Importance of Community in El Tonto Del Barrio
The title of Jose Armas’ story, "El Tonto Del Barrio" (or "The Barrio Dummy"), may be interpreted two different ways. The first interpretation is literal and applies to the simple-minded Romero, who with the help of his community is able to function in the real world. The second interpretation is ironic; it applies to the Harvard-bound Seferino, who though he means well is so lacking in experience that he turns Romero’s world upside down and nearly gets him committed to an institution. Many readers see the second interpretation as the more interesting, but to see the story in this light is to overlook a very important element. This element is the significant role of the community that is the setting for this story. If we consider the importance of the community, Romero is justly the title character. Romero gives the community character through his positive attitude, and he is a great role model to the children in terms of his work ethic. In return, the neighbors treat Romero with kindness, loyalty, and respect.
In a successful community, everyone must work together and help one another. Sometimes there are people in the community who seem strange to outsiders. They may even seem strange to the community members. The more peculiar residents may be ridiculed and put down, but not in Romero’s community—he is both respected and well-treated, and in return he treats members of the community with consideration. In this way Romero’s situation demands the best of his community, and in demanding their best, he makes the community stronger.
Although Romero was not quite normal, he has a mature attitude towards his job, and he always made sure his work was done thoroughly: "R...
... middle of paper ...
... everyone is taught to help anyone who needs it and to respect everyone, no matter how odd he or she seems. These values come through strongly in Armas’ story.
Overall, the reader can see that this community does band together to support Romero. Romero is a bit touched, but he manages to teach everyone in the town some important lessons. He exemplifies a work ethic that is probably stronger than any else’s in the community. Despite his affliction, Romero is always cheerful and full of vitality. Even though he is the "village idiot" by conventional definition, he is a blessing to this barrio.
Works Cited
Armas, Jose. "El Tonto Del Barrio." Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. NY: HarperCollins, 1991. 1137-1142.
Works Consulted
Armas, Jose. Cuban Consciousness in Literature: 1923-1974. Miami, Florida: Ediciones Universal, 1978.
Monroy, Douglas. Thrown Among Strangers: The Making of Mexican Culture in Frontier California . 1990.
Alfredo Corchado — is the author of the book named " Midnight in Mexico:A Reporter's Journey through a Country's Descent into Darkness”. We are, probably, all interested in finding out the facts, news, and gossips about Mexico. This country was always associated with something mysterious. For me personally, the title of the book seemed to be very gripping, I was interested in revealing the secrets of life in Mexico, thus I decided to read this book. I was really curious, what can Alfredo Corchado tell me about the life in this country, the country, where the constant massacre is the picture, people used to see. In his book, the author tells the reader about the real situations, which took place in Mexico, reveals the secrets of the people’s lives and tells the story from the “inside”. He describes the way he lives his life, and does his work. The " Midnight in Mexico: A Reporter's Journey through a Country's Descent into Darkness” is a memoir. Author tries to transform his own experience into the story line. Corchado shows the reader the darkest episodes of Mexican society, while relying on his own experience.
The themes explored in the novel illustrate a life of a peasant in Mexico during the post-revolution, important themes in the story are: lack of a father’s role model, death and revenge. Additionally, the author Juan Rulfo became an orphan after he lost
In his book, “…And the Earth Did Not Devour Him,” author Tomás Rivera documents through a fictional non-traditional novel, the life experiences of a child that endured many difficulties, he describes the hope, struggles, and tragedies of the Mexican-American migrant workers in the 40s and 50s, and how they travel from home to work to survive. The book’s focus is in Texas, although other areas are mentioned throughout the United States. Divided into 14 different short stories and 13 vignettes the author records the predicament of the Mexican-American migrant workers in Texas and explains how the migrants had to overcome constant discriminatory actions by the White Americans and endure difficult living situations because of poverty as well as unsatisfactory job
Chavez Ravine was a self-sufficient and tight-knit community, a rare example of small town life within a large urban metropolis, but no matter how much the inhabitants loved thei...
story "Shout" written by Dagoberto Gilb, we are introduced to an unnamed Hispanic male who is
Literary magazines were not remotely interested in publishing Gilb’s stories, which focus primarily on the professional and personal struggles of working-class Mexican Americans. But his unapologetic stories about working-class Mexican Americans have made him a voice of his people (Reid130). Gilb’s short stories are set vividly in cites of the desert Southwest and usually feature a Hispanic protagonist who is good-hearted but often irresponsible and is forever one pink slip or automotive breakdown away from disaster (Reid130).
...eam, as Romero showcases the fact that the flaws shown within the characters end up turning their situation into something far worse than it had been in the beginning. It shows just how depraved, violent and absolutely terrifying humans can easily become when put into situations without consequences. Romero’s film is dredged in cynicism towards the modern American Dream, the way he deals with symbolism towards how “just” the American system is during battles and war, and how incredibly messed up our generalized view on racism and the ever ongoing struggle for certain ethnic groups to survive is. “The negativity of the characters extends, in fact, into every facet of their lives; indeed, the film implies the deepest denial of the goodness of effectiveness of every facet of human life in general. Every kind of human relationship is ridiculed or negated in the film.” 4
Here he presents use with some of the main characters who are Nayeli, Tacho, Vampi, Yolo, Matt, and Atomiko. The girls have been affected by the absence of the town’s men who have left the small town to seek work in the United States. The purpose in presenting us with the information of why these men have left the town is to present the fact, of why so many others in small towns like this one have left their towns, in search for work. He also provides a personal account of the everyday life of the people of Tres Camarones in a way that the reader can get a better idea of life in a small Mexican town. One of the main characters Nayeli is a dreamer, who fantasizes about living in a U.S. city and whose father that has left the town to the new world to seek work. The father was the town police man and someone who Nayeli looked up to. Nayeli and her friends take on a task to bring back seven men from the United States, for the purpose of helping to deal with the narcols that have threaten the daily life of the town’s people. But also feel that it is there duty to repopulate the town and prevent it from dying out. At this point the story takes on a different meaning and a new direction of heroism to save the town from the bad men. But the journey has many borders that the girls and one guy have to encounter in order to be successful. There are many different social and
One mark of great storytelling is the portrayal of characters’ development or metamorphose throughout the plot. All great literary characters gradually transform, for better or for worse, as their journey progresses. Sandra Cisneros’ novella, The House on Mango Street, centers around Esperanza Cordero, a young girl living in a poverty stricken area of Chicago. The story follows Esperanza’s thoughts through several vignettes, showing her maturation from adolescence to early adulthood. Through the change in tone and juxtaposing vignettes, Cisneros shows how maturity is derived from the loss of innocence and the gaining of knowledge.
de la Cruz, Juana Ines. "Hombres Necios." A Sor Juana Anthology. Ed.Alan S. Trueblood. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UP, 1988.
Paz, Octavio. "Pachucos and Other Extremes" in The Labyrinth of Solitude and The Other Mexico New York: Grove Press, 1985
Dress codes and uniforms go against the Frist Amendment and take away students constitutional rights. During the Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District case the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that “students do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression at the school house gates.” (Kelly). By the Court saying this means that students do have their constitutional rights at school; dress codes and uniforms take that away for them. The U.S Supreme Court also made it clear that schools cannot just ban a student’s expression because they do not like, or see it as a possible threat. The school must have evidence to support their theories of the students expression would harm others around them or cause conflict among the students (Kelly). Some schools do this all the time, because they do not like what a shirt says; they will say it is against the rules and ban it. This clearly says schools are not allowed to do this.
Another example of a character who illustrates community solidarity is Paul D. Paul’s community at the time was the group of men when he was in prison. They all depended on each other to survive. Morrison writes to show this, “‘The successful ones--the ones who had been there enough years to have maimed, mutilated, maybe even buried her--kept watch over the others who were still in her cock-teasi...
The beginnings of any type of dress code come from social structures around the world. Dress codes were very important in distinguishing the different classes of citizens in society. In the past, dress codes have changed and eventually became commonplace in our educational system. Private schools have set rules in place on what students need to wear and some girls’ schools expect their student body to wear uniforms and even went as far as inspecting socks and fingernails each morning before they started their day (Elizabeth Crook, 2004). The Long Beach Unified School District is recognized as the first public school system to implement a dress code in the United States. Many schools followed in their footsteps and the controversy over dress codes and people being ready to conform to these rules had begun.