculine story, however, there are two highly developed and significant female characters in The Underdogs. These women, Camila and War Paint, are a representation of two of the roles women played during the Mexican Revolution. While the portraits Azuela paints of these women and their role in society and revolution are

up for what was right even if it was against the dictator, Trujillo. Patria, Minerva, and

The students of the Centre are conformists. They are typical example of Spanish citizens to live under Franco’s Rule during the 1950’s. They accept what they are thought by Don Pablo and Doña Pablo and do not question it. In contrast to the students Ignacio is an independent character who does not conform to the society of the Centre. He challenges what the students have been thought. ‘Ciegos! Ciegos y no invidentes, imbéciles.’ Ignacio keeps on emphasising how there is a division in life between ‘los invidentes’ and ‘los videntes’ and tries to spread his darkness to the people of the centre. ‘La Guerra que me consume os consumirá.’

The people that Demetrio represent are evident in the people that comprise his army, as well as the rare souls like Luis Cervantes. Cervantes, man who was well off to begin with, but later lost his fortune to the government. He quotes “Before the revolution, I had my land all plowed, see, and just right for sowing, and if it hadn’t been for a little quarrel with Don Macio, the boss of my town, Moyahua, I’d be there in a jiffy getting the oxen ready for the sowing, see?” (pg. 48) Luis Cervantes explains his cause when he says “The triumph of our cause, which is the sublime triumph of Justice, because our ideal-to be free the noble, long suffering people of Mexico-is about to be realized and because those men who have watered the earth with their blood and tears will reap the harvest which is rightfully theirs.” (pg. 69)

In 1910, the first social upheaval of the 20th century was unleashed in Mexico. Known as the Mexican Revolution, its historical importance and impact inspired an abundance of internationally renowned South American authors. Mariano Azuela is one of these, whose novel, "The Underdogs" is often described as a classic of modern Hispanic literature. Having served as a doctor under Pancho Villa, a revolutionary leader of the era, Azuela's experience in the Revolution provides The Underdogs with incomparable authenticity of the political and social tendencies of the era between 1910 and 1920. The Underdogs recounts the living conditions of the Mexican peasants, the

Mexico suffered ten years of war, suffering, and turmoil. Mexican leaders during 1910-1920 were unable to hold the country together and a revolution consumed the nation. The Mexican people grew tired of political greed, lack of support, and unequal treatment. Several leaders such as President Diaz would prove to be a man of one interest, himself. Others would quickly rise against him and attempt to claim the presidency. General Huerta and Francisco

Mariano Azuela’s The Underdogs, is about a brotherhood of the Mexican people taking a journey with only one thing on their mind; revenge against Huerta and the Federales. In this story, we as the reader are confronted with characters, such as Demetrio Macias, who is destined to lead his people into the depths of retaining an incorrupt lifestyle and hopes to find peace from the effect of war. Although Demetrio is seen as one of the main characters in the novel, we are also briefly engaged in the other revolutionary forces under Pancho Villa, Carranza, Obregon, and by peasants under Zapata. These appositional forces gain strength against the Huerta government as well. The Underdogs almost symbolizes a Robin Hood story, in which, Demetrio and