The Treasure of the Sierra Madre by B. Traven

First published:Der Schatz der Sierra Madre, 1927 (English translation, 1934)

Type of plot: Adventure

Time of work: The 1920’s

Locale: Mexico

Principal Characters:

• Dobbs, a penniless American struggling to survive in Mexico
• Curtin, another American who joins Dobbs after they are both cheated by an unscrupulous employer
• Howard, an old prospector who understands both the lure and danger of the search for gold
• Lacaud, a prospector who has dedicated his life to finding one of the fabled mines of the Aztecs

The Novel

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre describes three down-on-their-luck adventurers as they seek their fortunes mining for gold in the mountains of Mexico. It not only details the physical hardships the men face but also vividly portrays their mental deterioration as the lust for gold overwhelms them.

The opening of the novel focuses on Dobbs, penniless and out of work, speculating about various methods to get some money. After successfully begging for a peso, he rents a cot at a slum hotel, indulges in a meal, succumbs to a beggar child who sells him a lottery ticket, and attempts to find more money. He makes an unsuccessful search for work in the oil fields and then is briefly employed by an exploitative contractor who refuses to pay his workers. Curtin, another American also cheated by this unscrupulous boss, teams up with Dobbs, and together they force the contractor to give them their full pay.

Later, the two men encounter an old prospector, Howard, who entertains them with a description of La Mina Agua Verde, source of many of the treasures of the Aztec kings. The tale, dating back to the Spanish conquest, illustrates how the lust for gold drove both conquistadores and monks to exploit the people and environment they encountered. Eventually, the Spaniards were massacred, and the mine disappeared until a college student discovered an old map showing its location. He gathered a group of explorers, including Howard, who found and then lost the mine once again because of selfishness and greed. Tragedy, not wealth, has been the outcome for those who sought its riches.

Although Dobbs finds himself shaken by the story, he and Curtin quickly conclude that gold could provide an escape from their present impoverished existence. They persuade Howard to join them, and the three set off for the Sierra Madre. It quickly becomes obvious that they would have little chance of survival without Howard. In spite of this, Dobbs repeatedly questions Howard’s decisions.

Once they set up camp, the conditions are brutal: extremes of heat and cold, insects, deadly animals, back-breaking labor and no rest. When they begin to extract gold, the situation worsens. The men soon become wary of one another. Howard warns the puzzled Curtin that this is just the first sign of gold fever and that none of them is immune to its symptoms. Disputes become more regular and more severe. Only Howard manages to keep Dobbs and Curtin from seriously harming each other. He also convinces them to break camp and sell their gold in six to eight weeks, a decision that brings them a sense of peace, almost of friendship since they begin planning ahead instead of dwelling on their fears.

One day, Curtin is followed back to camp by another American prospector, Lacaud. His arrival is followed by the appearance of Mexican bandits. Lacaud, recognizing their leader, realizes they recently committed a particularly brutal train robbery, murdering women and children in the name of Christ. The prospectors are almost killed, but Mexican troops arrive and capture the bandits. The three allow Lacaud to stay with them while they break down their camp, realizing he poses no threat since he is totally committed to the search for his own illusory mine. Before they leave, Howard tells another cautionary story about the devastation the lust for gold can bring.

The men are very cautious on their return journey, wishing to avoid the notice of thieves. However, one night while they are eating, some Indians appear, pleading for help for an injured child. Howard leaves with them and treats the boy, who recovers. Because the Indians insist that Howard remain with them so that they can demonstrate their gratitude, Dobbs and Curtin plan to proceed to Durango, where Howard can meet them later. Dobbs even persuades Howard to let the two carry his gold.

Once Howard is gone, Dobbs’s increasingly erratic behavior upsets Curtin, who begins to realize that Dobbs plans to kill him if he refuses to steal Howard’s share of the gold. Protesting his innocent intentions, Dobbs shoots Curtin. Left alone, Dobbs disintegrates even further. On the outskirts of Durango, he is murdered by three bandits. Howard, now healer to the Indians, is brought to Curtin who is recovering from his wounds. They discover not only that Dobbs was murdered but also that the bandits threw away all but two bags of the gold, thinking it was sand. Howard convinces Curtin to join in his laughter at this ultimate joke of fate.

The Characters

Traven uses his characters, Dobbs, Curtin, Howard, and even Lacaud, to represent different aspects of the human reaction to gold. He presents gold as a chimera that eventually destroys most who follow its lure. The first chapters of the novel present the world from Dobbs’s perspective. Although the reader initially views him as a sympathetic figure struggling to survive in an alien environment, Traven also presents many of his less admirable but very human characteristics, as he bullies waiters and other beggars, exerting fully the power that he gets from the money he has been given. He is not the noble worker of much proletarian fiction. While he may be, in fact, a victim of society, he is also a victim of his own behavior. Further evidence of his negative side appears when he first hears the story of La Mina Agua Verde; he suddenly feels the presence of a darker personality that had until this moment remained hidden. Although he is self-aware enough to recognize this warning, he is not self-controlled enough to heed it later. Once the three men set out on their quest, Dobbs becomes the most obviously influenced by fear and greed. When Howard and Curtin save his life, he quickly turns from gratitude to anger because he realizes that his death would have enriched them. Unable to accept their actions at face level, he suspects they too are acting on their greed, hatching some plot he does not yet understand. Dobbs projects his own feeling on those around him. In fact, Dobbs becomes increasingly overwhelmed by this negative emotion until it consumes him.

Initially, Curtin and Dobbs seem very similar. Traven describes them both as men who are filled with grand ideas but who give up easily, finding it more convenient to dream than act. Curtin remains in Dobb’s shadow until the end of the novel, when he demonstrates an inner strength and integrity that Dobbs does not possess. Curtin never fully surrenders to his darker side. He refuses to steal Howard’s gold, finding it unthinkable. He is unable to kill Dobbs, even when he realizes that this will probably cost him his life. He is like Dobbs was at the novel’s opening, before his second self took control: a flawed but sympathetic human being.

Howard from the beginning is presented as more forceful, wiser, more tolerant, and more experienced. Although he also craves gold, he seems as fascinated by the quest and the lore of the hunt as by the gold itself. His perception of humankind and the world around him is ironic yet sympathetic. He continually warns that no individual is immune to temptation. At the novel’s end, he can laugh at the loss of the gold, since he has already decided that there seems to be little lasting profit from it. By convincing Curtin to join his laughter rather that succumb to Dobbs’s view, he provides some salvation for both of them.

Critical Context

B. Traven is still one of literature’s most mysterious writers. Although he claimed to have been born in Chicago, his first novels were written in German, and he spent much of his life in Mexico. During the course of his career, he is reported to have used as many as twenty-seven different aliases. Traven published several short stories and novels in Germany during the 1920’s. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, his third novel, was published in 1927.

Traven’s fiction centers on proletarian or working-class protagonists. In his first novel, Death Ship (1926), he vividly portrays the evils of both nationalism and capitalism. However, Traven is not a political writer; he does not advocate an alternate system of government. Instead, Traven’s characters, often victims of the system, tend to withdraw from it—like Howard, who considers pursuing a life as a medicine man to the Indians. With them, he may find peace and security in a world that is not caught up in greed. Even in characters such as Dobbs, Traven treats his workers with sympathy, viewing them as individuals caught in a society where the trap of capitalism allows them little importance.

Bibliography

Baumann, Michael L. B. Traven: An Introduction. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1976. Discusses Traven as a proletarian writer, focusing on his attitudes toward nationalism and capitalism. Discusses the novel’s tone, vision, and proletarian point of view.

Chankin, Donald O. Anonymity and Death: The Fiction of B. Traven. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1975. Clear, insightful psychoanalytic analysis of character and theme in The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Discusses literary parallels with Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Pardoner’s Tale” and Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Gold Bug.”

Mezo, Richard E. A Study of B. Traven’s Fiction: The Journey to Solipaz. San Francisco: Mellon Research University Press, 1993. A comprehensive critical analysis of theme, character, style, and structure in Traven’s fiction. Provides detailed comparisons of the four main characters. Extensive bibliography. A very good introduction to Traven and his fiction.

Schurer, Ernst, and Philip Jenkins, eds. B. Traven: Life and Work. University Park: Pennsylvania University Press, 1987. Comprehensive collection of essays analyzing Traven’s life as well as major themes, ideas, and motifs in his writing. Provides a historical and political context for Traven’s work. Includes several analyses of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

Stone, Judy. The Mystery of B. Traven. Los Altos, Calif.: William Kaufmann, 1977. Includes excerpts from the only extended series of interviews with Traven, including Traven’s recollections of the filming of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Reveals his complex social philosophy. An important source for analyzing Traven’s fiction.