I finished reading Doña Bárbara & I have a few thoughts to share about it

Spoilers for Doña Bárbara, a very old novel lol (published in 1929)

This won't be a super serious review or anything, just some thoughts that have come to mind as I've been reading the novel. I read the Domingo Miliani edition which has an essay in the beginning giving details about Rómulo Gallegos (the author) & the sociopolitical & economic context of Venezuela during Gallegos' lifetime. I got taught about this book back in high school, but I didn't have the critical thinking skills I've gained as an adult to understand its themes. I picked it up again now due to how close Venezuela is to Puerto Rico & how many shared experiences latinos have with the influence of colonialism from various countries, especially the u.s. in these moments.

There are quite a few differences between my political beliefs & Gallegos, but it's to be expected. Our contexts may have been similar in some ways, but different in many other ways. One feeling prevalent throughout the novel that the essay emphasized was "dolor de patria" (pain for your home country). It's melancholic how easy it was to empathize with that feeling. How i just understood it in my bones as a Puerto Rican. He published that novel in 1929, dolor de patria is an ancient feeling those that are colonized understand in a deeper level.

I really enjoy seeing how he explored masculinity and femininity in the novel; how the gender binary was replicated in the natural world the characters lived in. Another dichotomy Gallegos explored was that of civilization and barbarity. Civilization had feminized features while barbarity had masculinized features. I'd say three characters defied those binaries the most, Santos (the protagonist), Marisela (his cousin and love interest lmao), and Doña Bárbara (the antagonist). Santos was an heir to a rundown farm in the Venezuelan plains, but he was a city boy. His return to the plains with intention to civilize them also represented him conquering his wild, masculine instincts. Marisela had grown up there and wasn't really cared for. She became part of his civilizing project when he took her in his care (so taming nature is tied to taming women too... is this theme even surprising?). Doña Bárbara represented the full-blown barbarity of the wilderness; she was a man-eater. She led over her land through fear and stories that mystified her. She also happens to fall in love with Santos.

For a while, I wondered if her love was genuine or if she just wanted to take his land and resources from him by charming him. But no, she actually fell in love with him. One moment that tugged at my heart happened almost at the end of the novel. The author was writing through her pov and said: "Santos couldn't love a woman with history". She was ultimately right. Gallegos tied her fatalist view on life to her ethnicity sadly, if i remember correctly, she had an indigenous mother and a white father of european descent. (There are many examples of racist and misogynistic themes in this novel which should be unsurprising due to who the author was. hell, even the last sentences of the novel carry a racist message.) In the end, she disappears, unloved by the man she desired and destitute. Santos was able to civilize his portion of the plains of Venezuela...

I'm not sure if Gallegos saw this as a happy ending or not. At least I don't, I just see Bárbara's story in the stories of so many women from back then and even today. She only had a history because man himself harmed her in many ways. She could've turned out differently, sure. Maybe, she could have become the kind of woman everyone expected her to be. Instead, the wilderness consumed her. It masculinized her and she gained power the same way other men did in the Venezuelan plains. Seeing Santos reject that wilderness was what drew her to him in the end. I think she was characterized to want to be tamed in a way. In the end, she was tired of acting the way she had all those years, and she yearned to change her life even while knowing she wouldn't be able to and that Santos could never love someone like her.

Wow it's just profoundly melancholic. Overall, I enjoyed reading this novel and getting a glimpse into Gallegos' perspective of men, women, and the Venezuelan plains. There are other themes that can be explored, like colonialism, racism, religion, superstition and more... but I think I can leave this blog here.

Thanks for reading!! Lmk any thoughts or if y'all have read this novel too.