This novel could be categorized as genre literature because although it has obvious academic merit, it is a novel in a specific genre with motifs and shared ideas. The novel's genre costume is the setting, because it is a "Western," so that much of the story takes place in the desert. There are speculators still hunting for gold in old California. A cowboy heads south into Mexico and finds his true love, fighting to save her and redeem her by his love. The costume is that the novel is a romance, set in the old Wild West, but underneath that costume, there is a mythic, philosophical comment on reality.
Dick Gale traveling south into Mexico is a common literary motif; here she is shown as Kore or Persephone, and Mexico symbolizes the land of chaos. Remember from Greek mythology that Persephone was the belle of hell, a true beauty taken into the depths of hell, only to escape occasionally. Symbolically, Nell is this woman, because she is kept away from marriage by a sense of dishonor or shame. She privately believes she is a bastard child, and in literary language, that is clearly a comment on her feelings of worthlessness. She does not feel worthy of love.
Now, in the novel there is a symbolic function, like a math equation, but it is out of order in a way. The thematic variable is the gold and the dead forefathers. In a stroke of genius, the novel begins with Nell's father making peace with her grandfather, proving the marriage was legitimate. But the treasure they find upon restoring their family honor is left for Nell to discover in the future. When she does discover that treasure, the full argument is clear: Gale and Nell's love is true love, so it transcends any perceived shame or dishonor in their character; they are redeemed by love, and they receive a new karmic outcome; their lives are suddenly full of honor, romance, and yes, even wealth.
