[1] In 1920, Porter traveled to Mexico under the auspices of Mexican emigres she had met in New York City shortly after her recovery from the Spanish Influenza in 1919.
"[4] She mentioned the work to art director George Sill at The Century Magazine and was encouraged to present the piece to the editor Carl Van Doren.
[6][7] The story is based on an incident involving a homicide told to Porter by archaeologist William Nevin during her visit to his excavation site near Mexico City in 1920.
[10][11] "María Concepción" is representative of one of Porter's thematic preoccupations, in this case the depiction of a strong-willed woman "imposing order on domestic chaos.
"[12][13] Critic James T. L Tanner notes an autobiographical element in this narrative, based on the "passivity" of Porter's own father, and informing her thematic material concerning "weak, ineffectual men.
[15]The literary character Maria Concepción is more than merely a description of a social type, but Porter's own claim to her competence as an emerging writer.
[20][21] Literary critic Debra A. Moddelmog addresses Porter's handling of the moral elements attached to the homicidal, climax of the story.
Moddellmog writes: Porter suggests that people must have—and must act on—the right to resist a legal system they find unjust, especially when they did not establish that system themselves…The ending of Porter's story affirms this community's judgment that justice has been served and moral order restored [thus] showing a primary principle of the retributivist scheme: criminals are punished on behalf of the people, not on behalf of the state.