Journal 12: Don Mariano's come back

Quote:
“‘Yes, and if our crops fail, we will be in debt to the ears, with a chain around our necks,’ Mathew growled. ‘I thought you said that if it were not for my cattle, your crops would not have failed,’ said Don Mariano, smiling.” (Ruiz de Burton, 96)

Summary:

This is the exchange of words between the settlers and Don Mariano, where Mathew is complaining about Don Mariano giving them money to fence their crops, and if the crops are not successful, they will be in debt with him. To this, Don Mariano points out that he thought the cattle was the only motive why the crops would fail, which is not true.

Response:

This conversation between the Mathew and Don Mariano is very interesting, because on one side we can see the tension between these two groups of people, who are involved in diplomatic discussions but underneath they are just sending subtle message to undermine each other. On the other hand I see how the Americans are in the end blaming the failure of the crops on Don Mariano’s cattle; however, the true reason is the lack of rain, but they will not say that because they want to find the justification for having killed the cattle and for having crops that did not really grow as expected.

I think Ruiz de Burton wanted to show this tense and ironic situation by letting us know at the end that the Americans were the ones wrong, because if they had been completely sure that their crops were going to succeed they would not have doubt in accepting Don Mariano’s proposal. Plus, the American’s position is very clear in these conversation, they always want to be in control and do not depend on others, specially the Mexicans who had just been defeated in the Mexican American war. It is ironic, because the Americans are wrong, they know that what Don Mariano is proposing is fair and possible; nevertheless, they prefer to stay stubborn and not admit that the true problem with their crops is the lack of rain.

Finally, I think Don Mariano’s come back shows that he is aware of what the Americans are thinking, so he plays the fool nice man’s role there, but he knows that he is right and the Americans are wrong, which I find quite comical, because they are the real fools in the story.