This concise narrative centers around the travels and misadventures of its title character as he seeks upward social mobility and wealth through hard work or good luck. Along the way, he passes through some of the Spanish Empire's most important commercial centers and encounters many of the obstacles and oppositions facing the Empire in the seventeenth-century. As such, Alonso's journey teaches readers much about where and how one found resources and opportunities during the colonial period, what challenges faced individuals and the Empire, and the ways in which members of certain social classes managed to survive in the relatively new global economy.