The Underdogs is a story that tells of the Mexican Revolution through the eyes of a leader that was thrown into his position not by choice. Demetrio Macias is our protagonist in the story of The Underdogs. In The Underdogs the story of the Mexican Revolution is told through the experiences of a common man and those willing to fight alongside him. First those who followed our protagonist where his immediate friends and it later became people who did not know him, but knew of him and his battles that he fought like those at Zacatecas. In this book characters are made to represent different aspects of the revolution from its innocence to its brutality at the most extreme. Through the use of the characters and subtle symbolism the author, Mariano Azuela, is able to portray the revolution in a way that is both informative and entertaining. In the beginning we start in a typical setting of the home, and in the end the author brings us back to where it all started.
Mariano Azuela in this book writes in a style that makes for very simple reading and tells a great story of the Mexican Revolution at the same time. Azuela was able to create the common Mexican man and tell the story using that perspective. This was done in a way that made the story more enjoyable and easy to remember than compared if it were written with someone else as the main character. Because it was told around a common man and many of his friends the book does not get overwhelmed by their individual lives. He was able to convey emotions and the revolution through subtle events and through his characters. The story is told well by Azuela and in a way that he never lets you forget that there is a war going on.
If the book is any real indication of the Mexican Revolution then the truth is that most people who joined in the revolution did not choose it, it chose them. Demetrio was taken up by the revolution after an altercation that he had with a Federal.
