Land Ownership In The Milagro Bean War

According to what I have seen of the Milagro Bean War film thus far, I believe that the main/core issue present throughout the film is land ownership. Even though water diversion is the conflict that is depicted in a more direct manner, and which is affecting character Jose Mondragon, the water diversion is an effect of a deeper issue, that of land ownership. For sakes of clarity, it can be said that both issues are crucial to the plot of the film. For instance, land ownership affects both Mondragon and the elite- just in different ways. Because Mondragon owns land and needs to feed his family, he feels that he needs to sell his land at the beginning of the film; however after breaking the water valve on accident he decides that working the land his father left him will become his main task- he chooses to begin planting beans despite …show more content…
At first, their efforts were succeeding, but when Mondragon accidentally broke a water valve, he decided to use the wet soil to plant his beans. In order to understand the core issues presented in the film, it is important to also note the key parties who are involved in the conflict; the main parties are: The government, the land developers and business owners, city officials-such as the mayor and police officers, Jose Mondragon (beanfield owner), Ruby (wrote article), and Charlie Bloom (Journalist and Lawyer). I believe that to different degrees, the parties mentioned above are crucial contributors and mediators of the conflict. Even though Jose Mondragon and the Developers might be said to be the main characters involved in the dispute, other parties also have a direct or indirect influence over the