Mexican Revolution, Essay Example

The 1910 Mexican Revolution broke out in 1910 when a President Porfirio Dias was contested by Fancisco I. Madero.  The issue was over clean elections, and when denied the right, Madero called for a revolution.  At the end of the revolution, millions lost their lives as warlords and rival politicians fought over territory.  By 1920 Alvaro Obregon, a chick pea farmer, rose to become president.  This is what marks the end of the revolution.  In order to truly understand the perspective of the Mexican Revolution one needs to see if from others viewpoints.  Analyzing the murals of Jose Clemente Orozco and Diego Orozco allows a personal perspective to be made regarding the Mexican Revolution.

Jose Clemente Orozco murals depicted the Mexican politics and culture.  The goal of his work was to change the way that Mexicans think about post-revolutionary Mexico.  This was Jose’s way to tell a story and educate his people in a nonthreatening way.  The first piece, Zapata Entering aPeasant’s Hut, 1930, addresses the unrest in Mexican history.  It shows the fear and control that took place during the Revolution, the power and control that was associated.  Mexico is not nor never will be a democracy; it is ruled by power and corruption.  Orozco depicted this power in this contemporary piece. InThe Ballad of Emiliano Zapata, 1923/24,the mural depicts the relevance of power.  He who holds the power has the followers supporting such power.  This painting shows Zapata as a genial and benevolent leader.  He was surrounded by his music playing peasants and the banner honoring him displayed behind him.  Lastly, the mural that best describes perspectives of the Mexican Revolution is Zapata Entering aPeasant’s Hut,1930.This shows the emotion and power that was involved with the revolution.  The peasants kneeling at Zapata as he approaches armed.  They appear to be in despair, other interpret it as them giving praise.  Personal perspective it would appear as if the peasants were fearful for their life.  This was a lawless time where human life was not protected as we know in our society today.  The ones with the power had all the control and did as they wanted to.

Diego Rivera also a famous muralist during the Mexican Revolutionary time period.  His work also portrayed life in Mexico during this civil unrest.  The first painting, The Death of the Peon it shows men covering one their own.  This shows the pride and ownership of their culture.  This is part of the integrity that Diego paints with it is the capacity for capturing the pain that his people were going through and bringing it to his paintings.  He saw the events of the times, the Mexican Revolution, in its entirety and in parts. He had a knowledge and ability to provide a pictorial expression of the daily lives of the Mexican peasants.  Another painting, The Sugar Refiners shows the life of laborers. Perception of this painting shows the hard manual labor that employees had to do as means of paying the bills.  Perhaps the violence and heartache that is inevitably associated with the Mexican Revolution was not shown as clearly in these two examples, but the culture, life, and experience was. Rivera was also a talented painter who was able to portray the circumstances that were going on around him in a mural.  The perception of these works show a darker time, and the people were not in a position to stand behind a fair and just governmental system.   Both Orozco and Rivera added personal perspective to the events that took place during the Mexican Revolution.  It is a picture of the people and the power the dominated this country during this time.