THE ESSENCE OF POLITICAL REVOLUTIONS AS SEEN IN MARIANO AZUELA’S LOS DE ABAJO
SELINA DOE ANGMOR
University of Ghana

PROLOGUE

Mariano Azuela’s Los de Abajo, is perhaps the most enlightening and dramatic novel centred on the Mexican Revolution. It features a revolution embarked on by a group of rebels led by Demetrio Marcias (the protagonist of the novel). It also recounts the state of the country throughout the ensuing battles and the reaction of its people to the unfolding events of the revolution. The novel is originally written in Spanish; however, in the writing of this article, an English translated version is used to help the reader to identify easily with the subject matter and content. All quotations are therefore written in English.

NB: This prologue is necessitated by the primary targeted audience of this article (organizers of GMUN 2009) and is written to serve as a guide to the readers who may not have read the novel.

MAIN ARTICLE

Many writers, at different times, have expressed varying views on political revolutions, irrespective of their various causes. Like many of these authours, Mariano Azuela, in his Los de Abajo addresses the issue of the importance of political revolutions, yet with a more indirect approach. He simple lays bare the unfolding incidents of a revolution, puts phenomenal words in the mouths of his characters, and leaves the reader to make an informed judgement on the essence of political revolutions.

In this article, to be able to examine carefully the essence of political revolutions as seen in Los de Abajo, I will undertake a careful study of the significance of the revolution (that is, what it meant), firstly to its perpetrators and then to the masses. Furthermore, I will study the state of the country and its inhabitants before, during and after the revolution.

To ascertain the significance of the revolution to its perpetrators, one question readily comes to mind - “For what course were the revolutionaries