Zapata’s demand for land reform, principles he later incorporated in his 1911 Plan de Ayala, directly opposed the appropriation of land previously held communally by indigenous peoples. The Mexican Revolution was the product of widespread anger about the policies that favored hacendados, industrialists, and foreign capitalists. According to an article by Melinda Knight, The political and social conditions of Mexico during these times are thus part of the historical context of the novella.

Steinbeck was fascinated by all this history as he was with all things Mexican, and they inevitably influenced his life and writing. Following this, Mexico went through a ten-year duration of civil war, which has come to be known as the Mexican Revolution. The sham elections conducted in 1910 are generally considered to be the end of this era, as violence broke out, and Diaz was left with no option but to resign and go into exile. By the time he was approaching his 80th birthday in 1910, having retained power since 1884, he still had not set up any clear plans to give up power and hand it over to a successor.

He attracted foreign investment to Mexico and maintained social and political order, using force if it ever came to that.ĭuring this period, there were remarkable economic, technological, social, and cultural changes. Diaz seized power in 1876 through a coup and declared that he was going to pursue a policy of ‘order and progress’. The word was coined by the historian Daniel Cosio Villegas.

The historical backdrop of John Steinbeck’s ‘ The Pearl‘ is the Porfiriato, which is the name by which the era of Porfirio Diaz’s rule in Mexico in the 19th and early 20th centuries is captured. It draws from local folklore to demonstrate an era of economic hardship, class segregation, exploitation, colonialism, and imperialism in Mexico and how the characters‘ actions were shaped by these. John Steinbeck based the novella ‘ The Pearl’ on Mexican culture and politics.

The pearl steinbeck