I really enjoyed and was fascinated by this week’s reading “The Underdogs”, as this was an opportunity to read and learn about the Mexican Revolution from another perspective. Back at home in Mexico, every year I was surrounded by the Mexican Revolution, either in history class or during the festivities. A beautiful sense of patriotism always surrounded me, yet reading this novel gave me another perspective other than historical. This novel gave me the opportunity to read about a more personal view of the Revolution, where themes such as classism and social oppression (which where not the focus of the history classes taught in Mexico) where brought to such detail in this novel.
Another thing that really interested me was that by the end of the novel, Demetrio is very discouraged to keep fighting in the revolution, and questions the reason why he keeps doing this. It shows another version of these heroes that fought during the revolution that gave us freedom from Porfirio Diaz’s dictatorship. Unlike the heroes I learned so much in school, that had such strong ideals and fought to see a free Mexico, these heroes (even if fictional) that fought as much as those famous heroes, not always had strong ideals and doubted the reason why they were doing this. It was such a beautiful experience to read something like this, as it shows a more human and “flawed” side of the revolutionary fight. It proves to us that such a complex thing as a revolution, will not always have strong ideals in their front lines, but rather a confused group of people in the lead. This is not a bad thing! While I was reading this novel and noticed Demetrio’s confusion as on why he kept fighting alongside his men, I sympathized with them (not because I have every fought in a revolution) but because then again, it depicts an ordinary, human side of the fight. What did you think about this? Do you think a revolution should always have strong ideals or therefore it will fail?
The last thing I want to talk about is about the development of Luis Cervantes, who we follow throughout the novel. At first we see him in the fight, alongside armed men, but at the end of the novel he goes off to the US and starts making another life, a “good” one far away from the violence his country was facing. This reminded me a lot of this current idea of “escaping” Mexico, of the desire of many families to escape from the violence these days and go to the US to make a new life. But this is usually only a reality to those who can afford to do this, which was also the case of Cervantes. He was an intellectual, had means to support himself, which is why he could have a “better” life in the US. What do you think about this decision? Do you think it was selfish of him to leave his country in such times, to get himself a better life?
“This novel gave me the opportunity to read about a more personal view of the Revolution, where themes such as classism and social oppression (which where not the focus of the history classes taught in Mexico) where brought to such detail in this novel.”
This is a novel that is also very widely read in Mexico. Do you think that it would be read differently there? Did you read it differently yourself, reading it here in Canada rather than back home?
Hi! Thank you for your post, it was interesting to read about your experience with the Mexican Revolution as someone who grew up in Mexico. I enjoyed what you said about Demetrio’s arc and where he stands at the end of the novel. As you said, it opened up the chance to look at the revolutionists from a more human perspective. As for your question on this, I think with any sort of political uproar, there is always going to extremists on both sides, and having some who stand more in the middle is likely beneficial, because if everyone was one extreme or the other things would likely be a lot uglier than they already can become. However, I do think if a revolution is in place, and so much upheaval is taking place, it is important to at least understand what is being fought for, and to have some sort of goal you are hoping to achieve from your actions.
Hi there,
thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
I enjoyed your perspective on the significance of the book as a Mexican, as it gave it more of a “flawed’ aspect to the revolution. I would also agree with that notion. I think if there was to ever be justice in this world, well it could start by telling things how they are, with explicit detail or at least a generous amount. Maybe this book offers the Mexican people something along those lines.
I do think a revolution should have very string ideals because first, their are lives at stake, and second, the revolution happens are the first revolution, so if it doesn’t have strong ideals, ultimately, it is destined to achieve something that was not intended. And that doesn’t sound like a favourable revolution. At the very least, it sounds daunting.