The Underdogs: A novel of the Mexican Revolution

“‘That’s no animal, I tell you! Listen to Palomo barking! It must be a human being.’”

Demetrio’s wife tells him that Palomo is warning them about approaching humans. The reader learns immediately that there are reasons to fear humans in the novel. This is reinforced throughout the story, and by the end of the novel, Palomo’s barking can be seen as foreshadowing the transition of nearly every character into something dangerous.

“When, after many hours of climbing, he gazed back, huge flames shot up from the depths of the canyon by the river. His house was on fire.”

Demetrio’s involvement in the Revolution begins as a quest for personal vengeance. The Federals have come in the night, forced him to leave his wife and infant, and burned down his home. The burning of the home foreshadows the night when he will spare Don Mónico’s life but burn down his house.

“‘May God help you and lead you to safety! Today it’s you, but tomorrow we’re also leaving here, feeling the draft, chased down by those damned government people who’ve declared a fight to the death against all us poor folks. They steal our pigs, our chickens, and even our corn. They burn our houses and carry off our women, and if they ever get hold of us, they kill us on the spot like rabid dogs.’”

Early in the novel, peasants thank Demetrio and pray for his men in their fight against the government. Over the course of the novel, Demetrio’s rebels will eventually perform the same loathsome acts as the Federals. The peasants will come to fear them just as they do the government men, and the rebels will not see that they have become the enemy of the people they claimed to protect.