"The
Squatter and the Don," Maria Amparo Ruiz De Burton pg 244-253
Literary
Elements:
Don
Mariano Alamar was a Spaniards that owned land and cattle in San Diego,
although the Mexicans thought their claims to their land prior to the Treaty of
Guadalupe in 1848 (A Treaty that was thought to be created in the spirit of
peach and friendship) was going to remain, however the laws did not protect the
land owners, "but in reality to destroy cattle and ruin the native
Calfornias." pg 248. Don had already lost some of his land to Mathews and
Hagar, two squatters, who left and decided to bring a few more men to squat and
claim land that does not belong to the US. Darrell was one of the squatters,
Don knew about and thought that he was no longer claiming land. Through out the
story Don believed Darrell was a man that knew he was taking land from him, he
assumed the worst about him and told his family.
William
Darrell (The Squatter)living in Alameda County, took over Spanish people's land
in Napa and Sonoma Counties, (Squatter's Sovereignty) he became rich and
promised his wife he would only claim land that belonged to the United States.
He went to San Diego to claim land that he believed belonged to the US, however
it belonged to Don Mariano Alamra.
Themes:
I
believe that Darrell did not know he was taking Don's land and if Don would
have approached him they could have discussed the misunderstanding. Don did not
believe he could stand up for his family and land. I believe that this makes
him a strong but weak man. Strong because he does not want to cause any issues
or fight with other's since he believes the law is not on his side. However I
also believe he is weak because he is not fighting for his land and his family,
he is allowing others to push him out.
Context:
I researched
the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 1848, which was described in the
story. The information I found, follows the information in the story, it was a
"peace treaty," and was suppose to ensure safety to the land of the
Mexicans that had exciting property rights, but it was not honored.
Articles VIII and IX
ensured safety of existing property rights of Mexican citizens
living in the transferred territories. Despite assurances to the contrary, the
property rights of Mexican citizens were often not honored by the U.S. in
accordance with modifications to and interpretations of the Treaty.[6][7][8] The U.S. also agreed to assume
$3.25 million (equivalent to $94.1 million today) in debts that Mexico owed to
United States citizens.
The residents had
one year to choose whether they wanted American or Mexican citizenship; Over
90% chose American citizenship. The others returned to Mexico (where they
received land), or in some cases in New Mexico were allowed to remain in place
as Mexican citizens.[9][10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Guadalupe_Hidalgo,
Amber, thank you for your analysis of the story! I especially appreciate your work on the context of the story. One thing I'd like you to think about is what we mean by a theme in literature. Here's a link to a definition that I think might help define it a bit: https://literarydevices.net/theme/
ReplyDeleteWhen we talk about "theme," we are looking for something an author seems to be saying about a subject he or she is raising over the length of the selection. Themes are revealed in characters' actions, thoughts, feelings, and sometimes in descriptions of events or settings, as well.
Keep up the good work!
Hi Amber,
ReplyDeleteThe way squatters pushed out the rightful landowners is disgraceful, but not surprising when we look at the history of Anglos in America. Your analysis that Mariano Alamar as both strong and weak is interesting. I do not know if it can be considered strong not to fight for your property, although it might be a safe thing to do, and was he weak to protect the safety of his family by not confronting the evil he faced. The man like many others was in a difficult situation. It is not surprising that the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was not faithfully honored by the United States; they rarely honored treaties they signed with those they assumed to be lesser peoples.
ReplyDeleteHey Amber,
Great post! I like that you found infromation on the Treaty of Guadaupe Hildago because it does help with the reading context. I feel the theme in this story is masculinity and power. It is hard to see whether Mariano was strong or weak, but he faced many difficulty decisions that were probably harder to take on during that time.
Hi Amber,
ReplyDeleteI appreciate that you went a step further in looking up the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. When I was reading this piece, I thought about how arrogant the Americans must have been to assume that they could just stake a claim in land that didn't belong to them. The law was clearly on side of the squatters but the injustice of the entire situation was heartbreaking but not surprising unfortunately. Not only were the land owners losing land that rightfully belonged to them, but then they were required to continue to pay taxes on that land while someone else inhabited it while going through the legal process to decide the true owner of the land. The power struggle no doubt played into him feeling hopeless and defeated before the legal process for his land had even begun.