Mariano Azuela’s The Underdogs (originally Los de abajo) follows a the central character Demetrio Macías as he travels through Mexico with an ever growing band of revolutionaries, causing havoc and plundering. some of the themes that most stuck out to me are masculinity, the roles and depiction of women, and the skilful portrayal of disillusionment.
Masculinity is a restrictive and driving force in the work. The men consistently engage in competitiveness and policing of as they for example, mock each other’s ‘weaknesses’ and prove themselves through acts of assertiveness and domination, usually in the form of violence, and recount exaggerated stories to each other. The subjugation and assertions of power over women are also a frequent occurrence throughout the text. The masculinity of the “peasants” clashes slightly with that of the “metro”/”curro,” represented by Luis Cervantes.
Women take on three distinct different roles. The elderly woman of wisdom and service represented by María Antonia, the fearful, naïve, ambitious and easily subjugated child represented by Camila and Cervantes’ girlfriend, and lastly the mad fighter who takes on more masculine traits and is feared by some of the men represented by War Paint. Ultimately all of these women are left behind by the band of men. Particularly War Paint is interesting, and arguably the most nuanced character in the work. She is fiercely protective of a man who is unfaithful and unkind to her, is violent and impulsive, and seemingly fits in well with the men of the group, apart from her gender and dress. She attempts to save Camila by coming up with a trick to take her home to her family; however, Camila does not accept the help and is later killed by War Paint. The contentious relationship between the women is caused and escalated by the men they care for: Camila’s criticism of Towhead and her refusal to leave Demetrio. Both women represent different coping and survival strategies, that ultimately fail, in a country and community turning towards hyper-masculine aggression and violence.
The novel begins with the unfair destruction of Macías’ home and his family having to split up. The actions of the Federales are unjustified and violent leading the reader to sympathise with the revolutionaries; however, as the text continues the unjust and disproportionate violence done by Macías’ band escalates and the actions of atrocities committed by the Federales become far less explicit. The reader is disillusioned with the revolutionaries and their cause almost in sync with the Mexican population.
I enjoyed this work; however, the depiction of women and the pointless violence was at times hard to read. The seeming pointlessness of many of the characters’ actions were also incomprehensible to me. Luis made me angry.
Questions:
- Do you think that a more in depth knowledge of the history and politics of the Mexican Revolution would contribute to a reading of this work? Or would it take away from understanding the infrapolitical elements as indicated in the lecture?
- Do you believe Luis Cervantes always intended on deserting the revolution or that he only developed the plan later?
“Masculinity is a restrictive and driving force in the work.”
Yes, good point. It both drives the revolution and perhaps also holds it back, preventing it from being “truly” revolutionary?
“Luis made me angry.”
Ha! Why?
He’s a conman and his whole story is precalculated. 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.
Hello! I think your analysis of masculinity in the text is spot on. I never noticed it as much as other themes–as I believe it to be inherent to any war setting–but the way you have painted it almost makes it appear as reflecting the difference in “class” between Demetrio and Cervantes.
Hi Kara, I never really considered how gender roles and masculinity affect the story. I disagree though with the violence of the revolutionaries being unjustified, if the revolutionaries were more lenient I doubt that they would have been able to defeat the federal troops. I think that Demetrio’s group was justified in their use of extreme violence as they felt unjustified violence everyday in their life by the federals, as pointed out by Cervantes. Also people in the revolution who were particularly violent, like Francisco “Pancho” Villa are still popular in Mexico because of their violent actions. I do not really think that understanding the full history of the Mexican Revolution is necessary to read the book, but definitely understanding the causes and the context behind the Mexican Revolution is important.