Deeply involved with the social issues of his times Romulo Gallegos crafted his representation of the stratified society around him by building upon firmly grounded and widespread images. These images highlight the underlying cultural and metaphysical beliefs (basis for a legitimized social order) from which the fictional world is finally drawn. But while doing so Romulo Gallegos offered new alternatives to those visions as he established and widened gaps in those socially accepted perceptions and values. The essential aspects of the social imaginaries and the characterization of the central...