Reframing Latin America: A Cultural Theory Reading ... - BGSU Blogs

civilized folk marry the barbarians 203
cattle empire through a series of illegal and underhanded dealings. Not the
least of her disreputable actions has been raiding cattle and stealing land
from Altamira, as the Luzardo family property is called. Furthermore, she
has allied herself with another greedy resident, a North American landowner
and property speculator named Señor Danger. Inspired by the combination
of an innate bond to his rural origins and a stubborn refusal to surrender to
Bárbara’s machinations, Luzardo decides to defend his property, and in the
process civilize the rural hinterlands.
One of Bárbara’s devious tactics to accumulate power is to seduce wealthy
men, and then, once she has their confi dence, to betray them and seize their
riches. One of her victims is Lorenzo Barquero, Luzardo’s cousin, who was
also once a prosperous lawyer from the city and owner of La Barquereña,
the property adjacent to Altamira. But now he is a shell of a man, living
in a dilapidated hut on the dismal remains of his former lands, a victim of
Bárbara’s and Danger’s machinations. The parallels between Barquero and
Luzardo are obvious and serve as a warning of the dangers that Luzardo
faces in daring to tangle with the “ogress of the plains.” Barquero and Bárbara
have a daughter named Marisela, whom Bárbara has abandoned. She
lives with Baquero on the fringes of Bárbara’s property. By the time Luzardo
arrives, Marisela has grown into a young woman whose potential for beauty
and vibrancy is evident, but who remains little more than a feral element of
nature.
At fi rst, the prospect of subduing Doña Bárbara seems insurmountable.
Her reputation alone is enough to scare away most challengers. She supposedly
possesses magical powers granted to her by a supernatural ally, known
simply as her “partner,” presumably a demon of some sort. But Luzardo
works diligently in the name of civilization, and slowly but steadily makes
progress against Bárbara’s dark forces. Emblematic of his eventual success
is the fact that Bárbara herself begins to feel yearnings for Luzardo and his
civilizing mission. In time Luzardo is victorious. He restores his lands, educates
Marisela, and sends Bárbara and Danger into oblivion.
Following in the footsteps of Sarmiento’s civilization/barbarism dichotomy,
Gallegos envisions Venezuela’s identity to be divided between the wild
plains and the civilized city. This duality provides a constant confl ict that
must be resolved in order for Venezuela to survive and progress. Throughout
the novel, Gallegos demonstrates his belief in Luzardo’s civilizing mission,
as evidenced by the names Gallegos chooses for him. Santos means sainthood
and Luzardo (from luz, “light”) refers to the Enlightenment, whereas
Doña Bárbara obviously evokes barbarianism, and Señor Danger represents
the power of foreign oil companies or the threat of U.S. intervention.