The allegory of a failed revolution
If the Mexican rebels had succeeded in thwarting the corrupt government and installing a utopic government, then the novel would obviously be a Marxist commentary. But instead, we see the beautiful, languishing opposite of that liberal dream. We see a gritty, painful picture of human fate on an individual and group level. Is the group fated to succeed or fail? They toss that question around the whole time, because many of them suspect that they are going to fail. They know the truth, but they find themselves compelled by something to keep going. If the reader can discern what is compelling them, they will know whether the characters actually succeeded or failed.
Macías, the hero
The reason Macías is the hero of the novel is because he goes on a hero's journey and recruits a gang of misfits on a hair-brained scheme. Their pursuit takes them on a long series of trials and obstacles that they encounter in their own way. Although the gang goes back and forth about how they should govern themselves, Macías is the one they silently look to for leadership. After all, this is his initiative. When he is being gunned down by the army in his home, at the end of the novel, the reader should ask, "If he is a hero, then here he is being martyred, but what was it that he is martyred for?" In this story, he is a good hero, because he is martyred for his poverty and his conviction that the social fabric ought not be corrupted by greedy, powerful men.
The motif of technique
Each of the characters brings their own unique skill set. They use these unique powers to get what they want. Here is the full motif: Macías is brave and charismatic, which makes him socially powerful. Cervantes is intelligent, and he uses reason to get what he wants from people. Margarito is evil, so he uses deception and crime to get himself an easy life. La Pintada is a strong woman warrior, so her power is her grit, because she had what it took to break out of Mexico's strict gender norms, and Camila, who gets what she wants by flirting her way into power by seducing the strongest person she can. So, the motif is about power, because all four characters get what they want from others.
The symbolic government
The story begins with a simple allegory about the problems in the government. A poor man is harassed by a malicious rich man who pays the government to harm the poor. That imbalance is demonstrated throughout the book, and when the resistance is squashed by the end of the book, the government certainly represents something more than itself. It isn't fair, is it? That's the problem; it doesn't seem fair that the bad guys win. So the government represents the painful bitterness of fate.
Death as human fate
Ultimately, the business of fate comes a brutal moment of realization when Macías realizes for the final time that, he isn't getting out of this alive. He has often felt that way before and survived, but for some reason, Macías is convinced this time—he won't survive. Not only that, they will torture him and kill him, because he is a skilled gunman, and he has been sniping Mexican soldiers from his front window. They're not going to go easy on him after that. Ultimately, since Macías is a symbolic character, the reader should view this as a reminder about human fate.
