The novel begins with the inhabitants of John Nichol's Milagro speculating on the motives of a local native, Joe Mondragón, after he begins illegally cultivating a barren bean field using an irrigation system while the rest of the city withered due to drought. The inhabitants of Milagro shared their opinions and took on Joe Mondragón's motivations, introducing several characters from The Milagro Beanfield War, demonstrating their characters and personal stories in relation to each other and in relation to Joe Mondragón himself. The novel is set in 1970, interweaving different sociocultural, economic, environmental and individual perspectives that occurred in the region. Joe Mondragón's mundane action was anything but trivial, revealing the strain the event placed on the city and the pressures brought on by the presented antagonist, Mondragón. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Bernabé Montoya, the town's sheriff, was first introduced after Mondragón, describing his motivations as immature and childish in nature, "with a big chip on his shoulder, going a little crazy" ( Nichols 3).Tranquilino Jeantete, the owner of Frontier Bar, provided comic relief by describing Joe Mondragón's intention of needing a homemade enchilada with authentic Milagro beans, despite the Devine Company, the company that essentially runs the town of Milagro. Nick, the shopkeeper, was introduced and explained the reasons for Joe Mondragón's actions due to his inability to repay his debt and with a plot to bankrupt his store at Indian Creek Dam was the primary operator of Milagro's success, with Ladd Devine III as the leader who believed Mondragón's motives were personal and wanted to attack the dam, him personally, and Milagro's fate. Amarante Códova, a fellow villager, suggested that the reason was to create hype and “revolution without further ado” (3). The real Joe Mondragón was shared with readers, as John Nichols described him as a thirty-six year old, without a real job, with a wife, three children and a house of his own, built by himself, demonstrating his hardworking nature even though he the fundamental and determining characteristic, work, was missing. Because he lacked a job, he had acquired a number of skills, but he remained faithful to his knowledge of house building, plumbing, "he could take apart a useless tractor and put it back together again so skillfully that it plowed like fireballs for at least one week…” (24-25). Just like the nature of its owner, Joe Mondragón's house was surrounded by clutter. He was a man Nichols described as willing to fix anything, being the man everyone called regardless of the weather, poking around town in his yellow pickup truck. He expressed his frustration with the government, he was tired of having to work so hard, traveling for work and having to pay the high expenses required of the city. Most of all, he resented Ladd Devine III, the current owner of his grandfather's old land, the old land on which he now had to have a license to hunt deer (26). The character of Joe Mondragón was described as chaotic, having been in prison numerous times, not respecting the laws, having broken fingers, a man who claimed to have no fear. When Joe Mondragón was only a year old, the Interstate Water Compact was passed in 1935, redistributing water from Indian Creek, Milagro's lifeline, to larger farmers in the South, “leaving people like Joe Mondragón high and too dry” (28). . Joe Mondragondecided to grow an irrigated bean field right across the street from his parents' "decaying west side house", as described by Nichols, seemingly harmless, but was described by Nichols as "as irrevocable as Hitler's invasion of Poland , Castro's voyage on the Granma, or the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand…” (28). This bean field wasn't just a bean field for the town of Milagro, it was a riot, symbolism for the start of a war, a sign of attack on the Devine Company, and a rupture in the community of Milagro. Joe Mondragón's Bean Field seemed silly at first, but as the novel continues we learn the depth of the town of Milagro, the history of both land and community, with underlying implications about water, land, access , the environment and people. The citizens' debate on the topic of Joe Mondragón was a hot topic, deliberated almost every time the citizens had occasion to talk about him. “This dam, this protected district, puts the farmers down there on fire. Arresting Joe Mondragón for a symbolic act like this could start something bad” (51). It was interesting to read this deliberation, since the quote was made by Ladd Devine III, presented by the novel as an essential enemy of Joe Mondragón's family. It was possible that Joe Mondragón just wanted revenge, that he wanted Ladd Devine III to pay for the wrong he had suffered in his life, since Mondragón's family was a typical Hispanic family, like everyone else in Milagro, with a nice house and some ' of land, while Mondragón saw it being ripped away from him, leaving him with the small, messy house on the edge of town, raising his children in an unstable environment, learning many types of trades to get by. Much of Milagro was the same, having similar histories, similar methods of colonization, mostly identifying as hispanos, "a native or resident of the southwestern United States descended from Spaniards settled there before annexation" ("Definition of Hispano") . With the similarities of their pasts, most of the citizens joined in unison to sell their west side land to the Devine Company, all except Joe Mondragón and his parents' home who resided on the west side, keeping the rest of the town in the dark. on the future dam to be built on the west side by the Devine Company. The taxation of the inhabitants of Milagro for the financing of the dam was discussed, and the news of the construction of a resort was also circulating in the town. The main problem in the Devine Company's plan was Joe Mondragón, the man who was stopping the Devine Company's plans. The way Joe Mondragón's actions were described by the citizens provided a sense of foreboding that was building until the revelation of the dam, the resort, and the betrayal that the Devine Company would soon administer. Mondragón, leading the charge, soon gathered followers, defenders for himself and the city of Milagro. At the outbreak of war, the two sides were clearly put in their place, and the book states that the two sides were not defined by immigration, race or religion, but by community wealth and influence. The city of Milagro was founded and recognized as a place of Hispanics and Anglos. Likewise, to the true history of the state of New Mexico and the importance of history and culture regarding the Hispanics and early settlers who founded the land of New Mexico and supported the state through the process of recognition by the United States of America in early 1912 (Neives). There are numerous attempts to dissuade Joe Mondragón's bean field and many citizens under the jurisdiction of Ladd Devine III of the Devine Company.