Zorro

Allende’s Zorro begins in southern California in the late 18th century, when the region was still controlled by Spain. The novel’s protagonist, Diego de la Vega, is the product of two different worlds: His father, Alejandro de la Vega, is a Spanish military man from an aristocratic family who eventually becomes a rich landowner, while Diego’s mother, Regina (also known as Toypurnia), is an Indigenous warrior of the Shoshone tribe.

The first part of the novel introduces the clash between these two worlds and firmly grounds the reader in the historical setting. In the California of Zorro, the Indigenous population is subject to the Spanish settlers and colonists. Though multiple distinct tribes comprise the local Indigenous populations, the Spanish often ascribe them all the generalizing name Gabrieleno (historically, the tribes did not refer to themselves in this way). The narration in Part 1, to the extent that it is partly filtered through the colonists’ eyes, conveys this homogenizing perspective and remains mostly vague about actual tribal identities.

The Spanish commit many other injustices against the Indigenous people, creating chronic tension. The novel begins with an event symbolically encapsulating the political dynamic: Several Indigenous tribes unite to attack some of the Spanish missions of California, but this insurrection is crushed by the technologically advanced Spanish. The insurrection also represents the tense bridging of the two worlds into which Diego will be born, for it is this event that brings together Diego’s parents, the Spanish Alejandro de la Vega and the Shoshone Toypurnia (who later has the Christian name Regina assigned to her).

The Indigenous people of Allende’s California are dominated by the Spanish not only politically and militarily but also socially and ideologically. The missions targeted by Toypurnia’s insurrection symbolize Spanish colonization and Christian Spaniards’ ideological domination over the Indigenous population. The goal of these missions is assimilation—to “civilize” the Indigenous people by teaching them “Old World” values and, above all, converting them to Christianity. These institutions’ methods were often inhumane; even Padre Mendoza, who sincerely wishes to help the Indigenous people, views them from a European, colonialist lens: To him, the Indigenous people are practically children, “innocent lambs of God who sinned out of ignorance, not vice” (6). It is an infantilizing, patronizing perspective.

Even when assimilated into Spanish society, Indigenous people were viewed, at best, as an inferior social class. Though Alejandro de la Vega is infatuated with Regina and resolves to marry her, he believes that her Shoshone background makes her “a stain on his impeccable lineage” (a “stain” that he has the ostensible largesse of soul to tolerate) (26). And though Regina adopts Spanish custom and behavior, the Spanish society of California never accepts her. She feels miserable and estranged from her true self, and she considers “Toypurnia” her true name.

When Diego is born, he finds himself in the middle of these different worlds. From his father, he learns traditional Christian and Spanish values; from his mother, he learns the ancient customs and beliefs of her people. He is heavily shaped by both worlds. Though he is, on the surface, the aristocratic son of a Spanish hidalgo, Diego also learns to value his Shoshone heritage throughout his life. In particular, he pursues the five basic virtues of okahué, instilled in him as a child by his Indigenous grandmother, White Owl: “honor, justice, respect, dignity, and courage” (38).

Diego is also initiated early on to the rigid social structure of his world. His upbringing is juxtaposed with that of Bernardo, who is his closest friend from childhood. Diego and Bernardo are born on the same day and are even nursed by the same woman, Bernardo’s mother Ana, so that they become “milk brothers” (32). But while Diego, the son of a Spanish landowner, belongs to the upper echelons of society, Bernardo is the nonmarital son of an Indigenous convert and is regarded as a servant. Though they are inseparable, Diego and Bernardo are socioeconomically “different by birth” and will “never be equals” (41).

The young Diego’s central attribute is his strong sense of justice, which becomes a major theme in the novel. Often, this sense of justice accompanies Diego’s other traits, perhaps most notably his adventurous and mischievous spirit. In one episode, the young Diego is horrified by the way Carlos Alcázar, the child of local landowners, bullies his friend García. To make Carlos stop tormenting García, Diego devises an outlandish, dangerous, and cunning plan that involves capturing a live bear. But not all of Diego’s childhood experiences are carefree, and some of the more horrific visions of injustice are likely the most formative for his sense of virtue—as when the de la Vega hacienda is raided by pirates. During this ordeal, Diego is injured and his mother nearly dies, while Bernardo watches as his mother Ana is raped and killed. Diego also witnesses the Spanish settlers’ brutality against the Indigenous people, and he even watches in helpless horror as one Spanish landowner extends his territory by destroying an Indigenous village and slaughtering many of the inhabitants.

Within this complex world, Diego’s character begins to form. Allende paints a portrait of a boy who lives between two worlds, who is fun-loving, adventurous, and mischievous but also motivated by justice. Diego’s path becomes especially clear through the Indigenous initiation rites he and Bernardo undergo with White Owl. During these rites, Diego discovers that his spirit guide is the fox—zorro in his native Spanish—and that like the fox he must be cunning, intelligent, and secretive. Here and throughout, the identity of Diego—as well as other characters—will be defined and symbolized by animals (Diego is a fox, Bernardo a horse, Regina a wolf, etc.). As the 15-year-old Diego prepares to go to Spain, the stage is set for the young protagonist’s transformation into Zorro, a persona representing both Diego’s complex identity and his sense of justice.