The Hacienda

The effects of colonialism appear throughout the novel through the presence of racism, colorism, and discrimination. The main characters experience these effects from society and within their own families, making it impossible for them to ever be free of the weight of colonization, even after Mexican independence.

The dehumanization Beatriz Hernández Valenzuela experiences from Tía Fernanda due to her race causes her to lose her sense of identity. In Tía Fernanda’s house, Beatriz becomes nothing more than “a body without a voice, a shadow melting into the walls of a too-crowded house” (19). This feeling makes Beatriz rationalize her decision to marry Rodolfo despite her mother’s warning against him. However, Beatriz discovers that the Spanish community will always treat her as inferior, no matter who she marries, because of her skin color. Doña María José reinforces this when she tells Beatriz that she is “nearly as lovely as Doña María Catalina, though quite darker” (27). Cañas ties this dehumanization to the colonial obsession with “pure” bloodlines.

Despite the abolishment of the casta system, the interactions between the characters and the state of the society show that the belief system still exists in the minds of individuals.