Professor George
LIT413
September 29, 2011
Theme Essay Today there are many different pieces to choose from in literature. This paper will be discussing the two novels of Zoot Suit by Luis Valdez and The Milagro Beanfield War by John Nichols. Zoot Suit is also a play and The Milagro Beanfield War was made into a film. Zoot suit is actually the first Hispanic play to be written. It is to be the only Hispanic play that exists today. The main character in Zoot Suit is Henry Reyna the leader of the 38th street gang. The main character in The Milagro Beanfield war is Joe Mondragon a hardworking family man. These two pieces of work have some of the same themes but one that stands out the most is the Hispanic culture.
Zoot Suits Description The main character in the novel Zoot Suit is Henry Reyna and he is the leader of the 38th street gang. There is also the narrator which was called Pachuco meaning a Hispanic gangster who dressed really nice in that time in a Zoot Suit, clean cut, slick back hair, and belonged to a neighborhood gang. A Zoot Suit is a suit that has a long coat with wide shoulders, baggy pants but cuffed tight at the bottom with a big chain hanging on the side from the wallet pocket to the front belt loop. Hispanic gangs have been around for years now and are still on the rise. Many Hispanic gangs set new trends and tried hard to fit in with others. In the 1940’s Zoot Suitors’ were the popular gangs of the Hispanics and even some African Americans. In this story there was even a Caucasian in the 38th street gang. The Zoot Suit gangs originated in Los Angeles and expanded to New York and other big cities.
Henry Reyna Henry Reyna is a young man trying to join the navy. Henry ends up getting blamed for the crime Pachuco committed. Henry was tried with many of his Zoot Suit amigos. It was a fishy trial to begin with his only way out was to be convicted and filing for an appeal. During the trial Henry’s defense attorney was
References: Nichols, John. The Milagro Beanfield War. New York, 1974, 1994. Print. Valdez, Luis. Zoot Suit. 1992. Print.