The Son

Land ownership is a symbol of power in the novel, more than the cattle or the oil that constitute the McCulloughs’ business interests. Whoever controls the land controls the capacity to generate wealth, which is why Eli sees Arturo Garcia as the biggest threat to his family when he first constructs the ranch.

Eli uses his desire for more land to justify violence against Arturo and later, Pedro. When thieves attack Eli’s ranch, Eli argues that the thieves must have been associated with or hired by Arturo because his land surrounds the McCullough estate. Eli assassinates Arturo but finds a new rival in Arturo’s heir, Pedro. This is why Eli later supports the Garcia massacre, which effectively results in the Garcias’ land being turned over to Eli’s ranch. During Peter’s and Jeannie’s storylines, the ownership of land directly translates to the potential for wealth in the oil business.

There is also a larger struggle for land and power happening in the periphery of the novel, which also chronicles the Texas Rangers and the white settlers’ conflict with the Indigenous nations across Texas. The Texas Rangers suppress the Indigenous populations so that it is safer for the white settlers to move in, claim Indigenous territory, and use its resources. In the later parts of the novel, Eli realizes how much the soil in Texas has been degraded by the presence of white settlers. This is in contrast to Comanche agricultural practices, which include sustainability rituals out of deference to the earth.