"Slaughterhouse" as a Political Allegory and in Hindseight

It is made apparent that "The Slaughterhouse (El Matadero)" by Esteban Echeverría is a political allegory. The men of the slaughterhouse represent the federalists and Matasiete could be Rosas. The bull and the young man who is tortured represent Unitarian resistance. The slaughterhouse is set in the city drawing the line between city and rural, Federalist and Unitarian. The tale is one of resistance but also a mockery of the civilized/barbaric dualism. The federalist claimed to be civilized while the Unitarians were painted to be barbaric in need of civilization. However, Echevarría illustrates that the barbaric men fighting over whether the bull is a bull or a steer are the Federalist. They indulge in killing, making haste decisions on instinct or lust for blood, and skirting the law. An example of this is when Echevarría writes, "The rules of proper social practice dictated that the animal be thrown to the dogs; but there was such a lack of meat, and so many inhabitants were going hungry, that His Honor the Judge was forced to turn a blind eye" (67). Many theorize that the clash in Latin America since colonialism has been one of civilization vs barbarism, European vs "primitive and violent" American ways. Through this story, Echeverría hopes to denounce Rosas protection of thugs who murder innocent people at the Buenos Aires slaughterhouse as the barbaric ones.

What I found striking about this story is its similarity to that of the Nazi persecution of the Jews during WWII. The people of the slaughterhouse become angry that the assumed Unitarian is not wearing the ribbon on his tail coat that lets everyone know what they are. One of the men exclaims, "Can’t you see his U-shaped side whiskers? He doesn’t have a ribbon on his tail coat or a mourning band on his hat.” Similarly, the Jews were forced to wear a yellow star as a badge on their coats. The hatred against the Jews rose after the economic collapse of the German economy post-WWI. The Jews became the target, someone to blame for their forced steps backwards in the progress of civilization. "Slaughterhouse" explains that the church and the Federalist blamed the Unitarians for the flood. They exclaim, "This is Judgment Day . . . God’s wrath is overflowing and spilling forth as floodwaters. Woe unto you, sinners! Woe unto you, wicked Unitarians who mock the Church and its wise men, and fail to listen reverentially to the word of the Lord’s anointed! Woe unto you who do not beg for God’s mercy before the altars! The terrible hour approaches of useless gnashing of teeth and feverish cursing. Your wickedness, heresies, blasphemies, your horrendous crimes have caused the plagues of the Lord to veer towards our land. The Lord of the Federation’s just hand will damn you.” (60). The Unitarians become the target the scapegoat for ecological disasters and thus violence was brought onto them. Given that this story was written in 1838 and WWII happened in the early 1940s, "Slaughterhouse" is an interesting story to read in hindsight because a pattern between disaster, scapegoats, and persecution emerges.