Caballero Review
It is an irony that something that can raise a person to their highest level has the same power to dissolve it. In the case of Caballero, pride and vision fuel the Mendoza family to establish an hacienda and be respected among their peers. This greatness, in their eyes, is the fruit of hard work, family, and traditions followed through many generations. Through the course of the novel, pride remains a key element in Don Santiago, but somewhere vision is lost and is blurred by the pestering war that raises emotion to take control of his actions. A reasonable man can do many things, but Don Santiago's reason is blinded by rage directed at people whom he knows little to nothing of. Letting pride take the best of him, he alone is the cause for the fall of his family. When Don Jose arrived in the area known as Rancho Las Palmas, the land was unmarked and unwanted, so he labeled it his and raised a great hacienda and family. However, during this time, power and control changed as countries fought for this land. No one really took notice to the area of South Texas, for it was not yet settled by Americans, and it was too far from Mexico to be of real significance to them. This made life for the first hundred years at Rancho
189) This is one of the voices of reason Don Santiago refuses to hear, and it comes from one of his own. Susanita, the youngest daughter of Don Santiago, is in love with Lt. Maybe, love should be given a chance. Susanita knows that tradition and her father stand in the way of her desire for Warrener. Later McLane marries Susana, the good and holy daughter of Don Santiago. Don Santiago also leaves the art of reasoning behind. Even when he caught the Anglo family moving in on part of his property did reason come into him, instead pride and anger rose even more. Shortly thereafter, his sister, a widow, marries his best friend, yet another change in traditional customs broken by the power of love. He does not see that though he was once Mexican, now he is American and must conform to a different society. He knows the tradition of the rancheros, but Warrener does not lose hope in that he will get Susanita. But, by circumstance and Warrener's equal desire for Susanita, it became difficult to keep their feelings inside. "They believe only what they wished to believe. In a conversation with Don Santiago, Don Gabriel says, "It is amazing, Santiago, how their (Anglo's) minds leap ahead. He refused to listen to McLane's talk about filing paperwork for his land, just because McLane was Anglo.
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,
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