Romulo Gallegos

Respectfully submitted by Jeff Gibson.

This novel, a masterpiece by Romulo Gallegos, establishes a psychological study of the people of the Venezuelan plains. The landscape is important in the unfolding of human conflicts, and becomes a protagonist of the novel.

There is a balance between the interior drama of the personalities and the actions. The personal drama is very intense and at times substitutes action. A clear example of this is the prevailing introspection in some parts of the work.

We can say that this novel is realistic, since it has a profound observation of the world, and there is an emphasis on description, a method of realist writers. It has more than a literary intention a social end and characters don’t move only on their own will, but that are conditioned by the environment. Substantially, the landscape of plains of Apure. Some critics observe the plain can make you insane as much as the monotony of the jungle; on the other hand some say the function is not equal of the jungle, but is only a frame in which develops the fights of the men with each other.

The characters also have a symbolic meaning:

Santos Luzardo, represents a progress and civilization. Dona Barbara is backward and cruel. The conflict is presented in terms of civilization against barbarism, and it resolves with the desperation of Dona Barbara.

Santos Luzardo is an advanced plainsman, graduate lawyer of the University of Central Venezuela. His mind is good, yet certain impulses of the soul momentarily change his decisions. This is a person of many psychological levels.

Dona Barbara is his antithesis. She embodies primitive forces, is arbitrary and violent. Nevertheless, her spirit hides some common feelings. Her tenderness is awakened by Santos Luzardo. Her mysterious and contradictory manner reflects the characteristics of her environment.

Marisela represents good raw material that the progress and civilization can mold.

Mister Danger is nasty, accomplice of turbid management. His attitude is a synthesis of the contempt of the foreigners towards Venezuelans.

No Pernalete and the infallible secretary "Mujiquita" reflects the country’s political tragedy and the backward society, that is a consequence of the quality of its leaders.

Juan Primito is a character that represents superstition.

The originality of the regional novel compared with the European novel is to have rescued the American landscape for literature. This fact contributed to a revelation of the Americas. This obeys an implicit desire to elevate the inhabitant of this region of the world to a universal plan, without schematizations. There is in this novel the actualization of a frequent conflict in the Hispanic-American literature from the colonial time, as is the brave fight of man with nature.