This week I chose to read “The Underdogs” which is a story of the Mexican revolution. For the reading this week, I purchased a hard copy of the book from the bookstore, and this was actually my first time reading a handheld version of something for school in a long time, and it made such a difference to the experience. I felt much more immersed in this novel than I have with things in the past. Although I do believe this is partially due to having the physical copy of the book, I also thoroughly enjoyed this story. I found it easy to follow and the story intriguing, being pulled in right away.
Another thing I liked about this story was how the characters were fleshed out well. It was easy to understand peoples emotions and motives for the most part. I sympathized with Camila a lot, being in a position of loving one man while being somewhat expected to be with another. It helped paint an idea of what life could have been like for a woman in this era. I also found it interesting to see the arcs of characters throughout the story, and looking at how they begun and where they finished. What causes they started fighting for and what they ended up standing for in the end. I found the ending to be somewhat upsetting, seeing how people can become so encapsulated with whatever they are currently doing that they forget why they began doing it in the first place, such as happened to Demetrio.
One line that stuck out to me was “I do not think that think that it is wrong to kill, because when you kill, it is always out of anger. But stealing?” and the fact that everyone taking part in the conversation agreed. I think this paints a clear picture of morals surrounding the revolution and tells you about their motives behind fighting. It is interesting to see how they justified their actions by saying that they are just doing it out of anger and it somehow makes it forgivable and almost understandable. Although this line was a bit shocking to me, it also got me thinking how war still occurs all the time today, and death in battle is still not uncommon and can be rationalized with this same logic in many parts of the world.
My question for this week is: Why do you think Demetrio was unable to step away from fighting, despite having a family at home?
Hi Laura! I really enjoyed reading your blog post and I think you did a wonderful job breaking down the effects war can have on people. I also found myself wondering why Demetrio decided to leave his family in the end and instead continue fighting. The conclusion I came to was that fighting the revolution took a toll on him and really changed his mindset about the war. He was away from his family for so long and was exposed to a lot of violence, and that violence kind of became a drug to him that he couldn’t live without. Maybe he had seen and done too much that he wasn’t the same man he could return to his family as, so instead the best option for him was to “run-away” and continue to fight in the revolution.
“this was actually my first time reading a handheld version of something for school in a long time, and it made such a difference to the experience”
Ah, yes! 🙂
“people can become so encapsulated with whatever they are currently doing that they forget why they began doing it in the first place, such as happened to Demetrio.”
Hmm. Is this what happened to Demetrio? I’m not sure… Though it’s true in part, I also think he comes to think that the Revolution has become part of his fate.