It’s time for me to take a look at the tragic hero from Lo Que La Vida Me Robó — José Luis. For my discussion of Dimitrio, see Part 1 and, for Alejandro, see Part 2.

Why do I consider José Luis the tragic hero? Because he has had everything taken from him.

He thought he was going to be with Montserrat forever. Graciela made sure that wasn’t going to happen by selling Montserrat to Alejandro and having José Luis framed for murder. When José Luis finally tracked down Montserrat and tried to have her run away with him, she told him that she wasn’t leaving and somehow along the way she fell in love with Alejandro.

After somewhat accepting that Monserrat was not going to leave Alejandro, he agreed to marry Angélica, who had stuck by him through everything, including helping him escape when it was discovered that he had been hiding out on Alejandro’s hacienda. José Luis never loved Angélica the way he loved Montserrat, but he was good to her and made the last months of her life happy. When she died, José Luis took it hard because a part of him, I believe, admired her.

José Luis is now alone again and is doing time in prison because he helped Alejandro burn the money from the drug trafficker. José Luis truly has nothing. He is the epitome of Lo Que La Vida Me Robó.

What I find interesting about José Luis is that he keeps trying to help Alejandro. He became good friends with Alejandro when he worked on the hacienda and I think they both recognize that they are good men. José Luis’s one flaw is Montserrat. I don’t think he will ever give up on her. I often wonder how many times he has to be beaten over the head to get the message that Montserrat no longer loves him.

Despite his obsession with Montserrat, I can’t help but like José Luis and I hope he gets his own happily ever after at the end of Lo Que La Vida Me Robó.

What do you think of José Luis?