Through the course of the novel, pride remains a key element in Don Santiago, but somewhere vision is lost and is blurred by the pestering war that raises emotion to take control of his actions. A reasonable man can do many things, but Don Santiago's reason is blinded by rage directed at people whom he knows little to nothing of. Letting pride take the best of him, he alone is the cause for the fall of his family.

When Don Jose arrived in the area known as Rancho Las Palmas, the land was unmarked and unwanted, so he labeled it his and raised a great hacienda and family. However, during this time, power and control changed as countries fought for this land. No one really took notice to the area of South Texas, for it was not yet settled by Americans, and it was too far from Mexico to be of real significance to them. This made life for the first hundred years at Rancho

Later McLane marries Susana, the good and holy daughter of Don Santiago. This was probably the only thing that made him think of himself as somewhat of a success as the head of the family. Shortly thereafter, his sister, a widow, marries his best friend, yet another change in traditional customs broken by the power of love. This custom, now broken by his sister, indirectly relayed that what his daughters did was good. Could Don Santiago de Mendoza y Soria be wrong? No, his pride would be somehow tarnished or hurt if it were. And if he does not have pride or tradition, what does he have? Ultimately, in his eyes, his position as head of a wealthy and respectable family had come to an end.

A man like Don Santiago does not express love, instead he crushes the good to obtain what is expected. With this mentality, he loses his second son, Luis Gonzaga. For a father to call his own son a marica and then deny him the ability to pursue his talent and the one thing that brings him joy is lack of love and understanding. Again, Don Santiago masks the Anglo's ability to be anything other than enemies with their nationality and disowns his soon to be only son. This becomes another example of his loss of power and control over his own family.

Susanita knows that tradition and her father stand in the way of her desire for Warrener. She is not happy, but is willing to take her feelings and bury them as many in her position have done. However, Warrener is not so weak. He goes up to Don Santiago and gets his stern answer, along with the pain of a cane across the already injured head of Warrener. This is a sign of him, once more losing that control as head of the family. Now, the always-agreeing wife is not even on his side. Instead, she is realizing that maybe tradition is not always the best way. Maybe, love should be given a chance. Maybe, this Anglo can bring the happiness and love women in her position long for.

In a conversation with Don Santiago, Don Gabriel says, "It is amazing, Santiago, how their (Anglo's) minds leap ahead. It is a quality we lack, for we live in the past and the present and see the future with our emotions only. We believe a thing must be so, or so, and then we wait for it to be so..."(p.189) This is one of t

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1527
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)