Considered the greatest Puerto Rican novel of the 19th century, "La charca "was originally published in 1894. The story takes place in rural Puerto Rico, marked by underdevelopment and the marginalization of coffee field workers. The exploitation by the landowners, the absence of morals, and violence prevail in this realistic depiction of farm life at the time. Zeno Gandia demonstrates his concern for the state of rural society in his descriptions of hunger, illness, and the abatement of customs and values. Nature plays an important symbolic role as a character in this painful classic.