SOURCE: Spell, Jefferson Rea. “Mexican Society of the Twentieth Century as Portrayed by Mariano Azuela.” In Inter-American Intellectual Exchange, pp. 49-61. Austin: Institute of Latin American Studies of the University of Texas, 1943.

In the following essay, Spell describes Azuela's vision of Mexican society as it is expressed in his novels, noting that his greatest contribution lies in his portrayal of Mexican society as it relates to the revolution.

Literature is one of the most effective means of intellectual interchange, and fiction is the form most widely read. Of it, there are two types which need to be mentioned here at the outset. There is a type which sets forth background in rosy colors, characters endowed with many virtues, and plots a succession of praiseworthy deeds. This type succeeds in attracting the attention of many unable or unwilling to see beneath the surface. The other extreme represents the country...