The analysis of the play Los Vendidos by Luis Valdez - Research Paper Example

? Enter and Roll Number or College November 6 Introduction 1 Los Vendidos: Los Vendidos is a very famous play written by Luis Valdez in 1967. This play describes very deeply about the social treatment of the natives with the immigrants. Valdez has put in a lot of effort to portray the real character of the human kind which is racism and discrimination. This play helps us to identify and understand the concept of discrimination and how people react and deal with the ethnic class. The title of the play states the meaning to be the vendors. The main character Honest Sanchez depicts the Chicano stereotypes and the seller of the human robots who are bound to obey humans. A lady who happens to be a government secretary comes to buy a robot which could help them win the elections through his personality and by taking his side, thus inspiring the people and attracting them to her side. The lady keeps on looking the robots until she finds the most suitable Mexican American. The looks, the psychology and the manners were never important, only the tag of a nationality was important. The end was that the lady paid for this Mexican American robot some $15,000. She later figured out that it was a scam and she ran away without money. This play is a direct criticism for people who only opt and buy things which are tagged to be of a specific brand irrespective of its goodness and liking. 1.2 Immigration in cultures: People from across the world migrate from one place to the other for several different reasons. They already miss the ones and the places that they have left behind and in the new place, they are forced to remember especially by the behavior and ethics of the new neighbors. The taunts, sarcasm and the rudeness in their behaviors are very common throughout the world. The immigrants are bound to follow the customs and traditions of the area, yet their customs and traditions are never followed nor respected. The new arrivals are harassed, teased and mocked just because of their cultural differences. These differences could be in the manners, dressing, color, features and the way they meet and greet people (Velazquez, 1997). Racism has a very strong and a very influential impact and its diversity is in the bloods of the nations. The immigrants mostly do not have the cultural awareness and most of them cannot accept the diversity of the other cultures amalgamated. 2. Analysis: 2.1 Immigrants in our culture are treated differently than the rest of society: The treatment of immigrants is surely different in every part of the world. A few welcome the new comers while mostly welcome them by taunts, sarcastic remarks, laughter, irony, and amusement. This becomes quiet irritating for the people who are already new in a certain setup, environment and people. The best behavior of the neighbors adds to their annoyance and frustration. It is not that they do not respect the cultures and the traditions around; it’s just that they need time to settle and get accustomed to the rituals. Most of the people, of the threat of being discriminated, try to change their nationality and identity. The past which they tend to forget is the most threatening thing for them and for their culture. They try to eradicate themselves as the citizens of their previous land and try to make new identities by merging into the society. This is a great threat to all the cultures and civilizations. However, the people who refuse to amalgamate in a new costume always are the target of the degradation and humiliation and that is what makes their refusal and resistance more powerful (Velazquez, 1997). If the heritage and the culture are lost then there is nothing left either for them or for their children to claim any hierarchy or property or values, ethics or traditions. 2.2 The ways that Los Vendidos reveals the problem: The one-act play Los Vendidos reveals the truth and the facts within our society. The racism though is everywhere yet is always denied. Valdez portrays the behavior of the society in the form of the selection of the robot by the secretary who specifically chooses the one who has no skills at all yet is a Mexican American (American national) while others who are purely Mexican are eliminated from her list when she knows about their cast/ race. This point is quiet well justified when the secretary asks the salesman about the robot that can he speak English, and the salesman replies no and the secretary rejects him only for this reason (Valdez, 1971). Valdez has tried his level best to open up the close mindedness of the people around us and he has succeeded in it. The sole purpose of Valdez is to project our thinking and racism. That is why he specifically mentioned other robots to be Mexicans as the secretary is justifying Valdez point of inequality by selecting the one who knows nothing but can only speak their native language that is English and has a tag of being American. Valdez wanted to portray the behavior and attitude of the stereotypes so that he could show the world how does it feels to be targeted of racism. All the characters were a true depiction of our society. The absurd and ridiculous qualities designated to the only one who could speak English and still be selected and paid is the best example one could get. This is what who we are in our real faces. We opt, think and try to live in the tag of being liberal but we, from our minds think very low and are truly narrow minded. Valdez portrayed Mexicans here specifically because the Mexicans have been a target for the Americans for a long time. When the salesman points to the last Mexican claiming to be the best of all (in terms of ethics, manners and other qualities) (Valdez, 1971), this is a depiction for the Mexicans that they are tired to work so hard and still be claimed as the other ones and the Mexican community are tired of being rejected even though they were perfect. The abrupt judgment factor from the people around is also an essential part of the play. Valdez strictly focuses on how easily people judge others and make their images and decisions about the other person, about their character and attitude in their minds, which is truly wrong and unfair with others. We do not think of the ones who are facing this problem or passing through this critical time period. This is truly unfair. We force such people to change their identities and become who their forefathers never thought them to be. We must be who we are and should not forget that how would we feel if someone tries to behave in the same manner with us, we would truly be offended. 3. Conclusion: This play is written only to make people realize what they do to others when they are new arrivals in the family. Racism is everywhere around us and every one of us is equally involved in this act (Velazquez, 1997). Valdez has tried to prove his point by giving a new concept that what people do and how they treat the others of the society and people do not even care when they tarnish the feelings of the ones who have come with high hopes and spirits. 4. References: Valdez, L., 1971. Luis Valdez--Early Works: Actos, Bernabe and Pensamiento Serpentino. El Teatro Campesino: USA Velazquez.V., 1997, Cultural Awareness In Our Society . Available at: http://content.lib.washington.edu/cgibin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/pwb&CISOPTR=286&filename=287.pdf (Accessed 4th November, 2013) Read More