Luis Valdez's Los Vendidos Essay

In this paper, I will be summarizing the following chapters: Chapter 3: "A Legacy of Hate: The Conquest of Mexico’s Northwest”; Chapter 4: “Remember the Alamo: The Colonization of Texas”; and Chapter 5: “Freedom in a Cage: The Colonization of New Mexico. All three chapters are from the book, “Occupied America, A History of Chicanos” by Rodolfo F. Acuna. In chapter three, Acuna explains the causes of the war between Mexico and North America. In chapter four, Acuna explains the colonization of Texas and how Mexicans migrated from Mexico to Texas. In chapter five, Acuna explains the colonization of New Mexico and the economic changes that the people had to go through.

You can see how Maria’s El Salvador is empty of people, full only of romantic ideas. Jose Luis’s image of El Salvador, in contrast, totally invokes manufactured weapons; violence. Maria’s “self-projection elides Jose Luis’s difference” and illustrates “how easy it is for the North American characters, including the big-hearted María, to consume a sensationalized, romanticized, or demonized version of the Salvadoran or Chicana in their midst” (Lomas 2006, 361). Marta Caminero-Santangelo writes: “The main thrust of the narrative of Mother Tongue ... continually ... destabilize[s] the grounds for ... a fantasy of connectedness by emphasizing the ways in which [Maria’s] experience as a Mexican American and José Luis’s experiences as a Salvadoran have created fundamentally different subjects” (Caminero-Santangelo 2001, 198). Similarly, Dalia Kandiyoti points out how Maria’s interactions with José Luis present her false assumptions concerning the supposed “seamlessness of the Latino-Latin American connection” (Kandiyoti 2004, 422). So the continual misinterpretations of José Luis and who he really is and has been through on Maria’s part really show how very far away her experiences as a middle-class, U.S.-born Chicana are from those of her Salvadoran lover. This tension and resistance continues throughout their relationship.

Ms. Jimenez is the "sell-out" or white-washed Mexican-American. This is displayed just as the play begins when she introduces herself. Sancho hears her say her name as "Ji-mi-nez" and realizes she is a Chicana. Excitedly, he starts to speak Spanish to her and pronounces her name in Spanish, "Hee-me-nez," stressing the second syllable. She corrects him saying that the Spanish pronunciation is not how her name is pronounced. She quickly makes it apparent that she does not speak Spanish and does not even want to be know as a Chicana. She rejects her own ethnicity, which is one example of how she is a "sell-out." In any instance of such widespread oppression there has always been people who attempt to hide or reject their own identity so that they might succeed or better survive in the environment of their oppressors. Many times the oppressed people are taught to feel shameful of their heritage because the racism is so ingrained in everyday life and culture. In 1924 a Chicano assistant assessor to Reverend McLean in reporting on Colorado Mexicans, named J.B. Guerrero, reveals his own resentment towards people who share his own ancestry, "The Americans think we [Mexican-Americans] are no good; they class us with this trash that comes over from Mexico; we are greasers and nothing more. We have suffered much from these

Gomberg-Muñoz’s book provides the reader with an inside prospective of the lives of undocumented Mexicans. It shows what it is like for people working to help forward themselves and their families in Mexico and The United States. Contrary to some Americans belief that Mexicans want to take over the United States, the majority of the Lions just

Anzaldua persuades her audience of Chicanos by her examples of her credibility. She is told many times that she needs to be able to speak Spanish without an accent. This affected her when she was younger a lot. She was not able to speak Spanish at school without her teacher telling her “If you want to be American, speak American! If you don’t like it, go back to Mexico where you belong.” She also had to fight with her mother about this because she wanted Anzaldua to not have the accent. She would tell her “I want you to speak English. Pa’ hallar buen trabajo tienes que saber hablar el ingles bien. Que vale toda tu educacion si todavia hablas ingles con un accent.” This translated to “To find good work you must know how to speak English well. That is worth all your education if you still speak English with an accent.” Anzaldua explains how she was mortified of this because she spoke English like a Mexican. She explains that she had to take two classes in order to get rid of her accents. She went on to become a teacher in 1971 and she was teaching High School English to Chicano

“Aguantando” means holding on. In the very first paragraph we see how important it is for the narrator, Yunior, to hold on to his father’s memory. Yunior lives with his mother (Mami), grandfather (Abuelo) and brother (Rafa). They live in a house where anything of value, including furniture, food, clothing and even Mami’s Bible is stained from a leaky roof. As a Hispanic male, believe me when I tell you there is nothing more sacred than Mami’s Bible in that home. Yet it is clear how important Papi’s pictures are because they’re always in a plastic sandwich bag to keep them dry. It’s also clear that Papi leaving was the

Sabina Berman is a notable and critically acclaimed Mexican playwright. Berman’s notable work includes her first published play, Yankee (1979). In Adam Versényi’s translation of Yankee, Berman explores the relationship between the individual and identity. Through the three main characters—Bill, Alberto, and Rosa—we see the continual conflict they face as they aspire to achieve their respective objectives: to feel nurtured and loved, to have peace and quiet, and to feel loved and acknowledged. But it is Berman’s interjection of juxtapositions that forces us to analyze the relationship between the main characters. More specifically, Berman focuses on the impact Bill has as an intruder, and how he highlights the national identity incompatibilities between North American and Mexican cultures, to expose the serious social and political problems between the nations.

The injustice surrounding the Indigenous populations in Mexico and Central America began with the Spanish colonies in the sixteenth century, and the struggle for their land and constitution rights has been an ongoing battle for hundreds of years. The indigenous people take up a large part of the population in Mexico and Central America. (See Table 1; Graph 1 below). Indigenous people make up of over 16 percent of the Mexican population, and over 66 percent of the population is indigenous in Guatemala. The historical reality of the indigenous peoples in Central America has been one poverty, eviction from their land, political violence and mistreatment at the hands of

Sandra Cisneros’s “Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories” depicts the hardships that Mexican Americans face because of their identity. In the story “Little Miracles, Kept Promises,” Chayo’s letter to the Virgin Guadalupe illustrates the pressures placed on Mexican American woman in a patriarchal society. During Chayo’s resistance to conform to her culture’s values she grows to embrace her Mexican heritage once she begins views it from a new and liberating perspective. The oppression that Mexican American women face is discussed in Gloria Anzaldua’s “Borderland’s/ La Frontera,” which parallels Chayo’s experiences.

Los Vendidos was written by Luis Valdez the play tells us issues that Mexican Americans faced throughout history. “Los Vendidos” translates to “The Sold Ones.” Which interpreters Valdez’s opinion on Mexican’s conformity to the American culture. Luis Valdez addresses, through humor the historical struggles, stereotypes and challenges that Mexican Americans face. Although the play was written in 1967 I believe it’s still relevant

There is a South African Proverb that states "Until lions write books, history will always glorify the hunter". In his play "Los Vendidos", Luis Valdez tries to become a lion and let the voice of Chicano history be heard. Luis Valdez does this in a satirical way by presenting the views and stereotypes that many American’s have had and continue to have, about Chicano’s in the form of a shop where Chicano "model/robots" are sold. By presenting each Chicano as a robot and stereotype, Luis Valdez tries to earse of the "models" of Chicano’s that people have in their heads and tries to point out that there is a strong Chicano culture and a rich history that has been ignored by American’s for years.

Los Vendidos, directed by Moises Diaz was committed to bringing to the stage not only entertainment, but the stereotypes that Mexicans are identify as and struggle within the United States. Far Away, directed by Sharon Beckless was committed to bringing to the stage not only doubt, but to not trust nothing at all. These plays combines brought extraordinary changes. Which made it interesting and have many endings other than what the audience can expect. The audience can’t wait to see what the end holds. Without the laughter of Los Vendidos, the play would have been reduced to pure chaos and would have failed to portray an ideal of identity, equality, and struggle in the future generations to seal such equality. Without the doubt of Far Away,

Honest Sancho and Secretary are interesting characters. However, Valdez cleverly embeds significant details in the “models” to “illuminate specific points about social problems”. The Farmworker is the first “model”. According to the script, he wears “4-ply Goodyear huaraches” and sleeps in “farm labor camps … old barns, old cars, riverbanks … [or] in the field” (43). The Farmworker represents Mexican migrant workers. From this character, Valdez shows the horrid living conditions of migrant workers. Hence, the author attempts to raise the issue to the audience and the general population so that they are aware of the inhumane treatment toward migrant workers. Furthermore, despite being a hardworking person, the Farmworker is rejected because he does not speak English. Thus, Johnny Pachuco is brought to sale. For Johnny, “an urban model” (44), is bilingual. Nevertheless, he is a thug. As Honest Sancho introduces, “he knife fights” (44) and “he steals” (46). Valdez presents this young man based on a typical stereotype of Mexican young males which is that they are usually in criminal gangs. With this character, Valdez implies his desire to bring the drug problem and criminal problems within the Mexican communities to light. The third “model” is the Revolucionario, or Early California Bandit

Beginning in the late 19th century, American capital and culture infiltrated Mexico. Thomas O’Brien’s thesis in The Revolutionary Mission is that American companies reworked Mexican society – they exported a rational and efficient culture which glorified hard work, sobriety, and timeliness; they snubbed Mexican workers who they deemed racially and culturally inferior; they industrialized Mexico; they established an infrastructure; and they repatriated their profits to the United States. Mexicans resented the ethnocentric American attitude and they loathed watching foreigners profit from their labor and their natural resources. The overt American influence in Mexico during the Porfiriato sparked the nationalistic belief that Mexicans should own and operate Mexico.

The experience of Mexican Americans has been a lifetime of conquest fueled by their historical trauma and underrepresentation that continues to plague the Mexican American community to this present day and most likely still be hundreds of years later. This experience shaped by the defeat of Mexico and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, where while the terms of treaty theoretically protected Mexican Americans, in practice the Mexican Americans had no protections. This prejudice and discrimination from something that should have been protected by the agreement lead to the story of the La Alianza started by Reies Tijerina that started a new fight for the rights that belong to them.