Catholicism
Not surprisingly, perhaps, considering how many of the stories in this collection are set in Mexico, imagery related to the Catholic Church are pervasive. From the name of the protagonist in “Maria Concepcion” to the struggle of traditional Catholic values facing a revolutionary guard intent on breaking down traditions in the title story and “Hacienda” the influence of the author’s familiarity with being raised within a Catholic milieu is integral to many of the stories and at least tangentially present through all of them.
Mexico
Mexico also serves as imagery that adds a layer of meaning to the stories set there. These stories were written in the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution early in the 20th century. As a writer born in Texas and calling the Southwest home, Porter would have been more familiar with the impact that political upheaval had on the Mexican people more than most. It is that revolutionary fervor which serves her well as fodder for Mexican imagery. Her stories are about the attempted—whether successful or not—revolution of women in Mexico. These revolutionaries range from a teenage murderer reclaiming tradition for marriage to a dreamlike ethereal woman struggling to persist against a constant stream of suitors who fail to measure up.
Gender Reversal
Part of that Mexico layer, but stretching out beyond the geographical boundaries is the imagery present in upending of conventional gender expectations. The stories in this volume all present women as the dominant sex. This is just a formal application of gender reversal to implicate empowerment; it’s not just that the women are dominant, it is that the men are shockingly submissive. Considering the time frame in which the stories take place and the strong influence of Catholic dogma in which the women live, the level of submission of male characters is not just shocking, it is subversive. Porter does more than merely empower women in her stories, she emasculates the patriarchy by exposing the flaws which the system has been designed to conceal.
The Hacienda
“Hacienda” is the final story in the collection and it is really the only story in which all aspects of society are brought together without any one in particular being given predominance. The story features old characters and young characters, men and women, Mexicans, Americans and even Russians. The foundation of the story is the filming of a Russian movie about improvements in the Mexican way of life following the revolution. The Soviet filmmaker is supposedly based on the great Russian master Eisenstein. The film is to be propaganda, of course, and rather than portraying reality, it will be a reflection of reality as distorted as that in “The Cracked Looking Glass.” The important imagery in this story is not the filmmaking itself or even the corrupted Mexican official who successful bribing is required to get the film back on schedule, but rather that putrid odor which permeates the pulque plantation on which the hacienda sits. Pulque is a foul-smelling fermented alcoholic beverage with a ghastly corpse-white hue and a powerfully depressing narcotic effect. The odor, color and anesthetizing symbolism of pulque thus becomes a metaphor for the fetid corruption which lies beneath the promise of revolutionary change.
