'Zoot Suit' By Luis Valdez: An Analysis

One of the principle attributes of American Ethnic Literature is that it rarely shies away from the difficult topics, choosing to focus predominantly on the way that things actually occurred and the overall nature of the real history of issues at large. In American Ethnic Literature, authors often use their experiences to reflect the principle thematic element that they wish to portray or to show how the relevant social issue affected people like them by showcasing how it affected them personally. As such, in many cases, historical information is used to form the narratives for stories that are either shaped around the lives of the authors or are built around experiences that those like them had to undergo over the course of their lives. This is thematically evident in “Zoot Suit” by Luis Valdez, “Middle Passage” by Charles Johnson and “Drown” by Junot Diaz. The story “Zoot Suit” by Luis Valdez illustrates the prevalence of this issue first, by structuring a narrative around a prominent act of discrimination in the United States, known as the “Zoot Suit Riots.” In this story, a member of a gang known as the 38th Street Gang named Henry Reyna details his experiences which eventually lead to him being unjustly sent to prison. While in prison, riots across the United States, prominently in his hometown of Los …show more content…
(Diaz, 186) His mother worked long hours to provide for the family, and as a result, their lives are made difficult by exposure to poverty and the overall need to survive. The experience culminates in Yunior going to New York but eventually finding out that it isn't exactly as he believed it to be. The subject matter directly addresses the nature of these experiences but does not focus so much on providing substantial details as to how it occurred for the