Dualism In Zoot Suit

To begin with, Henry and his father always had a very complicated relationship. In the novel, the father and son never seemed to understand each other and their intentions. As a child, Henry was baffled to why his father always seemed to contradict what Henry was asked to do. Henry being a Chinese American was “asked-no, told him to stop speaking their native Chinese” (Ford, 12). During this time, the Japanese and Chinese relationship were faltering as it was at the peak of World War II. Henry’s parents were “desperate for him to learn English” (Ford, 12). Henry’s parents never spoke to him in English, always Cantonese. Henry was told, to “only speak you American” (Ford, 12) by his father. This foundation would later create more conflict as Henry and his parents never seemed to understand each other. Since Henry was told by his parents to only speak English, Henry had a difficult time communicating with his parents. Henry never had a good foundation with his parents because of the language barrier that was created. Throughout the novel, Henry would try and communicate with

Henry was a normal boy and did all of the normal things young boys do: making noise, being busy and active, nosing around in the refrigerator, and asking questions - all part and parcel of being a normal child. But he was brought up to believe he wasn't a "model boy." His parents were constantly interrupted by him - his mother while she was reading and grading papers, and his father so much so that he spent most of his time in his office on campus, joining them only at mealtimes. His father wished to remain "blissfully unaware."

After the Vietnam War, Henry was crazy and unstable. For instance, when Henry was watching television and he bit through his lip with blood pouring everywhere (977). The blood was getting on his bread every time he took a bite, but because of his lost ability to think straight Henry doesn’t even flinch as blood pours everywhere. Also, at the end of the story Henry snaps on his brother Lyman. He punches Lyman, which leads to a fight ended by the laughing of Henry (980). During the fight with Lyman, the extent of Henry’s mental changed, to turn on a family member and physically strike him. Henry illustrates how crazy he is when he jumps in to the river all of the sudden to “cool off”(981). This action by Henry ends his craziness and his life.

They are Mexican-American. Their equality rights do not accept in America society. They and their family always spend the life by examining of American government. Henry Reyna, El Pachuco, the Navy during the World War II. He is the young Mexican-American generation. He lives in the South Central Los Angeles, California. They are a mythical figure, a rebellious, street-smart, young Chicano. They make up their hair style. He dresses a long jacket, a baggy trousers, and a lengthy watch chain. He and his people dance with their girlfriends. They wear the zoot suit, the big pride of Mexican-American about the Mexican male, they make the belief to the rebellious generation for the equality rights struggling. Henry and his gang are the antagonist characters to serve the holistic of the world. He kills the murder, help the media, and fed their headline by the police (Scene 1, Act 5, page). Luis Valdez success to create the danger of the character, El Pachuco is in to Henry and the opposite. The riots break out in the streets. the zoot suiters are targeted, the suspects stripped by sailors and marines based on the racism, the discrimination profile. The author is successful to describe the press, the media communication. The laws use the name to disguise discriminate. They create the dangerous situation for their ruse. Their

"Zoot Suit" brings together unforgettable characters such as the irreverent El Pachuco and the charismatic Henry Reyna, an unsuspecting gang leader who finds himself caught in the middle of the racially turbulent events that rocked Los Angeles during the early 1940s.

The female Mexican American youths, Pachucas or Cholitas, were viewed completely different from the male Pachucos. The Pachucas were very stylish and with their accessories worn, they were viewed as auxiliaries within the Mexican American youths (Daniels 202). While the male Pachucos wearing the zoot suits were viewed as threats to the society, the Pachucas were not viewed as "enemies within the country."On the evening of June 3, 1943, the tension between the Pachucos and the white men exploded in what is remembered as the Zoot Suit Riots. Eleven sailors got involved into a fight with youths that were thought to be Mexican Americans, since they were wearing a zoot suit. This incident was publicized and stimulated the resentment within the whites and the other stationed sailors in Los Angeles. In the following days, the white sailors drove around the city of Los Angeles, looking for Mexican Americans in zoot

One example is during the dance, when Henry and Rafas, a member of the Downey Gang, get into a fight, Henry eventually gains the upper hand and Rafas is at his mercy, however, instead of harming him, Henry just tells him to leave. Then, Bertha, Henry’s old girlfriend says “The old Hank would have slit Rafas’ belly like a fat pig.” (Valdez 47). This shows that Henry used to be much more ruthless than he was in the play. This is because he realizes that any violence that he does, no matter how small, will come up again, and could stop him from joining the military or from getting a decent job after the war. Because he realized this, he began to think about what effect his actions may have on his future. Another example is when Henry decided to back out of the appeal (Valdez 70). Instead of fighting the racist and corrupt justice system that put him in jail, Henry thought that, by accepting the punishment, he would be viewed as more American, and perhaps he would get out of jail early for good behavior. When Henry decided that he was going to join the navy he was thinking about his future as well. In the play Henry says, “I was all set to come back a hero, see? Me la rayo. For the first time in my life I really thought Hank Reyna was going someplace.” (Valdez 30). Henry knew that the only way he could gain respect from the police and the white Americans was by

A relationship that has shaped Henry's life is between him and his father. Both of them are stubborn in their beliefs; beliefs that always differ from the other. Although they're Chinese, Henry's father wants Henry to be like an American. For instance, Henry can only speak English to parents that won't ever understand him. Once the war starts, his dad forbids Henry to associate with any Japanese. It just adds the the list of things that they disagree with. Eventually their relationship cracks, "His father was stubborn, and traditional. He hadn't just threatened to disown him-- he'd gone through with it. All because Henry couldn't stop thinking about Keiko" (191). Henry gets fed up with his father and stands for what he believes. Loosing his

“The Youth,” which Henry is referred to as, dreamt of glory in battle and being a hero (Crane 2). That is the reason why Henry enlisted himself; even though he told his comrades he was forced to be in the army. His mother’s farewell speech is ironic because he thought that she would give him a tearful and long speech, but all she really said was to “Watch out, and be a good boy” (4). She does not want Henry to be a hero even though that is what he went to war for. She told Henry that she will be fine if he does not return home. Henry tries to pull off being a confident and good soldier, while in the reality he is very nervous about what will happen in battle. Throughout the novel, he questions his courage and if he would run from battle. At an early battle, Henry continuously fires at the enemy line and feels like he is a courageous soldier. However, soon after this battle, another one erupts and Henry runs from it. This is

The racist connotation that Miss Jimenez associates with who she thinks would “fit in” society’s box is a definite reflection of the hardships Valdez witnessed in his community. For example, the Zoot Suit Riots that occurred in 1944 was rooted by a reaction by young Mexican-American males against a culture that did not want them to be a part of it. Stuart Cosgrove examines this issue when he states, "In the most obvious ways they had been stripped of their customs, beliefs and language.” (*Vargas 317) These youths were going through an identity crisis because they did not know which culture they could identify with. Miss Jimenez is a character that embodies that repression Valdez explains in “Los Vendidos.”

Moreover, another event from the movie that shows his (CD) is his attempt to kill his mother. After running away from her in the woods and hiding, he tries to push his mother of a cliff. This plan was once again stopped by Mark. This ultimately led to Henrys death. This shows just how maladaptive or out of touch with the world Henry was. As I pointed out earlier, Henry was a very intelligent and manipulative child. He convinced his parents and other elders around him to believe that he was the perfect child and tried turning them against his cousin Mark. He even had Mark’s doctor believing that Mark had a problem. According to (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 12/10/09) both of these events are characteristics of (CD).

First of all, I want to analyze my favorite character in this movie--The father Henry. I believe he clearly knows that people have diverse ideas about what counts as a family and they have equally diverse ways of structuring family life, and it help him to communicate more respectfully with people who have varying family structures. For example, when he and his wife found out that their son Tommy got married with a male, he had a much calmer reaction compared to his wife. I can tell that he did not agree to gay marriage and he cannot accept the fact that his son was the “bride”, but he recognized the normal diversity of family forms, he understands that gays like Tommy and Jack has the right to love a person and have a family just like he does, so he tried to hide his true feelings and learned to accept it. That is why when Jack called, he answered the phone politely and told him that “I think I mean this, congratulations, you are a good kid, you deserve a lot better.” Then he caresses Tommy’s hair to show his understanding about their behavior.

He described that he couldn’t escape even if he wanted to. Through this analogy, the reader can see that Henry is reducing the soldiers to unthinking, unfeeling machines, performing their duty without taking into account the threat of injury or death. As he looks around at the faces of the rest of the soldiers in his regiment, he notices their focused commitment to the firing of their rifles. He wonders if he is the only one faced with questions of morality. While the regiment began to advance, Henry was shocked to receive a packet of letters from Wilson, who feared he would die in battle. After the battle, he is glad that he made it through the first day. He begins to lose the romantic vision of war by seeing the realities, but he starts lying to himself about who is really is.

This implies that Henry is charming, as he was able to win over the princess of France and have her hand in marriage.

In Luis Valdez’s “Zoot Suits”, the character El Pachuco symbolizes a rebellious culture that defies society. El Pachuco stands as Henry Reyna’s alter ego. When Henry Reyna is in a dispute with his moral decisions, he either listens to El Pachuco’s strong character or goes with his moral instincts. Like Henry Reyna the Pachuco lifestyle was the way of living for many teens in the 40s. The Pachuco life was cool and hip, teenagers talked with a slang that to society was deemed wrong. Their zoot suit was their individual symbol, a Pachuco would be recognized instantly just by their high waist baggy pants that were tighten in the bottom as well as for their long jackets.