The Underdogs: A novel of the Mexican Revolution

The chapter begins with a letter from Luis to Venancio, on May 16, 1915. Luis has left the Revolution in Mexico and moved to the United States. In his letter, Luis tells Venancio that he will find it difficult to become a doctor in the United States, but he wants him to come to El Paso to help him open a restaurant. The letter also reveals that Güero has shot himself. Venancio reads the letter “for the hundredth time” (134). He and Demetrio talk; neither of them is sure why they are still fighting. Montañez asks, “Didn’t we finish off this man Huerta and his Federation?” (134). As the men approach a small ranch, peasants run from them. Demetrio orders his men to catch them. Four prisoners are brought to Demetrio with their hands bound.

One of the prisoners says that Villa has been defeated and that Carranza is winning the fight. One of Demetrio’s men, Valderrama, says, “I love the Revolution like I love the volcano that’s erupting! The volcano because it’s a volcano, and the Revolution because it’s the Revolution” (137). He does not care whom he fights, as long as he can fight.