The Underdogs

by

Mariano Azuela

Mariano Azuela, the first of the "novelists of the Revolution," wasborn in Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco, Mexico, in 1873. He studied medicinein Guadalajara and returned to Lagos in 1909, where he began thepractice of his profession. He began his writing career early; in 1896he published Impressions of a Student in a weekly of Mexico City. Thiswas followed by numerous sketches and short stories, and in 1911 by hisfirst novel, Andres Perez, maderista.

Like most of the young Liberals, he supported Francisco I. Madero'suprising, which overthrew the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz, and in1911 was made Director of Education of the State of Jalisco. AfterMadero's assassination, he joined the army of Pancho Villa as doctor,and his knowledge of the Revolution was acquired at firsthand. When thecounterrevolutionary forces of Victoriano Huerta were temporarilytriumphant, he emigrated to El Paso, Texas, where in 1915 he wrote TheUnderdogs (Los de abajo), which did not receive general recognitionuntil 1924, when it was hailed as the novel of the Revolution.

But Azuela was fundamentally a moralist, and his disappointment withthe Revolution soon began to manifest itself. He had fought for abetter Mexico; but he saw that while the Revolution had correctedcertain injustices, it had given rise to others equally deplorable.When he saw the self-servers and the unprincipled turning his hopes forthe redemption of the under-privileged of his country into a ladder toserve their own ends, his disillusionment was deep and often bitter.His later novels are marred at times by a savage sarcasm.

During his later years, and until his death in 1952, he lived in MexicoCity writing and practicing his profession among the poor.

The Underdogs

by

Mariano Azuela

A Novel of the Mexican Revolution

Translated by E. Munguia, Jr.

Original Title: LOS DE ABAJO

PART ONE

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