Before you make any assumptions based on the post’s title, I’m not underwhelmed because I didn’t like the book (to clarify, I didn’t like the book but thats not the reasoning here), I’m underwhelmed because I carry in some sense the same disappointment that Luis Cervantes felt about the revolution and the way it eventually manifests, and leaves behind the country and its people in replacement with this weird sense of calamity and loss. I think because I am still young and my life has barely started yet, my brain doesn’t have the capacity to process this kind of dejectedness that the characters possess especially towards the end of the book, which is something I guess people kind of attribute to just having experienced “life”. I really empathized with this quote in the foreword: “Revolutions begin fighting tyranny and end fighting themselves”. I think the meaning here in the passage referred to the political situation where revolutionaries fight against the dictator and end up fighting among factions to choose who gets to sit in the now vacated seat, which was Mexico’s situation. But I think to read into this quote more deeply, people start this war clear that the enemy was the tyrant and his oppression they were all against, but end up fighting themselves as they find they now find this tyrant within themselves and are unclear where their values lie as well, eventually submitting to having no values, in my opinion, which resulted in more barbaric behaviour. I think this parallel was drawn by Azuela himself the best, where Demetrio finds himself in situations he’s experienced before but on the other side, be it the battle in the valley/canyon/sierra place, or raiding others houses. Reading those scenes also furthered the despondency I felt.
Another interesting thing to think about is how the book directly translated means “Those from below”, as mentioned again in the foreword. For me, the feeling the directly translated title gives is a greater sombreness, compared to “Underdogs”, which also has its own zing to it, but I guess has a more English nuance to it which kinda takes away from the original title. I think the title obviously has some relation to the class structure in place here in reference to Demitrio and his troops, but I also think there’s a sort of relation to how the scene starts with them in high ground attacking “those from below” and ends with them being the ones from below, as they were killed. I think this also ties in again with class structure, since the “curro” Luis Cervantes is not there as they were dying one by one at the bottom.
To finish off with a question: Did you guys like this book? What part about it was something you enjoyed or something you really didn’t like? I personally wanted to jump to the next page whenever they mentioned Camilia. That girl has already been through enough.
“my brain doesn’t have the capacity to process this kind of dejectedness that the characters possess especially towards the end of the book”
Ha! I get that. Perhaps you would have preferred Nellie Campobello’s Cartucho, which is written from the perspective of a child, and rather more enthusiastic about the Revolution!
“I also think there’s a sort of relation to how the scene starts with them in high ground attacking “those from below” and ends with them being the ones from below, as they were killed.”
I like this, and it makes me think about the role of space (and land) in the novel. Perhaps we can talk about this in class…
Oh, one more thing… do add “Azuela” (just the surname) as a category to this post. Thanks!
Hi Kelly,
I appreciate your post from this week. The comment on Cervantes’ outlook where the revolutionaries may end up fighting themselves is a prominent theme throughout the book. I can empathize with this sentiment as my girlfriend is Iranian, and in Iran there was a revolution about 40ish years ago, whereby the people overthrew the government, yet there was not a clear and cogent plan to replace the previous regime, so eventually Iran found themselves under another political system that did not/has not given the people the fairness and justice they deserve. The common theme here is that without a clear plan on how to replace the previous system clearly and with confidence, you may run the risk of fighting amongst yourselves and potentially create a world that is worse off than when you started.
The story definitely had lulls in it, especially with the hopping from town to town, the constant chaos, destruction, and gunfights always apparent. It seemed a little repetitive, but the storyline with Camilla was captivating – I agree with you, that girl has been through enough already… Also Solis and his monologue near the end of Part I always resonates with me, asking the difficult question “What are we fighting for?”
Take care!
Curtis HR
Hi! I think your point about Luis is really interesting because I didn’t perceive him as becoming disillusioned but rather as a conman. He never truly seemed to buy into the movement (couldn’t articulate the cause when first asked by Demetrio) and was constantly seeking to make higher rank and more money. He then expressed wishes of leaving the country and reveals that he had thought he plans to do so. Later in his letter he then attempts to appeal to Venancio’s perceived stupidity to get him to fund a business for him. I though he was arrogant and almost worse than some of the more violent characters because his violence and manipulation were so thought through with arrogant and selfish intent. I did still like the book. Your note on Camila is also surprising. Although I had to practically throw the book across the room when she didn’t let War Paint help her leave she and Cervantes’ girlfriend (who never gets a name as far as I can remember) are of the greatest victims of the revolution.
Hi Kelly,
I enjoyed reading your blog post! If I had to pick, my favourite part of the book was the overall mention of dogs and the wordplay in the text was interesting to read. I find myself noticing play on words much more often now, and from this weeks discussion class I noticed how words can mean more than one thing, and that there are more than one thing for a word to mean. That was super interesting and allowed me to notice the amount of work that goes into making literature that features these types of word play.