Felipe Rivera Summary
Felipe Rivera is motivated by, in a way, revenge. By aiding the forces rebelling against the Mexican authorities he sees a way to avenge the deaths of his parents. His father was involved in a protest against the Mexican government and was shot, along with Felipes mother, by federal troops. He is therefore directly affected by the injustices committed by the regime of Díaz. Perhaps he seeks to continue his fathers work by aiding the revolution. This is never stated but as most of the insight into his character has to do with his memories of the circumstances of his fathers death it is, perhaps, alluded to as he now seemingly lives only to further the cause of the resistance.
Hiding Felipes true drive from the reader for so long has the
effect that his character becomes all the more fascinating. Having a seemingly stronger urge to aid the revolution than the original revolutionaries themselves gives an air of mystery. At first it seems that if he lives only to serve the effort of the revolutionaries as little is revealed about his character. Which is intriguing.
The revolutionaries, at first, seem reluctant to trust Felipe. They are even afraid of him but he will prove to be the most able in aiding the revolution.
Spider Hagerty instructing Felipe to throw the match against Denny after enough rounds. Spider wants Felipe to play by his rules to
Felipe is always calm on the surface but is really consumed by images of the violence he has experienced.
Jack London seems sympathetic towards the plight of the people of Mexico under Díaz and especially the rights of the working class although the particulars of that is not explained in the story. The revolution in Mexico would be a current event at the time of writing so one would assume a contemporary reader would be somewhat familiar with what was going or, perhaps more likely, “The Mexican” might be written to draw attention to the situation in Mexico.
The leading up to the The Mexican Revolution. Wikipedia wants to tell us that “The Mexican” is loosely based on the real life mexican boxer Mexican Joe Rivers although if he funded any revolutionaries with his boxing winnings can not be construed from any refutable source quickly.
Hiding Felipes true drive from the reader for so long has the
effect that his character becomes all the more fascinating. Having a seemingly stronger urge to aid the revolution than the original revolutionaries themselves gives an air of mystery. At first it seems that if he lives only to serve the effort of the revolutionaries as little is revealed about his character. Which is intriguing.
The revolutionaries, at first, seem reluctant to trust Felipe. They are even afraid of him but he will prove to be the most able in aiding the revolution.
Spider Hagerty instructing Felipe to throw the match against Denny after enough rounds. Spider wants Felipe to play by his rules to
Felipe is always calm on the surface but is really consumed by images of the violence he has experienced.
Jack London seems sympathetic towards the plight of the people of Mexico under Díaz and especially the rights of the working class although the particulars of that is not explained in the story. The revolution in Mexico would be a current event at the time of writing so one would assume a contemporary reader would be somewhat familiar with what was going or, perhaps more likely, “The Mexican” might be written to draw attention to the situation in Mexico.
The leading up to the The Mexican Revolution. Wikipedia wants to tell us that “The Mexican” is loosely based on the real life mexican boxer Mexican Joe Rivers although if he funded any revolutionaries with his boxing winnings can not be construed from any refutable source quickly.