Often time, political power can be focused solely on the individual. People associate power and ability to accomplish change in the political arena to an individual or a select few. However, people often forget that collectivism, a community coming together, holds just as much strength as a powerful individual. John Nicholas' The Milagro Beanfield War illustrates the strength of collectivism as a formidable political force. Audiences often believe that the most critical protagonist of the novel are individual people, and they often overlook the most crucial forces, communities. The characters in the novel play a key role, but the institutions or cultures that they represent help illustrate a larger understanding of the novel and society. On the one hand, the Devine Company represents the values of individualism in the United States. Why? Simple, Devine Company believes in free enterprise capitalism. Individualism values the individual over society or the collective whole, and it encourages self interest in individuals as a positive outcome to progress. Combined with capitalism, individualism believes that …show more content…
On the one hand, the Devine has wealth and political power to influence their will. Therefore, the Devine Company sends the state engineer's office, state police, and U.S. Forest Service to help achieve their goals. Joe Mondragon, at first, is hesitant to make the issue a political issue. All that Mondragon wants is to water his beanfield. However, Ruby Archuleta (owner of Milagro's Body Shop) convinces Mondragon that there are larger things at stake than just a beanfield. Archuleta claims that the beanfield may belong to Mondragon, but it represents the community's beanfield. She explains that the proposed dam by the Devine Company will hurt the community and solely benefit the company. Thanks to Archuleta, Mondragon is able to see the larger picture for the