The Fifth Horseman: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Fifth Horseman: Analysis of Major Characters" explores the intricate lives of several key figures amid the backdrop of revolutionary Mexico. Central to the narrative is Heraclio Inés, the youngest brother in a family of horsemen, who seeks to transcend his oppressive social standing. His journey reflects a struggle for individuality and justice, culminating in a passionate affair with Don Aurelio Becerra's daughter, Carmen, who faces her own societal constraints. David Contreras, the illegitimate son of Don Aurelio, embodies bitterness and resentment as he grapples with his identity and the injustices of his lineage, ultimately leading to tragic violence.
Marcelina Ortiz, representing the idealized woman, symbolizes the sanctity of home and motherhood but is tragically caught in a world that denies her survival. Xochitl Salamanca, a circus performer, becomes intertwined with Heraclio's fate, illustrating the spirit of the revolution that ultimately falters. Teodoro Inés, Heraclio's older brother, epitomizes the internalized oppression of the family structure, aligning himself with the very forces of authoritarianism that their family seeks to escape. Together, these characters weave a rich tapestry of personal and political struggle, reflecting the broader sociopolitical themes of the era.
The Fifth Horseman: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: José Antonio Villarreal
First published: 1974
Genre: Novel
Locale: Northern Mexico
Plot: Historical realism
Time: 1893–1915
Heraclio Inés (ehr-AH-clee-oh ee-NEHS), the youngest of five brothers born into a family of horsemen, a fact that places him above the peasants in the oppressive social structure of the Hacienda de la Flor but below the owner, Don Aurelio Becerra, his godfather. After mastering his craft and the code of honor that attends it, Heraclio casts off the rigid authority of his family in order to fulfill his individual potential, something that the prevailing sociopolitical tradition in Mexico would deny him. In an assertion of his independence, Heraclio enters into a passionate affair with Don Aurelio's daughter. When threatened with exposure and violence, Heraclio kills a man; thereafter, seeking refuge from the brutality of the rural police, he joins a group of bandits and, eventually, the forces of Pancho Villa. Democratically at one with the people and moved always by his growing sense of justice, Heraclio fights hard for the revolution only to see the cause fail as Mexico falls once again into the grips of easy compromise and corruption. In his last revolutionary act and in order to preserve his integrity, Heraclio executes a traitor. Defeated but not broken, he then leaves Mexico for exile in the United States.
David Contreras (kohn-TREHR-ahs), the illegitimate peasant son of Don Aurelio and a healer. David befriends Heraclio while the two herd sheep together, but he begins to turn against Heraclio when Heraclio leaves the flocks in order to learn the craft of the horsemen. Rejected by his natural father and condemned by the social system to a life of peonage, David becomes embittered. After Heraclio sleeps with David's half sister, Carmen Becerra, David's bitterness turns to hatred, a hatred that finds its only outlet in lawless violence. Unable to kill Heraclio, the focus of his frustration, David kills Heraclio's wife and child, acts of brutality for which Heraclio, in turn, kills David.
Carmen Becerra (beh-SEH-rrah), Don Aurielo's daughter, who is passionately in love with Heraclio. Like both David and Heraclio, however, she is trapped by the rigid social and political stratification of a system that condemns her to marry the corrupt Domingo Arguiú, a Spanish aristocrat. To Carmen's credit, she attempts to break the barriers that restrain her in order to fulfill her love for Heraclio, but in the end, denied anything beyond a temporary physical relationship, she fails.
Marcelina Ortiz (mahr-seh-LEE-nah ohr-TEES), the innocent young woman Heraclio marries. Bearing the same name as Heraclio's dead mother, Marcelina represents the continuing embodiment of the pure wife and virtuous Mexican mother. In clear terms, she stands for the sanctity of home and hearth. In a better Mexico, the Mexico for which Heraclio fights, she would not only survive but also prosper. The destructive Mexico into which she is born, however, kills her and her baby.
Xochitl Salamanca (hoh-chee-TEEL sah-lah-MAHN-kah), a circus performer who meets Heraclio amid the chaos of the revolution. When Heraclio extracts her from the clutches of Pancho Villa, she becomes his wartime wife and lover. More a symbol than a fully drawn character, Xochitl represents the spirit of the revolution, waxing strong during the period of Villa's victories but dying of smallpox in the sick world that follows in the wake of Villa's defeat.
Teodoro Inés (teh-oh-DOHR-oh), Heraclio's older brother. Teodoro takes over as head of the family after the death of his father. Proud and brutal within his own family, Teodoro grovels willingly before Don Aurelio, places the landowner on the level of a god, thereby ensuring the survival of the oppressive social system.