When Diego and Bernardo are teenagers, Regina’s mother White Owl puts them through an initiation test. Soon afterward, he meets the Indigenous girl Light-in-the-Night, who becomes his sweetheart and eventually his wife. Following the incident, the traumatized Bernardo stops speaking. Ana conceals Bernardo, but she is raped and murdered as Bernardo watches.

Diego and Regina are injured but manage to hide. While Diego and Bernardo are still children, the de la Vega hacienda is raided by pirates. Diego himself is raised in two different worlds, acquiring from his father the traditional education of a Spanish hidalgo while his mother instills in him an appreciation of Shoshone values and customs. They share a love of adventure but also a strong sense of justice and find themselves involved in various escapades together. Diego and Bernardo grow up together and become inseparable. Diego is born on the same day as Bernardo, the son of an Indigenous convert named Ana whom Regina has befriended. A few years later, she marries de la Vega, who retires from military service to become a hacienda owner and, later, an alcalde.ĭe la Vega and Regina have a son, Diego. After being captured in the battle, Toypurnia is baptized as Regina and enters the service of Eulalia de Callís, the wife of the regional governor. Afterward, he falls in love with the leader of the uprising, a woman named Toypurnia from the Shoshone tribe. A Spanish soldier, Captain Alejandro de la Vega, helps defend San Gabriel. The story begins in 1790 in California as an Indigenous uprising threatens Padre Mendoza’s mission in San Gabriel. The novel is recounted in the third person by a narrator who is eventually identified as the protagonist’s friend Isabel de Romeu. Except in direct quotes, this guide has changed that language to better reflect the groups’ identities. Note also that the original text uses incorrect, outdated terminology for Romani and Indigenous people. This study guide refers to the 2006 Harper Perennial English edition.Ĭontent warning: The novel depicts graphic violence, sexual assault, and racism. Zorro was originally published in Spanish with the title El Zorro: Comienza la leyenda ( Zorro: The Legend Begins), followed by English translation by Harper-Collins. The novel explores themes of heroism, class, colonialism, and justice. Set against the backdrop of Spanish colonialism at the turn of the 19th century, the novel details the events that led the protagonist, Diego de la Vega, to become the masked vigilante known as Zorro.

Allende zorro