Quote:
“‘I don’t want any cattle. I ain’t no ‘vaquero’ to go ‘busquering’ around and lassoing cattle. I’ll lasso myself; what do I know about whirling a lariat? said Mathews.” (Ruiz de Burton, 98)
Summary:
This is Mathews’ answer after Don Mariano offers to divide his cattle with them in order to have enough money to grow and be able to grow fruits and vineyards, and leave aside the wheat production.
Response:
This is an example of what the Americans think about the Mexicans. Mathew is clearly stating that raising cattle is a low-life activity, which he is not interested in doing because he doesn’t know how to and because he wants to keep his stubbornness about raising wheat. Also, I think Ruiz de Burton shows him as an elitist person, who doesn’t want to get involve with activities which he makes sound kind of wild. Plus, Mathews’ argument for not having cattle is rather childish, because he is belittling the vaquero activity, since he doesn’t know how to do it. So basically, he is just a useless man who can not do anything but complain and sustain fake arguments, relying on the fact that they are Americans and therefore they have to be right.
It is quite interesting though that Don Mariano does not says anything to contradict him, rather, he says that he goes “busquering around” just for fun, and that the caring of the cattle can be done by Indians. Thus, this is like one culture undermining another, first Mathews wants to make Don Mariano seem like a savage; then, Don Mariano is practically passing the ball to the Indians, since he is a man of status enough no to get involved in the direct caring of the cattle.
Therefore, I consider Ruiz de Burton is on the side of the Mexican Culture, and she is showing her own reality, where one thing is clear, it is for granted that the Indians are the lowest group in social status.
“‘I don’t want any cattle. I ain’t no ‘vaquero’ to go ‘busquering’ around and lassoing cattle. I’ll lasso myself; what do I know about whirling a lariat? said Mathews.” (Ruiz de Burton, 98)
Summary:
This is Mathews’ answer after Don Mariano offers to divide his cattle with them in order to have enough money to grow and be able to grow fruits and vineyards, and leave aside the wheat production.
Response:
This is an example of what the Americans think about the Mexicans. Mathew is clearly stating that raising cattle is a low-life activity, which he is not interested in doing because he doesn’t know how to and because he wants to keep his stubbornness about raising wheat. Also, I think Ruiz de Burton shows him as an elitist person, who doesn’t want to get involve with activities which he makes sound kind of wild. Plus, Mathews’ argument for not having cattle is rather childish, because he is belittling the vaquero activity, since he doesn’t know how to do it. So basically, he is just a useless man who can not do anything but complain and sustain fake arguments, relying on the fact that they are Americans and therefore they have to be right.
It is quite interesting though that Don Mariano does not says anything to contradict him, rather, he says that he goes “busquering around” just for fun, and that the caring of the cattle can be done by Indians. Thus, this is like one culture undermining another, first Mathews wants to make Don Mariano seem like a savage; then, Don Mariano is practically passing the ball to the Indians, since he is a man of status enough no to get involved in the direct caring of the cattle.
Therefore, I consider Ruiz de Burton is on the side of the Mexican Culture, and she is showing her own reality, where one thing is clear, it is for granted that the Indians are the lowest group in social status.
1 comment:
20/20 In fact that's exactly how Indians were treated.
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