"Throughout the Andes eight out of ten people are Indians. , They are the destiny of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia--but also a national burden..." The problems presented by this group are of primary importance, not only because the Indians represent such a large percentage of the population but also because factors such as modern communications make the indigent aware of his own misery as well as of the vast well-being which other groups enjoy. As novelists of Peru and Ecuador turn to examine national problems, their works provide us with new, amplified insight. Although their interpretations may seem exaggerated, they may be considered as representative of the thought or ideology of social reformers of those areas. Integral to the modern novel of social protest is the account of the role of the large landholder, the village priest, and the cholo or person of mixed blood in their relations with the Indian. Just as these three social types dominate Latin American society during the colonial and Independence periods, so do they play a leading role in the contemporary social novel.