Political Corruption
The work is essentially a commentary upon the corrupt political system that the author is witnessing in Argentina at the time of his writing. The concept of the work is similar to that of George Orwell's Animal Farm in that a Federalist or Totalitarian regime is symbolized by the interactions between animals themselves, or in this case, between humans and animals. The symbolism of the slaughteryard is a direct commentary on the political situation of the day; the butcher kills all the animals, and even those who do have cahones and resist will eventually be rounded up and slain. Echeverria wrote the story partly as a political commentary and partly as a warning, but political corruption is evident throughout.
None of the characters in the narrative are elected to their positions, they assume them, and once in leadership roles, The leader is corrupt and as a result he appoints other corrupt officials to leadership positions. Even the clergy are corrupt, which can be seen in the way that they use matters of faith as a political tool, declaring that the floods were caused by God's anger over the evil He sees in the opposing parties.
Bloodthirsty Argentinians
Although the slaughteryard is an obviously bloodthirsty location the fact that each slaughter has an audience is both disturbing and an example of what Echevarria sees as the overly bloodthirsty nature of the average Argentinian. He references ritual sacrifice, as the clergy are present at the slaughter, and seem to view it as necessary in order to apologize for the wrongs of the Unitario that caused God to send floods. He also references a darker side of the slaughter, in that the men present use the dead animal blood to rub over themselves and the women they are trying to impress. This is another sign of the debauchery he sees in the nation.
Uneducated versus Educated
The social gulf between educated and uneducated citizens of Buenos Aires is demonstrated in the story with the presentation of the city slicker who is juxtaposed with the locals and the Judge. One would imagine that a judge would be among the more educated in the city yet the Slaughteryard Judge speaks the same kind of colloquial Spanish as the uneducated butcher, slaughteryard workers and audience. The stranger, on the other hand, speaks a more literary style of Spanish and addresses the crowd in the third person. He speaks in a manner that is grammatically correct at all times. This separates him from the other characters in the book and also demonstrates Echevarria's view that the more oppressive and dictatorial a regime the less educated are its leaders, members and supporters.
