Los Vendidos Character Analysis

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Mexican Standoff
A Mexican standoff is “a situation in which no one emerges a clear winner” (“Mexican Standoff”). Los Vendidos by Luis Valdez is a satirical play in which Valdez plays on the idea of a Mexican standoff with Honest Sancho selling out his own race in a used car lot for stereotypical Mexican workers. There are no clear winners or losers in this play. In fact, it seems that all characters have gotten what they want in the end. The satirical nature of the play is pointing out the absurdity of this confidence. Honest Sancho peddles typecast Mexican Workers in his Used Mexican Lot and Mexican Curio Shop. Stereotypes are often perpetuated from different cultures and are not exclusively held by a particular group of people. Today’s
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Her character is immediately represented as the most Anglo. One of her first lines is, “My name is Miss JIM-enez. Don’t you speak English? What’s wrong with you” (citation)? The first page of the play introduces the idea that if you do not speak English then there must be something wrong with you. She is a secretary for Governor Reagan and is looking for a Mexican model for her offices. This should be an attempt to add more employees that are representative of the area, but it is really an attempt to placate those that may ask for a more diverse workplace. Miss Jimenez wants the allure of a different race, but not the race itself. She wants the model to be “suave,” “hard-working,” and “beige” (citation). She wants the stereotypical Mexican, but not too Mexican. She is challenged by the idea that the model may not speak English. An English speaker is one of her requirements for a Mexican worker. The next clear winner is once again shrouded. Miss Jimenez wants a Mexican for her administration. She wants an English-speaking hard-worker that is beige. Valdez proves his point that many are intrigued by a person of another race, but they do not actually want to bring them home. This may be a reason that his lot is not just a used car lot. He calls it a Curio Shop as well. Others are curious about other races and their culture, but they do not actually want to bring this person to work. A clear winner in this standoff is once …show more content…
Mexicans are at the forefront of new and politics. One of the 2016 Presidential candidates is asking for a wall to keep them out. Governor Reagan wanted a beige Mexican, Donald Trump wants them all behind a wall or in prison. When speaking about individuals that come from Mexico, Trump says, “They 're sending people that have lots of problems, and they 're bringing those problems with us. They 're bringing drugs. They 're bringing crime. They 're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people" (citation). Valdez addresses this issue as well when describing the Pachuco. He is first described as having a “filero” or switchblade. The word Pachuco is translated as “urban tough” (citation). Valdez perpetuates this stereotype and satirizes it by including Johnny’s ability to bruise, bleed, and get arrested. This plays to the idea that many Mexicans are criminals and should be feared. They walk around with knives and often get arrested. This sort of fear mongering happens throughout history. Today’s media and politics have made this one of the issues of this decade. America should fear Mexicans. They are bad people. Donald Trump has been elected president partly because of America’s belief that this view of Mexicans is accurate. This standoff is once again at a stalemate. Mexicans are wanted because they are hard-working, but they are unwanted because they are criminals. These opposites cannot coexist

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