The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela

¶ … Mariano Azuela

The Mexican Revolution has always been debated upon by historians, some labeling it as a "fiesta de balas" -- a party of bullets, with minimal political aims or ideologies. Others have not disregarded the revolution and noted that although most of the conflicts were centered in the provinces of the Mexican countryside, the revolutions' leaders were politically driven and adopted clear political ideologies. How does the novel The Underdogs treat this issue? Which side does it take?

The historiographical reality of the Mexican revolution of 1910[footnoteRef:1] has been deeply fashioned by novelists like Mariano Azuela. It was novels like the "Underdogs"[footnoteRef:2] that captured the essence of the revolution. The commotion that followed the fall of Porfirio Diaz, defined the Mexican nation in a new light, and although this was not the first time the oppressed Latin American masses rose against the ruling elite, it would definitely be the most effective rise. [1: The novel focuses on five locations of conflict that are Jalisco, Durango, Zacatecas, Aguas Caliente and Nayarit during the ten-year period of the Mexican Revolution, from 1913-1915. ] [2: Azuela's Novel described the revolution through the perspective, victories and losses of Demetrio and his bandits. ]

Mexico is a land that has always been torn by some sort of conflict, with the first rebellions led by the natives against the forced European rule. Since there was a disappointment with the elite rule, exclusionary political policies, and the fact that projects were not formulated overnight, the revolution was the final point of endurance by the economically and ethnically marginalized masses of Latin America.

The novel is in essence a record of the revolution, one that precedes any journalistic and graphic reports of modern wars. The 'Underdogs' novel is considered "Pictures and Scenes of the Present Revolution"; a truthful depiction of the events of the revolution. The novel narrates the events that were being discussed and published in the pages of the Spanish El Paso del Norte, in El Paso, Texas. It was this very novel that was published in folletin form in 1915 (Robe, 15).

Azuela undertook a year-long journey that led him into the thick of the Mexican revolution. He drifted from one conflict to another, the defeats, and the strategic and horrific retreats of Villa's armies to their northern base.

From the writer's perspective, the U.S. support of the enemy, the constant retreats and the circumstances, were grim for the revolution. This was the setting for his greatest Novel,

"The Underdogs." The Novel is considered one of Mexico's establishing fictions; however, the book gives an accurate account of the revolution's proceedings[footnoteRef:3]. Underdogs even contributed to the image and struggle of the revolution that he considered a failure[footnoteRef:4]. [3: Azuela; a doctor by profession, treated the wounded and saw the revolution as a supporter and traveler with the Military leader Julian Medina; a loyal follower of Pancho Villa. The content for Los de Abajo (The Underdogs) is inspired by a true documentation during this period. ] [4: Azuela was forced into exile to El Paso, Texas in 1915 during Huerta's short period of victory. Azuela wrote the novel here. ]

Disillusionment with the revolution and its corrupt agendas is a crucial thematic component of The Underdogs, one that is prominent in a three-part narrative arrangement of the writer's own development and intellectual experiences. Azuela's growth can be clearly outlined in the following three phases:

Azuela's original romanticized optimism

The sobering experience of being involved in actual combat and seeing death and destruction up close[footnoteRef:5]. [5: Azuela served as a chief of political affairs in Lagos de Moreno, his hometown, under the rule of Mexican President Francisco I. However, after the war broke out, he became a supporter of the Constitutionalist cause, although he ultimately wrote about the revolution's violent impact on Mexico.]

Disillusionment and a sense of foreboding when faced with the political truth and egotistical benefits behind the revolution.

Azuela weaves the story around his loss of faith by depicting a practical betrayal in the Novel that was in essence also a representation of his own mistaken optimism and intellectual naivete. The Novel points towards a lost and hopeless revolutionary whose fight for others left him lost in an abyss of despair where there was no hope for change.

The 'Underdogs' speaks of a socially just, and ideal hero who stands on principles of equality and against the oppression of the weak. However, when he faces the world, he is faced with more than just resistance; reality hits him full force, dimming the light of his idealism and dream of freedom. This reality points towards the harsh facts of the time that almost 15 million Mexicans during the revolution were illiterate, according to the Census of 1910. With 40% Indians, this was a fight of the lower classes against the ruling elite and their injustices. Even the writer was a rarity and was part of the 20% "white Mexicans of European lineage"; an educated Creole doctor who had an affinity for the lower classes (Robe, 24).

Despite the general trend and traditional depictions of a "White" bandit or a middle class mesitizo, Azuela's protagonist Demetrio Macias[footnoteRef:6], a noble bandit of sorts, is a true fighter of the revolution from the Native American Lineage. It was "an inferior race," but what the writer saw as the actual fighters of the true revolution. There is no political agenda that serves him personally and the hero is focused on idealism and optimism. The champion of the oppressed is free from any selfish approaches or ideas. [6: Azuela conveys the pointlessness of war by depicting the circular nature of war; he represents this by ending the story showing that Demetrio and his men are fighting in the same place where the novel started.]