Review: From “The Squatter and the Don” The Squatter and the Don is a great literary choice for a Chicanos class. The book was written for the 1840s, where it describes two social classes, one being an American that goes off and steals land off of people called the squatter, and the other family trying to converge to Spano-Americans, getting used to the new laws and policies but also getting the same rights as any other American. The Mexican family is shown as a high class family well off in America. They are well educated and light skinned which make them fit perfectly in the new society. But then problems arise when their land is being rejected. Part of the story explains the romance aspect of Mr. Darrell and what he had to go through to seduce his wife. Then the story changes to the historical aspect and gives a brief summary of the Alamar Family and their problems, and finally goes a little in-depth on what happened after the Guadalupe and Hidalgo treaty to them and how they got to where they are.
This story is a great first look on how life was after the Guadalupe treaty. Many families struggled after they had to change their views and customs to adapt to new life in America. In my opinion, it seems very hard to live in the same place most of your life but all of a sudden be in a different country.
In the beginning of the book Mrs. Darrell speaks a quote to her husband. “To be guided by good advice, is to profit by the wisdom of others; to be guided by experience,