The interpretation that the pachuco resistance is tied to the “assimilation to political consciousness Chicano movement of the 1960s and 1970s [] achieved national popularity following Luis Valdez's celebrated play "Zoot-Suit"” (Mazón 118). Like a majority of Valdezs works, a Chicano family in crisis has been dramatized in this play. Although the play revolves around Henry Reyna but he is not the only central figure. Henry has a rather suave alter ego by the name of El Pachuco who embodies the stereotypical “Chicano” and “Pachuco.” Henry is a misunderstood figure in the play, and unlike his familia, El Pachuco brings another dimension to him. El Pachuco is a representation of the of Henry's inner attitude of defiance, determining and swaying his actions most of the time. At times, El Pachuco is reminiscent of the Diablo and Diabla characters that motivated the hapless choices of characters as in Medieval morality plays.
El Pachuco does not base his advice on a moral choice; rather, he bases his advice on judgments of character. Just like “the zoot suit also represented defiance” (Mazón 8), similarly, El Pachuco is a representation of the defiance against the system, which determines and identifies the pachuco character in a stereotypical way. At times, Henry does not act upon El Pachuco's advice, instead he chooses to do what he believes is right. At times, it seems Henry has no choice but to get beaten, regardless of whether he listens to El Pachuco or any other part of himself. What is interesting is that at times, El Pachuco is more politically astute, which allows Henry to have an awareness that is not possessed by his fellows. At other times, for instance when they boys debate over confiding in George, their instincts are better for the whole and therefore, Henry ignores the advice of his alter ego.
El Pachuco is also presented as an incarnation of the Aztec "sacrificial" god Tezcatlipoca (Rossini 70). Just like the "god" had to strip bare before he offered his heart to the cosmos, in the same way, El Pachuco is also stripped of his zoot suit with only an indigenous loincloth covering him. No doubt, El Pachuco was cocky, but despite being reduced to bare nakedness, he rises in a noble manner and dissolves into darkness, alluding to return, and he certainly does. The Aztec concept of the nahual, or a person's other self is also represented by the character of El Pachuco as he comes to support Henry during the solitary prison scene (Rossini 67). Henry is afraid and anxious, stripped bare both physically and emotionally, and in order to survive, he recalls the spirit of El Pachuco by relying on his imagination. The fact that he is able to get in touch with his nahual determines that he receives strength from the spirit of El Pachuco. Well, fine then. Yes, I believe in being honest.
As Henry’s alter ego, it seems that El Pachuco’s influence on Henry is a positive one. It is true that El Pachuco determines almost all of Henry’s decisions, but he also influences them with intelligence and political commentary. At the same time, as mentioned, Henry appears to retain his free will since often he does what he feels is right. El Pachuco even has the power to take Henry back in time and show him things taking place in the world in the form of visions while Henry is locked away in jail. For instance, when the play nears it ends, when Henry has been unjustly convicted, and after a long appeals process he is consequently released, El Pachuco quickly contradicts The Press’s update about Henry’s arrest in 1947. As El Pachuco says, “That’s the way you see it, ese. But there’s other ways to end this story” (Valdez 94), and the play ends with positive descriptions of Henry from other characters of the play.
Work Cited
Mazón, Mauricio. The Zoot-Suit Riots: The Psychology of Symbolic Annihilation. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1984. Print.
Rossini, Jon D. Contemporary Latina/o Theater: Wrighting Ethnicity. Carbondale, Illinois: SIU Press, 2008. Print.
Valdez, Luis. Zoot Suit and Other Plays. 1st ed. Arte Publico Press, 1992. Print.
