On Mestizaje and Representations of the Mexican Revolution in Mexican Art and Azuela’s The Underdogs

History had never witnessed this process of two unrelated breeds intermingling and practically disappearing in order to create a new one (Vasconcelos 97). These are the words of José Vasconcelos, a philosopher and politician during the Mexican Revolution. In his influential essay, The Race Problem in Latin America, Vasconcelos examines the creation of the mestizo considering the background of Mexican history and identity. Furthermore, Vasconcelos confronts the absurdities of racism, and by doing so he composes an inspiring, idealistic work that celebrates the Mexican people and their culture. As a philosopher and politician, Vasconcelos aspired to alter the mindset of readers in Mexico about the mestizo. Through Vasconcelos’ dedication and optimism, José Clemente Orozco, Diego River, and David Siquieros were able to create art that exposed the corruption and prejudice of North American and European governments, as well as honoring Mexican nationalism. Another positive effect on Mexican mestizo culture over time has been literature. Mariano Azuela’s 1915 novel, The Underdogs, was one of the earliest written novels to discuss racism, while beautifully divulging the violence and horror of the Revolution. While these Mexican artists and political thinkers all express their ideals, beliefs, and artwork differently, they are bound by a common notion. Whether it is by mural, by essay, or by novel, these men successfully created a common, national identity for the Mexican people, who throughout history, had been brutally suppressed by foreign forces. By establishing the mestizo, the general public had a relatable figure by race, ethnicity, ideals, and socio-economic status.

Located in the lobby of the Alameda Hotel, at the heart of Mexico City, Diego Rivera’s A Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park is considered to be one of his greatest masterpieces. A combination of a daydream and life story, Rivera depicts himself as a child, along with his adviser, José Guadalupe Posada, and his third and final wife, Frida Kahlo. However, it is important to note that the three figures, as well as what is depicted to be other members of the upper class, are placed in the middle of the mural. It is evident that these citizens are members of the upper class because of their notably fine clothes and illumination of their section only. Meanwhile, the lower class is positioned on the outskirts of the mural. “Rivera took these scenes from his experiences as a child, showing pick-pockets, street urchins, newspaper vendors and Indian peasants plying their trades and being ejected from the park by the dictator’s police” (Rochfort 173). So already, there is a clear separation between the rich and the poor. The portions of the mural that represent the lower class, the right and the left, are made up of the citizens whose passion inspired need for the revolution. However, A Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park, as a complete piece, represents the mestizo uniformly, showing Rivera’s success in creating a common national identity for the Mexican people.

Furthermore, the specific people that Rivera represents on the left and right sides of his mural are significant. Towards the left, the Spanish Inquisition is represented with the inclusion of important figures such as Cortez, Maximilian, and Carlotta. In addition, General Scott, who led the invasion of Mexico with North American troops in the 1840s, is portrayed (Rochfort 173). With all of these strong historical leaders in mind, Rivera explicitly expresses anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist themes by depicting the indigenous being suppressed by European and North American influence. On the right, Rivera contrasts the pre-revolutionary themes of the left panel by including scenes of the Mexican Revolution. Rivera paints a cluster of Mexican citizens protesting against the dictatorship of Díaz. The mestizo appear to be unified and dedicated, but forceful and destructive. Rivera makes sure to represent Emiliano Zapata, a revolutionary hero, and Francisco Madero, “the revolution’s instigator” to assert strong, Mexican political figures (Rochfort 173-174). While A Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park presents many contrasting images of the upper class, the revolution, and imperialism, Rivera projects an affiliated timeline of Mexican independence. It is important to note that Rivera does not include anything that is not Mexican in his mural. Rivera hopes to convey that the oppressive, rebelling history of the mestizo is what defines this “race”, creating a familiar nationality amongst the Mexican people.

While Rivera depicts the mestizo as a positive representation of Mexican nationalism, Mariano Azuela’s The Underdogs exposes the intense prejudice received by many mestizo from those of other ethnic descent. For example, when Luis Cervantes, a white man captured by Mexican revolutionaries, wakes up in captivity, he describes his mestizo guards like such,

“One, Pancracio, was light-haired, beardless, with a freckled face, protruding shin, flat, slanted forehead, ears smeared onto his cranium, and all in all he displayed a bestial appearance. The other, Lard, barely looked human, with sunken, grim eyes, thick always parted reddish lips, and very straight hair that came down to his neck, over his forehead and ears” (Azuela 24).

The most jarring parts of this quote are “bestial” and “barely look human”. Here, Cervantes, is comparing a Mexican male to a beast, which completely dehumanizes both his character and existence, and also accurately depicts the racism that so many post-revolutionary Mexican artists attempted to convey in their work. Furthermore, Camila, the woman who the main character of the novel falls helplessly in love with, describes Cervantes, “…staring once again with adoration at his ruddy, radiant face, at his soft and expressive light green eyes, at his pinkish cheeks smooth as a porcelain doll’s at the softness of his slightly curled blond hair, and at the glow of his delicate white skin showing above his collar and outside the sleeves of his coarse wool shirt” (Azuela 36). On contrary to Cervantes dehumanizing of the Mexican guards, Camila portrays Cervantes to be angelic, or someone of higher being. She emphasizes his whiteness with words like “porcelain”, “delicate white skin”, and “soft”. Her attraction to Cervantes is thought provoking, since it appears that she is extracted to him because he is white. Even so, Camila’s attraction to Cervantes only illustrates the higher opinion of the white man over the mestizaje during the revolution. These two quotes found in The Underdogs demonstrate the prejudice that the mestizaje attempted to rid their country of throughout their fight for independence. While there is truth in Mexican revolutionaries being extremely violent and brutal throughout the war, their cause was personal and so driven by the ignorance of those foreign of Mexico.

While there are many aspects to the ethnic background of the mestizajes, these people are bound by the intense passion they have for their country and its’ traditions. Rivera’s A Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in Alameda Park accurately depicts the history of Mexican struggle with colonialism, dictatorship, and socio-economic class divide, but optimistically brings the Mexican people together on the basis of their shared history. On the other hand, Azuela shows some negative depictions of mestizos in his novel The Underdogs, by focusing on racism from foreign invaders. For North Americans and Europeans, miscegenation, the mixing of two different ethnicities, was mostly a form a pleasure. Consensual or not; there was no real desire from North Americans and Europeans to create relationships with a population they viewed as “bestial”. This ignorance translates into the United States relationship with Mexico today. Mexico still has a lot of mistrust towards the United States regarding policy, trade, immigration, etc., and with reason. The United States invaded a territory that was by no means theirs, and as Vasconcelos states again, “two unrelated breeds intermingling and practically disappearing in order to create a new one” (Vasconcelos 97). Thus leading to the final thought from Carolos Fuentes, a Mexican writer, who ponders, “the question, then, is not, when did the U.S.A. lose its innocence? But rather, was the U.S.A. ever innocent?” (Fuentes 16). The suppression of the indigenous only to transform into the mestizo does not appear to support such innocence.

Works Cited

Azuela, Mariano. The Underdogs, a Novel of the Mexican Revolution. New York: New                 American Library, 1963. Print.

Fuentes, Carlos. “The Diary of Frida Kahlo.” (1995): 7-24. Print.

Rochfort, Desmond. Mexican Muralists: Orozco, Rivera, Siqueiros. San Francisco:                     Chronicle, 1998. Print.

Vasconcelos, Mariano. “The Race Problem in Latin America.” Rutgers University                          Press(1926): 91-111. Print.