The Slaughteryard is a microcosm of what Echevarria sees as the humanity - or lack thereof - of 1830s Argentina, and particularly a scathing attack on the brutality of the Federalist regime of Juan Manuel Rosas, who ran the country with an iron fist, aided and abetted by his paramilitary police force, the Mazorca, and his corrupt clergy, whose influence was often more insidious upon the devoutly Catholic population, but also often more effective as well.
The venue of the Slaughteryard itself is a metaphor for Argentina. The Judge at the yard is its president, and nobody keeps him in check. If they try, they are killed. The Butcher is his henchman and symbolizes the corrupt police force used by Rosas to keep the citizens in check. Most of the animals give up their lives without a fight. The bull who does try to escape, and shows both bravery and courage, might have some limited temporary success, but in the end he is rounded up, brought back to the Slaughteryard and barbarically killed in a far more long-drawn-out and painful way than his fellow animals. This is Echevarria's interpretation of the way in which the people of Argentina are treated. The bull is killed in public in the same way that a dissident might be killed at a public execution, and the appetite amongst the people for blood is the same when it comes to a political public execution as it is in the yard in the narrative.
The book also shows that the clergy are a significant tool in the oppression of the people by Rosas. They are completely aligned to him, and as such, use their influence amongst the strongly Catholic community to sway and color political beliefs. This is most obvious when they attribute the cause of the floods to God's anger with man. God is particularly angry with the opposition party and its followers. This lets the citizens of the country know that as good Catholics they cannot possibly support anyone who opposes Rosas, who by default has to be the choice of God himself. Echevarria shows in this work the way in which dictators have a tendency to elevate themselves above the population of the country and give themselves an almost God-like status.
The most telling aspect of the work is that it was written whilst Echevarria was in exile and published after his death. This fact alone shows that it was impossible for it to be published in Argentina whilst Rosas was in power, and whilst his Federalist government was able to control what was issued.
