I noticed that the edition of our current novel that was prescribed in class does not contain the subtitle that mine does. The title of the edition that I read includes a subtitle: The Squatter and The Don—A Novel Descriptive of Contemporary Occurrences in California. I find it interesting that subtitles maybe omitted from some editions and not others. I think the subtitle on the edition I read is well befitting of the novel itself. It is certainly one of the oddest novels I’ve ever read, structurally speaking. The author assigns a great deal of real estate (as it were) to the laws and treaties of the time in which the narrative takes place, exploring both sides of the implications of them. For the Alamar and Mechlin families, the laws have dire consequences rendering each family rather destitute. It is noteworthy, I think, that these families represent the goodness of society, the law-abiding, community conscious folks who care about others and not just their own gains. The other families, those of Roper and Gasbang (and a few more whose names I can’t offhandedly recall) benefit from the unfairness and corruption despite their moral turpitude. So back to why I find this novel odd…while there is a plot that unfolds, Ruiz de Burton provides it to the reader from multiple points of view. We see first hand how the Alamar and Mechlin families are affected by the events that unfold, but we also get to experience the point of view of Gasbang and his thugs, their attitudes and thoughts which drive their behaviour. So not only does Ruiz de Burton provide a one-sided perspective to the contemporary occurrences in California, she provides what she believes are the opposing points of view.

One of the main motifs in the novel that really stands out to me is “the least said, soonest mended”. My mother used to tell me this all the time as a kid. It never made sense to me, especially in this day and age when it is en vogue to talk about one’s emotions and feelings. This meaning of this ‘pearl of wisdom’ is that if you don’t talk about a problem, it will simply go away. Look how well that worked out for Don Mariano and Clarence. Look how much time was wasted for Clarence and Mercedes when Clarence decided not to defend himself after his father’s hissy fit. In the words of Freddie Mercury’s song, ‘time waits for no one’, so do what you have to do and make the most of time while you have it. For me, this is the most important take-away from Ruiz de Burton’s story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGjt291COa0

I found a few Spanishism in the second half, one in particular caught my eye. Again, the page reference may not apply to the edition prescribed for class, but on page 361 of the one I read, at the end of Chapter XXXII—A False Friend Sent to Deceive the Southerners, Mr. Mechlin states “[t]he earnings of the Central Pacific this last year were seventeen millions of dollars” while speaking with Governor Stanford and Mr. Perin. This is how it would be literally translated into English from the Spanish (something to the effect of: Los ingresos del Pacífico Central este año pasado fueron diecisiete millones de dólares). In English, million is not plural and the preposition ‘of’ is merely implied and not included; whereas in Spanish, millones is plural and the preposition de is required. Further, it is amusing to me, as someone keen on linguistics, to see Mr. Mechlin make this utterance and not Don Mariano. I could see Don Mariano making this type of Spanishism, but not so much Mr. Mechlin.