Symbolism In Los Vendidos

In Luis Valdez short play “Los Vendidos”, it is clear that there was a stereotyping issue and he demonstrates this symbolically. I have analyzed his symbolic demonstrations on how Mexicans are labeled and looked down on by society. This short play takes place in Honest Sanchos car lot. Miss Jimenez is a secretary from Governor Reagan’s office and she is looking for a Mexican type for the administration. When he walks up to Honest Sancho, she firmly insists that her name is pronounced JIM-enez, she obviously has a Hispanic last name but does not acknowledge it. Miss Jimenez begins to give Sancho a list of qualities that she would like her “Mexican type” to have. She’s looking for somebody “suave, debonair, dark, but not too dark” (pg. 1041). Sancho then shows her one of his “models”. The model he demonstrates to her is named the Farm Worker. He is a sturdy, durable, hardworking model, and with a snap of a finger he lifts his head and greets Miss Jimenez, then puts his head down. Sancho then snaps his fingers again to he can demonstrate how hard working he is, when he does so the farmworker yells “El Jale” and
begins to work. Sancho can control how fast the model works with a snap of a finger, Miss Jimenez is impressed. She asks if the model is economical, and almost buys him until she learns that he does not speak English, so she then denies him. After turning down the farm worker she asks for something a little more sophisticated, and urban model. Sancho then brings out his new 1969 Johnny Pachuco model. Sancho describes him as being “built for speed, low-riding, made for the city life” (pg. 1042). Miss Jimenez asks what he does and Sancho tells her that he can do anything and everything necessary for city life. For survival he can knife fight, sing, dance, Sancho then mentions that he has a feature that no city model can be without; “he gets arrested, but not without resisting arrest of course” (pg.1043). Miss Jimenez comments that she cannot have any arrests she needs a model that can maintain law and order. However she finds some interest when Sancho tells her that he speaks English. Sancho snaps his finger and tells him to speak English but Johnny insults her. When Miss Jimenez gets offended by what Johnny said to her Sancho tells her that he learned such insults from the American schools, but that didn’t seem to matter to her. Sancho begins to tell her that he is economical, he runs off of hamburgers, tacos, beer, and weed. “He can also be beaten and he bruises, cut him and he bleeds, kick him and he-“(pg.1043). Sancho gives Miss Jimenez one more quality and that is that he steals. Miss Jimenez passes on this model saying that they do not need any more thieves in the state administration. Miss Jimenez then gives Sancho additional qualities that she needs in her models. She now, in addition to the prior lists needs a model that is going to attract women, something more traditional, romantic. Sancho shows her the well-built, sturdy, durable “Revolucionario” model. He rides horses, crosses deserts, plains, rivers, leads and follows revolutions, kills, can be killed, he’s a hero, a movie star. He runs on horsemeat and tequila. He’s a great lover and very romantic, but Miss Jimenez once again turns down yet another model. The reason being for this one is that he is made in Mexico and she can only have American made products. As Miss Jimenez is about to leave Sancho mentions that he has a Mexican American model out back. This model is bilingual, college educated, ambitious, articulate, intelligent, and he comes in different colors. Sancho also mentions that he functions in politics. Miss Jimenez requests to hear one of his political speeches, so he begins to make a speech about how Mexicans are the problem in America, there uneducated, stupid, and all kinds of negative things. He ends his speech by saying “American, American, American, god bless America” (pg1046) uncontrollably. Miss Jimenez is convinced that she has found the right model. She pays $15,000 for him and before she takes off with him she snaps her finger and the Mexican American begins yelling in Spanish. Miss Jimenez claims that he is broken and when she tries snapping another finger he still continues to shout in Spanish. Then Pachuco, the farmworker, and the revolucionario all snap at Miss Jimenez and they start to shout at her. The secretary then runs out of the shop screaming. At the end of the story we discovered that the only “robot” there was, was Sancho. The four other “models” were actually real people. They all split the $15,000 and Sancho gets an oil change for his part of the deal. I noticed symbolism in each one of the “models”. Each model had characteristics that society would label Mexicans to have. Such as the farmer, was hardworking and he didn’t know any English. Johnny the Pachuco had a lot of characteristics that the American society would claim Mexicans to have. He was a gangster, a thief, he resists arrest, he does drugs and he drinks alcohol. The revolucionario runs on tequila, he kills, but he is also romantic, as most of society claims that latinos are romantic and sensual. As for the Mexican American, he has some Mexican in him but a lot of American. He talks down on the Mexicans saying what most of the American society would say about latinos, that they’re uneducated, that they are a problem in American, and that they need to think America. As I was thinking of the setting and were this play took place, I found that the car lot was also symbolic in this story.
In the beginning of the play it seemed as if the secretary was going to the lot to pick out a car, an object. The car lot symbolizes that most latinos feel like they are being seeing as an object instead of a person when they are being stereotyped against. Latinos are expected to do things as they are told with the snap of a finger. In Julie Bolts article titled “Teaching los actos of Luis Valdez”, she mentions that Valdez’s acts are street theater performed to address specific issues in specific public spaces. The three acts of Luis Valdez that Bolts discusses in her article are “Los Vandidos”, “Los Dos Caras Del Patroncito”, and “Vietnam Campesino”. All three of these acts open up discussions of identity, displacement, and
stereotypes.