ABSTRACT
LENNY YULIASARI RAHARJO. The Influence of American Dream towards Mingo, the Main Character of Luis Valdez’s The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2015.
The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa is a play written by Luis Valdez. It tells a story of a Mexican-American family in the USA. The family contains of a father, a mother, a Mexican-American son, a Chicano son, only-a-head son, and a daughter. This play mainly discusses the conflicts between the Mexican-American and the Chicano son.
This undergraduate thesis follows the Mexican-American son, Mingo, in reaching his American Dream. Mingo’s parents are Mexican immigrants. They come to the USA to make their life better. However, they still live in dirty neighborhood. This situation makes Mingo want to help his family to live in better condition, middle class.
To ease, this thesis is divided into two main analyses. The first is the presentation of Mingo as a Mexican-American. The second is the influence of American Dream towards Mingo’s characteristics.
In making the analysis, the researcher uses the library research since the play takes place in the past. Library research means that the researcher uses only from written ones. It is either from book or internet sources. This thesis is using sociocultural-historical approach. It is used because the approach sees literature as the representative of an age and society.
ABSTRAK
LENNY YULIASARI RAHARJO. The Influence of American Dream towards Mingo, the Main Character of Luis Valdez’s The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2015.
The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa adalah sebuah naskah drama yang ditulis oleh Luis Valdez. Naskah drama tersebut bercerita tentang keluarga Meksiko di Amerika. Keluarga itu terdiri dari ayah, ibu, anak Amerika, anak Chicano, anak yang hanya kepala, dan anak perempuan.
Skripsi ini membahas anak Amerika yang ingin menggapai mimpinya sebagai orang Amerika bernama Mingo. Orang tua Mingo adalah imigran dari Meksiko. Mereka datang ke Amerika Serikat untuk memperbaiki hidup mereka. Tetapi mereka masih hidup dalam lingkungan kumuh. Hal ini membuat Mingo ingin membantu keluarganya menjadi lebih baik yaitu kelas menengah.
Untuk menderhanakan, skripsi ini dibagi menjadi dua bagian utama. Pertama adalah penampilan Mingo sebagai orang Amerika keturunan Meksiko. Kedua adalah pengaruh mimpi menjadi orang Amerika terhadap karakternya.
Dalam membuat uraian, peneliti menggunakan metode studi pustaka karena latar belakang naskah drama tersebut di masa lalu. Metode studi pustaka adalah metode yang hanya menggunakan sumber tertulis, bisa dari buku ataupun internet. Skripsi ini menggunakan pendekatan sosial-budaya dan sejarah karena pendekatan ini melihat sastra sebagai perwakilan dari sebuah era dan masyarakat
THE INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN DREAM TOWARDS
MINGO, THE MAIN
CHARACTER OF LUIS VALDEZ’S
THE SHRUNKEN HEAD OF PANCHO VILLA
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
LENNY YULIASARI RAHARJO
Student Number: 094214014
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA
THE INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN DREAM TOWARDS
MINGO, THE MAIN
CHARACTER OF LUIS VALDEZ’S
THE SHRUNKEN HEAD OF PANCHO VILLA
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
LENNY YULIASARI RAHARJO
Student Number: 094214014
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY
I certify that this undergraduate thesis contains no material which has been previously submitted for the award of any other degree at any university, and that, to the best of my knowledge, this undergraduate thesis contains no material previously written by any other person except where due references is made in the text of undergraduate thesis
Yogyakarta, October 16, 2015
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KATYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma Nama : Lenny Yuliasari Raharjo
Nomor Mahasiswa : 094214014
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul
THE INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN DREAM TOWARDS
MINGO, THE MAIN
CHARACTER OF LUIS VALDEZ’S
THE SHRUNKEN HEAD OF PANCHO VILLA
Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin kepada saya maupun memberikan royalty kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.
Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal 16 Oktober 2015
Yang menyatakan,
FOR
THE ALMIGHTY GOD
DUITT LISTYAWAN
TAN ENG SIEN
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am terribly excited that finally I can finish my undergraduate thesis that I had been working on these two years. I cannot go through all of those years without help from all of the people who supported me.
First of all, I would like to thank to God that has been guiding my way since I was born. I thank God for His love and guidance in every step I take in my life. This would be impossible without You.
Also, I thank my parents for all their patience and support. I am sorry that I cannot be their perfect daughter, but I am still lovely, right. I promise I will make them proud someday. For mom, I am thankful for her love and she is my truly inspiration. For dad, I promise I will always be his little daughter no matter what.
Further, I would like to thank to my brother Iman for the grammar inspiration and staying late with me. I also thank to Aldo, Debby, Reta, Etri, Yenni, Fenny, and Ling-ling for being my second home. For Kepik, I thank them for the wonderful 7 months. Teater Seriboe Djendela, I thank them for all the performances and workshops. For my badminton and MMA friends, I thank them for bringing laugher. For Samsul and Mbak Bea, I thank to them for the comments on this thesis. For my Agung, I thank him so much for everything.
Last but not least, I would like to thank Sri Mulyani, Ph.D for being my advisor. I am sorry I took so long to finish.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
a. Theories of Character and Characterization………... 12
b. Theories of American Dream………. 13
B. Mingo as Mr. Sunday, his new Anglo-American Identity………… 38
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION………...…. 43
ABSTRACT
LENNY YULIASARI RAHARJO. The Influence of American Dream towards Mingo, the Main Character of Luis Valdez’s The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2015.
The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa is a play written by Luis Valdez. It tells a story of a Mexican-American family in the USA. The family contains of a father, a mother, a Mexican-American son, a Chicano son, only-a-head son, and a daughter. This play mainly discusses the conflicts between the Mexican-American and the Chicano son.
This undergraduate thesis follows the Mexican-American son, Mingo, in reaching his American Dream. Mingo’s parents are Mexican immigrants. They come to the USA to make their life better. However, they still live in dirty neighborhood. This situation makes Mingo want to help his family to live in better condition, middle class.
To ease, this thesis is divided into two main analyses. The first is the presentation of Mingo as a Mexican-American. The second is the influence of American Dream towards Mingo’s characteristics.
In making the analysis, the researcher uses the library research since the play takes place in the past. Library research means that the researcher uses only from written ones. It is either from book or internet sources. This thesis is using sociocultural-historical approach. It is used because the approach sees literature as the representative of an age and society.
ABSTRAK
LENNY YULIASARI RAHARJO. The Influence of American Dream towards Mingo, the Main Character of Luis Valdez’s The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2015.
The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa adalah sebuah naskah drama yang ditulis oleh Luis Valdez. Naskah drama tersebut bercerita tentang keluarga Meksiko di Amerika. Keluarga itu terdiri dari ayah, ibu, anak Amerika, anak
Chicano, anak yang hanya kepala, dan anak perempuan.
Skripsi ini membahas anak Amerika yang ingin menggapai mimpinya sebagai orang Amerika bernama Mingo. Orang tua Mingo adalah imigran dari Meksiko. Mereka datang ke Amerika Serikat untuk memperbaiki hidup mereka. Tetapi mereka masih hidup dalam lingkungan kumuh. Hal ini membuat Mingo ingin membantu keluarganya menjadi lebih baik yaitu kelas menengah.
Untuk menderhanakan, skripsi ini dibagi menjadi dua bagian utama. Pertama adalah penampilan Mingo sebagai orang Amerika keturunan Meksiko. Kedua adalah pengaruh mimpi menjadi orang Amerika terhadap karakternya.
Dalam membuat uraian, peneliti menggunakan metode studi pustaka karena latar belakang naskah drama tersebut di masa lalu. Metode studi pustaka adalah metode yang hanya menggunakan sumber tertulis, bisa dari buku ataupun internet. Skripsi ini menggunakan pendekatan sosial-budaya dan sejarah karena pendekatan ini melihat sastra sebagai perwakilan dari sebuah era dan masyarakat
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This chapter is divided into four parts; each gives introduction to the
thesis. The first part is the background of the study. The second part is the
problem formulation that contains two problems. The third part is the aim of the
study. The last part contains the definition of terms that avoid the readers
misunderstanding on certain terms used.
A. Background of the Study
From the early nineteenth century, living the United States is seen as a
prestige. A lot of people want to try their luck in the United States. Henretta et al.
in their book stated that the prosperity and economic innovation of the 1920s gave
Americans the highest standard of living in the world, although not every
American was lucky enough to benefit from this new way of life. However,
patterns of consumption that appeared during the “New Era” of the 1920s and
ways of spending leisure time quickly became part of American life (Henretta:
1993: 727).
It means that the United States is the basis of luxurious living in the world.
Thus, people from different country wish to live in the United States. They see the United States as a land of opportunity to make their life better. They wish to work
and live in the United States to take part of luxurious and prestigious lifestyle.
The Spanish found the New World to be a land of cities and golden treasures, where the natives would work for the colonists who could spend a few adventurous years in America before returning, landed with gold, to Europe (Lemay, 1989: 3).
It says that the Unites States is seen as a new place that attracts people to go there. So, the immigrants that wish their life changes, they masses to the United States to be a part of its greatness, although not every immigrant is lucky enough to be a part of it.
Basically, on the geographic position, Mexico is a country located in the south of the United States. They border the United States on the south. Although they have been neighboring countries since a long time ago, Mexico was not as
established as the United States. They could be categorized as a new country compared to the United States particularly after their independence from Spain.
As a result, a lot of Mexicans want to try their luck in the United States which is
already an industrious country. They saw the United States as the land of chance
to escape from their poor life. A Different Mirror by Ronald Takaki described:
When questioned many of them will tell you that they fled from Mexico to escape starvation. In a great number of instances the refugees have friends or relatives in this country who have told them of the wealth and prosperity of the wonderful ESTADOS UNIDOS (1993: 312).
Many of Mexicans tried their luck to escape starvation, as at that time
Mexico was a very poor country and lack of human resources. They went across
the border leaving Mexico behind to achieve success in the United States and told
their families and friends about it.
However, all the opportunities they believed in were not all true. The
Depression that was felt through the United States and many of immigrants were
in debt. “Many were forced off their farms because they were unable to pay
assessments of the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District Project, a regional
agency established in 1927 to help New Mexican by increasing the land available
for agriculture” (Meier, 1972: 149).
Talking about Mexican immigrants struggle to receive better life in the
United States, they wish to live like middle class or higher and to get accepted by
the Anglo societies. This happens especially after the World War II. However, In
order to accomplish this feat, they must cut themselves off from their past, their
Mexican culture and language, from all that is low and dirty (Milagro, 2009: 2).
Luiz Valdes picks up this problem into his works, The Shrunken Head of Pancho
Villa.
Luis Valdez is an American playwright, writer, and film director. He is
regarded as the father of Chicano theater in the United States and also the founder
and artistic director of El Teatro Campesino, which is translated into The
Farmworkers Theater. His well-known work of arts includes Zoot Suit, La
Bamba, Los Vendidos, and The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa. In his works, he
mostly talked about the plight of Latinos and the prejudice they face (Escamilla:
2002).
The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa is one of his early works. Luis Valdez
wrote this play when he was still a student at San Jose State College. This play
tells a story about the struggle of Mexican-American son who wants to reach his
Mingo is one of the main characters in Luis Valdez’s The Shrunken Head
of Pancho Villa. He is described as a Mexican-American person who has his own American Dream. He desperately wants to be an Anglo-American and he believes that he can achieve it by working hard on it.
The researcher is interested in Mingo’s characteristics development in the play. Thus, Mingo becomes the main topic of this research. The researcher follows Mingo’s character from the beginning of the play until the end.
B. Problem Formulation
In revealing the American Dream through the play, the researcher focuses
on problems stated below.
1. How is Mingo presented as a Mexican-American?
2. What is the influence of the American Dream towards Mingo’s characterization?
C. Objectives of the Study
This research goal is to find out the attitude of the Mexican-American
people who live in American society at that time. The first objective is to
understand further about Mingo’s presentation as a Mexican-American. The
second objective is to reveal the influence of American Dream towards his
D. Definition of Terms
1. American Dream
Singh et al. state that the term of American dreams originated from the
early seventeenth century by Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay colony who had
given America one of its strongest images i.e. the myth of success. Most new
Americans have believed in their myth of success in seeking new and improved
lives in their country. Others who have lived in the US for generations also
believe in and have fought to cover themselves in the American dream that hard
work will always lead to success and that life can always get better (1995: 10-11),
meaning that through hard work one could have a better future in America since it
has been a dream land for everyone.
2. Mexican-American
3. Chicano
The Chicano term, or Chicana to refer the woman, is insulting to some
Mexican-American people. “Mexican-Americans have used the word “Chicano” to describe people of Mexican origin living in the United States since the early twentieth century. Originally wealthier Mexican-Americans used the term as a pejorative, a way to describe Mexican-Americans of lower social standing and some people avoid the label because of its ties to leftwing politics.” (Planas, 2012). As described by Ruben Salazar, “A Chicano is a Mexican-American with non-Anglo image of himself.” He added, “A Mexican-American will tell you that
Chicano is an insulting term and may even quote the Spanish Academy to prove
that Chicano derives from chicanery.” (Salazar, 1970).
4. White Anglo-Saxon Protestant
It is term to describe the white Anglo-Saxons and Protestants of the
German and Dutch strains. They were the very first immigrants of the United
States which historically has controlled more social, political, and financial power. (Adamic, 1945: 133). The people of Anglo-Saxon and Protestant ancestry
were described as a well dressed, good mannered, and properly behaved people.
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A. Review of Related Studies
In this chapter, the researcher reviews some criticisms and comments
about The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa and studies about Luis Valdez’s other
work that is related to The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa.
To become an American citizen is having been born in the United States
or certain territories or outlying possessions of the United States, and subject to
the jurisdiction of the United States (http://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship). It means that the people who are born in the United States of America or areas
belong to the United States of America automatically become American citizens,
whether their parents are legal American citizens or illegal immigrants.
American-born kids, usually the second generation, specifically children
of Mexican immigrants, were confused with their language and culture. They did
not know who they should get along, Americans or Mexicans. If they got along
with Americans, they would feel different because it could be seen from their
outer appearance. And when they got along with Mexican, they became minorities
in the American society.
Martin Milagro in The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa Study Guide said
that this play represents the attitude changing of Mexican-American towards the
society to be seen. At first, Mexicans were just immigrants, mostly illegal, from
descendants in el norte who become legal United States citizens. However, they
were still considered as foreigners by the society because they were colored even
though they were legal American citizens. Slowly but sure, the
Mexican-American started to find their way to be seen. In the story, Mingo represents
person who wants to get accepted by the American society, on the other hand,
Joaquin, his brother, represents a rebel who opposes the United States.
It represents a change in attitude of the Chicano from silently enduring in hopes that conditions might change for the better, in order to be accepted, to one of vigorously acknowledging his worth, his differences and his identity. The “invisible minority”, the “silent minority” began to find its voice (2009: 2).
The study above is also supported by the statement he previously wrote in his book, “It is a play that speaks to the core of the Chicano dilemma: “Are we
Mexican or American?”” (Milagro: 2009: 1). This question is simple, but for
some people, they have difficulties to choose the answer. They are actually
American but the social and cultural ties around them are Mexican. To answer
such questions, some people have to define themselves for who they are. It is
either to become an Anglo-American or to accept the reality that they are
Mexican-American.
Martin Milagro talks about the identity dilemma seen in The Shrunken
Head of Pancho Villa. He talks about the dilemma between choosing as an
American or as a Mexican. Choosing between these two choices is not easy for
them as they are not included in one of the choices. On one side, they will not be
accepted as Americans because of their different look. On the other side, they are
In 1984, Prof. Manuel Pickett directed the play at California State
University at Sacramento. When Jorge Huerta asked him why he chose to produce
this play, Prof. Pickett answered, "I directed it because I saw it as a classic work
and it was a challenge. The play explores political realities of the time that are
examples of what Chicanos were doing in the 60's." (Huerta: 1989: 142).
Realities are the aspect that cannot be separated from the play. They are
from political, economic, and social aspect. When directing this play, Prof. Pickett
viewed The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa from political realities at that time. It
was about the realities to what Mexican-American doing to become visible by the
American society.
One of Luis Valdez famous short plays, Los Vendidos, which dealt with
stereotypes of Mexican immigrant in California and how they were treated by
society, was inspired by the character of Mingo. Los Vendidos was a play written
by Luis Valdez in 1967 after his first play, The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa.
The character of Mingo in The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa was the inspiration
for Luis Valdez to write this play. In Los Vendidos, Mingo’s character was
divided into two characters. First, the Sell-Out, he represented Mingo as a
Mexican-American. Second, the Secretary, she represented Mingo’s Anglicized
character.
Los Vendidos was El Teatro Campesino’s first performance which dealt
with the identity of Mexican immigrants in the United States. As a writer, Luis
Valdez always found that the issue about struggle of Mexican immigrants in the
United States was interesting. It was started when he created the characters in his
play: The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa. Then, the characters themselves were
explored deeper later also in his well-known play Los Vendidos.
Los Vendidos captures many issues about Mexican-American’s life such as prejudice, discrimination and struggle. However, beyond that, this literary work also grabs the whole life experiences of Mexican-American in America as the new community. Valdez reveals to the reader the record of Mexican-American’s experiences like life condition, struggle, adaption and effort in the new land of America. These are exactly what exist in the phenomena of cross-culture and race relation that is when two cultures that are Mexican and American, interact, there will be reaction toward each other. This is what Valdez pointed out in Los Vendidos through each model that is the record of life experience and history of Mexican-American community through the three life stages (Christianto, 2011: 75).
There were six characters in Los Vendidos. They were divided into the
sell-out, the secretary, and the models. The models represented the stereotypes of
each Mexican immigrant life-stages in the United States. They were the
Farm-worker, the Pachuco, the Revolucionario, and the Mexican-American. The
Sell-Out represented a cynical opportunist who would sell out his own culture and
people to make a buck. The secretary herself represented an Anglicized
Mexican-American, an individual who had completely sold out to the powers that she
rejected and looked down upon her ethnic fellows (Matus: 2015).
Los Vendidos’ story plot follows the Secretary who was looking for a
Mexican to raise voter for her boss, Governor Reagan. She went to a shop owned
Sell-Out. However, there were no models that suit her request: debonair,
hard-working, sophisticated, and American-made. She rejected Farm-worker because
he cannot speak English, Pachuco because he used abusive language and was
violent, and Revolucionario because he was "Made in Mexico". The only Mexican
who pleased the Secretary was the one who resembles her, the Anglicized
Mexican-American. The secretary’s refusal to each of the models but the
Mexican-American represented the society’s refusal to each of stereotypes. “The surprise ending of the play emphasizes the resentment and hurt felt by the Chicanos and the superficiality of the civilized society” (Marshall: 2007).
The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa and Los Vendidos have similarities. Both of them talks about social commentary and stereotypes of Mexican-American. However, The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa focuses on the dissent of a Chicano and a Mexican-American. While, Los Vendidos focuses on the stereotypes of Mexican-American and how they are treated by society.
The researcher is interested with the Mexican-American character in The
Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa. Thus, this research only focuses on Mingo and the American Dream seen in his characteristics. In short, this research develops other research which usually only sees the contrasting of the two characters, Mingo and Joaquin.
B. Review of Related Theories
These are some theories to help finding the answers of the problem
1. Character and Characterization
According to Forsters, there are two types of characters; they are “round”
and “flat”. Round characters are usually can be found in the main characters. They
usually change into someone better, or worse. While, the flat character usually can
be found in minor character, but not all of the minors are flat characters. “to the
degree that round characters possess many individual and unpredictable human
traits they may be considered as dynamic; that is, they demonstrate their capacity
to change or grow.” (1927: 121).
Reaske in How to Analyze Drama states that there are six devices of
characterization. They are:
a. The appearance of the character: In the prologue or in the stage directions the playwright often describes the character in the physical sense. described by the playwright himself, there are nevertheless descriptions of the character.
e. Language: it cannot be emphasized too many times that the language of any given character is extremely central to his personality attributes. f. Character in action: As the characters become more involved in the
action of the play we quite naturally learn more about them. (Reaske, 1966: 46-48).
From these two theories, the researcher concludes that a certain pattern can
be seen since character and characterization cannot be separated from each other.
As characterization is used by the author to create a character so that the character
finds its specific personality, the researcher finds that Reaske’s theory becomes
that, Forsters’ theory becomes the next stage as it determines whether the
character is round or flat to make it more specified.
2. The American Dream
One of America’s most celebrated values is “giving its people the
opportunity to move up the economic ladder over the life times. Besides, it also
carries the promise that economically disadvantages groups such as women,
ethnic minorities, or immigrants can achieve economic success within their
lifetime. This opportunity is called American Dream (Kopczuk, 1997).
As it is stated by Truslow James Adams in The Epic of America,
Americans believed if they worked hard, they would become successful. They
wanted a country in which the prizes and a good life would go to those who could
win them and not just be given to those who happened to be born rich or titled or
otherwise privileged. This is “the American Dream” (1931: 4)
Later in that book, he also added “a dream of a social order in which each
man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are
innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the
fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.” (Adams, 1931: 5)
“American Dreams or what so called American ideology are
individualism, equality of opportunity, the work ethic, and liberal capitalism”
(1995: 357). Those are the definition of American dream by Hochschild. He says
that American dream are individualism, equality, valuable of hard work, and
American Studies: A Conceptual Approach states that inner power/
characteristics of a person also play important role. The book pints out that
American and foreign observers have attempted throughout the history to identify
typical American traits: (1) Hard working, materialistic, and practical, (2)
Adventuresome and optimistic, (3) Impatient and incline towards violence, (4)
Patriotic and nationalistic, (5) Supporters of humanitarian and idealistic goal, (6)
Believers in fair play, equality of opportunity, and individual responsibility
(Gordon, 1983: 385).
In some way, the immigrant created the American Dream. It was not a
native-born idea. It began in the 19th century as immigrants -- mainly Irish and
German -- began coming to the United States and describing their experience as
transformative. They were no longer living the lives of their parents and
grandparents. They could separate themselves from their past. They created the
American Dream (Close, 2014).
American Dream never finds its exact definition. However, the common
goal is usually about economic, social progress, and individual freedom, and later
about politics and education. Many says that American Dream is to get
opportunity to freely participating in the competition for jobs, wealth, status, and
power in society. American Dream can be achieved only through hard work and
determination.
Every person has different American Dream as every person has different
point of view, for example, background, culture, and neighborhood. To Mingo,
C. Mexican-American in the 1960s
The 1960s was a turbulent decade in American history, fraught with
conflicts over issues from Civil Rights to the war in Vietnam. The Mexican
American Civil Rights Movement, one of the least studied social movements of
the 1960s, encompassed a broad cross section of issues—from restoration of land
grants, to farm workers rights, to enhanced education, to voting and political
rights (Mendoza, 1996).
The 1960s was also the most important decade for the Mexican-American.
Their population increased consistently specifically for the undocumented ones.
The number of commuters, those who cross the border on a daily, weekly, or
other regular basis to work in the United States, also rose sharply (Meier, 1972:
185).
As a result, a lot of communities were formed to protect themselves. For
example LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizen), CSO (Community
Service Organization), ANMA (Asociación Nacional México-Americana), MAPA
(Mexican American Political Association), etc. They had their specific goals of
their own problems. However, their goals had similarities, which were equality for
Mexican American in economic, political, and social aspect (Meier, 1972: 198).
Following these movements, the communities got well spread and they
slowly reached their goals. As they began to settle, the Americans saw them as an
internal threat. They were blamed for everything from the high cost of welfare to
the fiscal crisis of the social service system. The net effect of this was to bar
means-tested federal and state benefits and to raise the income threshold required for
immigrants to sponsor the entry of relatives (Durand, 2015).
Other than that, the image of Mexican-American people at 1960s was
closely related to crime. They were stereotyped as violent person. And as late
1960s, a California judge ruling in an incest case reiterated similar racist beliefs.
He stated in court: “Mexican people…think it is perfectly all right to act like an
animal. We ought to send you out of this country… you are lower than animals…
maybe Hitler was right. The animals in our society probably ought to be
destroyed” (Feagin, 2011: 266).
In order to cope with their second-class status, Mexican-Americans
created a variety organization, many of which promoted ethnic solidarity. During
this decade, many of them argued that assimilating into American society entailed
the loss of distinctive identities, cultures, and languages, which later this type of
people calls themselves as Chicano. Assimilation was defines as a virtual assault
on the way of life of American ethnic minority groups. As a result, a concerted
effort is under way to understand, albeit only within certain segment of American
society (Englekirk, 2015).
However, not all Mexican-Americans welcomed this youthful militancy. It was because they thought that it was unnecessary to do some kind of movement. The Mexican-American political leaders stated that this student movement was not productive and only caused troubles. They were afraid that some kind of movement would hold up what they had been fighting for.
Many older Mexican-American saw the Chicano movement as a brash, upsetting, and polarizing offensive that ultimately might undermine their precarious accommodation to American society. Some conservatives were quick to denounce it as too aggressive, too strident, and ultimately as divisive. Mexican-American political leaders labeled various Chicano activist groups as reverse-racist and un-American. Others saw the student movement as unsophisticated, naïve, unprofessional, and ultimately counterproductive. Still others were unwilling to endorse the Chicano movement without qualification but recognized the pressing to publicize Mexican-American grievance.
solving the formulated problems. The researcher also needs the historical
background of Mexican-American written above to do the analysis.
The theory of character and characterization is needed to reveal how
Mingo is characterized by Luis Valdez. The sequences of Mingo characterization
in the play are significant to the writer, Luis Valdez, because the characterization
is revealed gradually by the author. To understand Mingo’s characteristics, the
soliloquies found in the play, it is not used. Forsters’ theory is used for analyzing
the development of Mingo's character that is influenced by American Dream.
Next, the researcher uses the theory of American Dream to explore the
idea of American Dream. The idea is then applied to identify Mingo’s
characteristic in the play. The theory of American Dream is needed so that the
researcher understands deeply about it, and understands further its influence
towards Mingo’s characteristics.
The theory of Mexican-American in the 1960s is used to find out the
history of Mexican-American in the United States. This theory is needed in
analyzing the relation among the life experiences of Mexican-American, their
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
The object of this research is The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa, a play written by Luis Valdez. This play was written by him while he was still a student at San Jose State College. The first publication of the play was in 1967 by El Teatro Campesino. Later it was published in 1989 along with five other plays in Necessary Theatre: Six Plays About the Chicano Experience by Arte Publico Press in Houston, Texas.
This play consists of 53 pages and it is divided into 5 acts. Valdez firstly directed this play for El Teatro Campesino in 1968 and later 1970. Since then, some directors staged this play.
This play is about a Mexican-American family who lives in the United States. They are Pedro, the father, Cruz, the mother, Belarmino, the oldest brother which is a head, Mingo, a Mexican-American son, Lupe, a daughter, and Joaquin, a Chicano son. The parents are Mexican immigrant who has been living in the United States for a long time.
B. Approach of the Study
To analyze the play, the researcher uses sociocultural-historical approach. This approach is the most suitable for analyzing the play because the play itself contains socio-cultural and historical background. “Literature is considered as a social institution. This view sees literature as “social creation”” (Wellek, 1956: 94).
Rohrberger and Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature says that critics whose major interest is the sociocultural-historical approach insist that the only way to locate the real work is in reference to the civilization that produced it (Rohrberger, 1971:9). This implies that the critics will focus on the relation between the play and the reality happens in the society at the specific time where the play takes place.
Furthermore, Rohrberger and Wood add that “it’s necessary to investigate the social background in which a work was created and which it necessarily reflects, because literature is not created in emptiness and expresses ideas significant to the culture that produces it” (Rohrberger: 1971: 9). This means that a play always connects to the cultural and historical background of the society. This theory strengthens what Rohrberger and Wood state in relation of the theory mentioned in the preceding paragraph.
C. Method of the Study
The method that is used to collect data for the thesis is library research. This method is used since the setting of time which the play takes place is in the past. The research can only be done with collecting data from the library as it is impossible to directly observe something that happens in the past. Thus, the researcher only looks and collects data from library and trusted web articles.
There are many steps taken in analyzing this research. First, the researcher starts with reading the play. From the reading, the researcher finds that the play has interesting topic. Then the researcher re-reads and is understanding the whole play. From the understanding, the researcher finds that the American Dream found in one of the characters is more interesting to be explored than comparing between the two main characters. After absorbing the play, the researcher finds that the American Dream thoughts in one of the characters influence his own characteristics.
The second step is preparing the problem formulations, which later become the question which has to be answered. In this part, the researcher reads the play more carefully in order to find the right topic. After that, the researcher finds that one of the characters has deeper relation to American Dream. Thus, the researcher is interested in analyzing this topic.
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
In this chapter, the problems formulated in the earlier chapter are answered. Based on the problem formulation, this chapter is divided into two parts. The first part describes the main character, Mingo, who is a Mexican-American person. The second part reveals the concept of American Dream that is reflected in Mingo.
In addition, this chapter contains original quotations from the play that uses broken English as spoken by Mexican-American. As a result, there are some ungrammatical and Spanish-mixed English. They use mixed language. They do not use English like other Anglo-American, but use Spanish English instead. They use this kind of language in everyday life to communicate with other people. For example, it can be seen from the conversation between Pedro and Joaquin below.
PEDRO : halo que? Give me one abrazo, I‟m your padre! [He hugs him] Tha‟sit – strong like a man. Look, vieja, see how much medals he gots?
(Valdez, 1989: 995)
A. Mingo as the Mexican-American Son
In this part, the researcher writes Mingo‟s presentations in sequences from act
is Cruz. She is a loving mother to her children. Mingo is the second son in the family. He has an older brother which is a head, Belarmino, a younger sister, Lupe, and a rebellious younger brother who represents a Chicano, Joaquin.
Mingo is described as a Mexican-American. This comes in contrary with his family who still tightly holds their Mexican tradition. The American traits in the character of Mingo can be seen from the appearance, the habits in daily life, and the way of thinking. Not only Mingo‟s personality, but his family‟s point of view also shows that Mingo represents Mexican-American.
From his appearance, Mingo looks different from other family members. At the beginning of the play, he is said to be just coming back from the war. He wears soldier uniform. Later in his daily life, he is described, in stage direction, wearing American typical suits.
MINGO enters dressed in new khaki work clothes, complete with new hat and boots. He carries a clipboard with papers and a money box (Valdez, 1989: 1002).
PEDRO turns toward MINGO, who is dressed in casual bowling clothes. He also carries a bowling bag (Valdez, 1989: 1014).
show that Mingo is not a low field-workers. The clipboard and money box represent that Mingo is a professionalfield-worker.
As described, Mingo also plays bowling. His clothing shows that he plays bowling before he comes into the house. Bowling is a sport which is usually played by Anglo professional blue-collar worker. It means that Mingo socializes with the Anglo-American. He feels comfortable hanging out with the Anglo-American. This comes in contrast with the other family members who see the Anglo-Americans as superior figures.
Food choices usually reflect the lifestyle of a person. In this case, the food eaten by Mingo reflects the food eaten by the Anglo-Americans. Mingo prefers to eat American typical food than eating Mexican food that can be easily obtained in the neighborhood.
Talking about Mingo‟s first dinner since he comes back home, all of the
family members want to celebrate it by cooking home-made Mexican food for him. On the other hand, he refuses and prefers to eat steak in town. “No thanks. I had steak in town” (Valdez, 1989: 996). Meanwhile, steak itself is a common food eaten by the
Americans. Steak is considered as a high-priced food. This shows that Mingo does not miss home cooking although he is away from home for a long time.
juice.” (Valdez, 1989: 1020). It means that Mingo eats American food for his
everyday life.
The researcher finds that Mingo prefers to eat American food in order to make himself looks like a common Anglo-American who eats such food. Developing individualistic character just like the Anglo-Americans, he also keeps American food only for himself. He does not allow anybody to eat his food, even his pregnant and hungry sister. This shows that Mingo does not care about his family. He only cares about himself and his American things.
One of the important things that makes Mingo as a Mexican-American is the language he uses. From the beginning, Mingo always uses English to communicate in everyday life. This does come in contrast with the other family members who use Spanish English and Broken English to communicate with others. At first, Mingo understands the language they used. However later, he slowly changes into someone who does not understand Spanish English at all and uses grammatically correct English.
From the stereotypes, the researcher also concludes that Mingo turns into an Anglo-American. This is seen from Belo‟s point of view on Mingo. Belo yells American stereotypes, according to Mexicans, to Mingo. He says that Mingo betrays their people as he becomes more Americanized.
According to Gordon, there are several American traits that play important role on a person‟s characteristic. Mingo‟s appearance and habitual daily life
represents an Anglo-American, which he tries so hard to be. Mingo wants to be one of them. Not only his appearance and his habit in daily life, but his way of thinking also show that he no longer belongs to the family.
American traits by Gordon that represent Mexican-American Mingo are: hard working, materialistic, practical, adventuresome, optimistic, impatient, and incline towards violence, and patriotic and nationalistic. These American traits are owned by Mingo and they lead Mingo to reach his American Dream, and later he eventually becomes an Anglo-American.
Mingo is a hard working person. It can be seen in previous part where he comes home and brings money box. This shows that Mingo works hard to reach the position of an elite or professional worker. His money box implies that Mingo has higher position than any paid field-worker. Compared to other family member, Mingo is quite successful since the family members do not work or try to find any jobs.
seen from the way he dresses, the food and beverages he consumes, the things he owns, and his obsession to fit in middle-class society. This can be seen through the beverage that he drinks, an Old Crow Whiskey. Mingo underestimates his father‟s 35-cent drinks. He says that he will buy his father a $6.50 Old Crow Whiskey, an American product.
Mingo also owns a credited Chevrolet car which later he trades it with more expensive Chevrolet car. Chevrolet is considered as a prestigious American brand car.
LUPE : A Chevi! Mama, un Chevi!
CRUZ : Blessed by the name of the Señor. That one is ours, Mingo?
MINGO : All ours, only forty more payments to go. [Everyone looks out the window except PEDRO.] What‟s wrong, pa? Ain‟t you going to see? PEDRO : For what? They going to come for it in two months.
MINGO : Not this baby. I‟m gonna keep up all my payments. (Valdez, 1989: 997)
Mingo credits a Chevrolet car. He is optimistic that he will keep his payments. However his family members are uncertain if Mingo can fulfill the payments. On the other side, Mingo is so confident in keeping up the payments because he will find a job and make a lot of money. He is optimistic even though his other family members say that he will not make the payments going.
Cruz and Joaquin are pessimistic about their life. Cruz admits that her family will never be rich because they live only from Pedro‟s welfare. Along with that,
CRUZ : We always been poor, my son.
MINGO : [Determined.] That‟s true, mom. But now things are gonna be
different. I‟m here now, and we‟re going to be rich – middle class! I didn‟t come out the war without learning nothing.
(Valdez, 1989: 998)
This conversation implies that Mingo learns a lot of thing in the war. It causes him to think that he can fit in middle-class society even though he is actually from lower class society.
Mingo is a practical person. It is proven since he is the only one on the family who admits Belarmino is a head. “Stop wasting money on beans and tortillas. Admit
Shorty‟s a head” (Valdez, 1989: 1022). On the other side, Cruz, their mother, still
refuses to admit that Belarmino is a head. Cruz still sees Belarmino as a handicapped son and does not want to realize that Belo only makes her suffering. However, Mingo sees that Belarmino burdens of the family since he cannot work and only eat all the time. Mingo feels that Belarmino is the reason of why the family cannot be successful.
Mingo is adventuresome, which comes in contrary to his family members. He is not afraid to try something new and to leave his former habits. He says to his family that they will move to a new house. A better house.“Padre, madre, so what?
I‟m talking about Prune Blossom Acres. America‟s at our doorstep. All we have to do
is take one step.” (Valdez, 1989: 1003). Mingo is so excited to move his family into
feel insecure to socialize with higher class people. They seem troubled to do adaptation with new people n new neighborhood. On the other hand, Mingo is so excited to move into the new house and to be accepted as an American. He does not let anybody in the house buries his dream to live in a higher level society. Mingo even mocks his father‟s house as a dirty place to live.
CRUZ : And the gringos?
MINGO : Whatta you mean, gringos? CRUZ : Who else lives in new houses?
MINGO : Americans, ma. Americans citizens like me and y – [Pause.] Aw, whatta you trying to do? Get me defeated too? You wanna spend the rest of your live in this stinking barrio?”
(Valdez, 1989: 1004).
The family members, especially Cruz, are worried about the new neighborhood. They are worried about living in new neighborhood filled with gringos or Anglo-Americans, a neighborhood with no Mexican-Americans. However, Mingo is very proud to call himself an American. From the conversation above, Mingo looks a little bit uncomfortable with the word gringos, which is usually used by Mexican-Americans to call Anglo-Mexican-Americans. Mingo prefers to use the term Mexican-Americans, instead of gringos because he wants to cut the ties with his Mexican blood.
This kind of term annoys Mingo. He feels resentful and very annoyed when Pedro calls the citizen of the United States of America with Americanos. He spontaneously yells “Americans!” to correct Pedro‟s choice of word to call American
citizen. “Americanos? Americans!” (Valdez, 1989: 996). Americanos is a term used
calls him that term. It is because the term Americanos still has relation with Spanish language, his mother tongue, which he wants to cut off.
The conversation between Belarmino and Joaquin below strengthens the idea that Mingo is truly Americanized and different from the other family members. The other family members state that Mingo is a gringo or gavacho. These terms are used to insult an American, specifically Anglo- American.
BELARMINO : You, tu, tu Mexican! Pendejo! Mira, esperate (Trans: Look, wait a minute.)…ahhh, you Mexican, me Mexican…ahhh this one familia Mexican, eh? Mingo, no! Mingo esgringo.Comprendes?
…
BELARMINO : Mingo eesgavacho, eh?
JOAQUIN : Simon (Trans: Yeah, sure.), and a t‟ief.
(Valdez, 1989: 1011)
Mingo is said to be a thief because he only cares about himself. He is accused of taking money from his worker. The fact that a lot of Mexican was given a low wages during that period of time, they have to pay insurances, lunches, and taxes. Still, their wages are so low that they could not pay all their basic needs. In this context, the workers have no choice but to owe money from their superior worker, Mingo.
In Mexican tradition, people always come first than the person himself. However, Mingo never thinks about other people‟s problem. He is impatient towards his „own people‟, the Mexican-American who are employed as a low-worker. Mingo
Mingo is patriotic and nationalistic. This can be seen from the beginning. Mingo just comes home from the war, and he is proud of being one of the soldiers. Becoming a soldier is a hard walk of life since a person has to leave and risk everything behind to defend the country. The war is the starting point where Mingo finds his first American Dream. He says it to Joaquin, when he wants Joaquin to be like him. “Listen man, there‟s only one thing I ever wanted in this life. That‟s not to
be poor. I never got that until I become a Marine.” (Valdez, 1989: 1019).
Mingo‟s nationalism is also seen from the things he owns. He drives
Chevrolet, an American brand car, and he trades it with another Chevrolet. He also drinks American brand Whiskey, Old Crow. Even though those American products are not the best of their kind, Mingo is proud of having them.
Researcher takes a note that Mingo wants to help his family to get out of their slum neighborhood. Mingo is determined to make it happen. However, his family still tightly holds their culture, and their togetherness. From Mingo's perspective, it will slow down his way to be an Anglo-American. He cannot reach his dream if he still has relation with his family: insanity and poverty. Mingo only cares about himself, and then he slowly forgets where he comes from.
MINGO's voice changes from a Chicano accent to the nasal tones of an Anglo: he also begins to talk down his nose at his mother.]
(Valdez, 1989: 1022)
From Mingo‟s speech above, the researcher sees that Mingo wants the best for
himself, not his family. He does not care if his family agrees with him or not. He will do anything to achieve what he wants. Mingo wants to be accepted in an Anglo-American society even though he is a Mexican-Anglo-American. He wants to be one of them. In his speech, Mingo even mocks his family as low-educated people like other Mexican-American.
As written on the stage direction, Mingo voice changes from a Chicano accent to the nasal tones of an Anglo. This explains that in his unconscious mind, when talking about his “almost reached” American Dream, Mingo turns into someone different. Mingo has not yet reached his American Dream, but almost. He only needs one more important thing to do, letting go of his past.
It is obvious that Mingo starts to forget everything. He forgets his passed-away father, his sister, and moreover, he forgets that he belongs to the family. It can be seen when Joaquin mocks Mingo that he is now a White. "Mingo el gringo" (Valdez, 1989: 1024). Joaquin also curses to Mingo that he is a sell-out traitor to his family.
In How to Analyze Drama, Reaske said that dialogue between character, hidden narration, and character in action plays important role in understanding a character. There are some dialogue, narration, and action that show how Mingo tries so hard to make his American Dream comes true.
When Mingo comes into the house, Pedro is having arguments with Joaquin. Then Pedro said to Joaquin “Why don‟ you be smart like your brother here. He don‟
go around wis stupid babozadas. He is a serious hombre con respeto y dinero. (Trans.: Man with respect and money)” (Valdez, 1989: 1015). From Pedro‟s dialogue above, it implies that Pedro admits Mingo as a successful person now. Mingo is able to fulfill his ambition and become a successful man only in three months. This is a contradictory situation to their parents‟ fortune. The family has been living in the United States way longer than Mingo, but they still have no job. They still live in meager and limitations. They do not have Mingo‟s determination. Unlike his parents,
Mingo works hard to reach his own dreams.
At that time, Pedro also irritates Joaquin “…just lousies like this one. And
cowards! T‟iefs! Useless cabrones! Tha‟s all I got for sons” (Valdez, 1989: 1014).
Pedro mentions Mexican stereotypes. Then unexpectedly, Mingo speaks “And we‟re only chips off the old block, no pa?” (Valdez, 1989: 1014). From the conversation, Mingo states that his father is as loser as his brother in an indirect way. Mingo has intention to reflect on the famous idiom “like father like son”. Based on this fact, it
This type of conversation also happens between Mingo and Joaquin later after Pedro died. Mingo cries about Mexican stereotype to Joaquin who dresses up like one. “Greasy, low, ignorant, lousy...” (Valdez, 1989: 1025). From this part, it is
shown that Mingo judges Joaquin as a person with lower social status compared to him. Mingo sees himself as a person that is way better than his own brother. Mingo looks down on his brother‟s choice of clothes which resembles a Chicano. Indirectly, Mingo sees a Chicano as a low person.
Looking back to the middle of their fight, there is Mingo‟s word: “Then call
the cops. Go on! Who you think the law‟s gonna believe, me or you?” (Valdez, 1989:
1015). This question is addressed to his Chicano brother who makes him smashes a guitar on Mingo‟s head. Based on this action, the researcher can see that Mingo
underrates Chicano. Mingo begins to think like common Anglos who look Chicano as a liar, cannot be trusted, even by the government.
As mentioned earlier, Mingo also no longer respects his father. This is strengthened by Mingo‟s dialogue to his father that he wants to take over and decide
everything. He also says that Pedro has failed to be a good leader for the family. Mingo‟s behavior shows that he underestimates Pedro because the family still lives in
a poor condition and has no money under Pedro‟s lead.
You‟re nothing. If it wasn‟ for me, we‟d still be in gutter, like usual. Confess it. You could never handle Shorty‟s hunger. You had to drag us all to the fields together with mi „ama. And for what? We still ended up owing the store just to feed the head! That head‟s a pushover for me. From now on, I‟m in charge here and you can do what you damn well please.
Besides Pedro, Mingo also blames Belarmino, whom he calls Shorty, because he only can eat and do nothing. Indirectly, Mingo blames his family because they do not work hard in the land of opportunity to make their life better. Therefore, Mingo has to take over the lead so the family will suffer anymore.
Mingo ever said that “This is a free country, man. There‟s no law against
making money.” (Valdez, 1989: 1019). This shows that Mingo will do anything to get
more and more money. He will never let anything or anyone gets in his way. It is proven when Mingo does not let one of his family members bother his American Dream. He believes in himself that he can do anything to realize his dream.
From Mingo‟s desire, Joaquin realizes that his brother is indeed different with
the rest of the family members. He knows that Mingo wants to be an American, Anglo-Americans to be exact, so badly. Joaquin hates how Mingo changes into “real American‟ like Mingo himself always wanted to be. Finally Joaquin understands that
his brother no longer belongs to the family.
JOAQUIN : Simon, I‟m cross-eyed. But you wanna be a gavacho so bad,
you can‟t see nothing. You hated mi „apa. You hate all of us! You and your new clothes and bowling ball and shit. Well, take a good look, ese. We‟re greasy and lousy but we‟re your family!
MINGO : Damn rights, my family! But you don‟t have to be greasy and
lousy!
JOAQUIN : You don‟t have to be a gavacho!
(Valdez, 1989: 1019)
Mingo is ashamed by Joaquin‟s greasy and lousy look. Then, Joaquin curses
From Mingo‟s respond, the researcher concludes that Mingo does not want his
brother speaks to him in Spanish. Mingo wants Joaquin to respect him by speaking in English. This also shows that Mingo‟s capability of understanding Spanish becomes
lower.
As researched, Mingo is different from the rest of the family members. He is Americanized, unlike his family members who still hold tight their tradition. Mingo‟s
ways of thinking are also different from the rest of the family. He wants to be accepted by the Anglo-American society while the other family members do not want to be labeled as American, even though they actually are. In order to reach his American Dream, Mingo has to let go of his past, which means he has cut off with the family, his family. Slowly but surely, Mingo is in the process of forgetting his family and race.
MINGO : [Pause.] NOBODY! I don‟t have nothing to do with these people. I just room here. I‟m a college student.
CRUZ : Tell him, Mingo, explain – you got the words.
MINGO : What my landlady here means, officer, is that the punk you want is right there. He‟s the Supermarket Thief.
(Valdez, 1989: 1027)
from most of the Mexicans act as they usually protect their family in such cases. However, Mingo prefers to save himself by saying that he is not part of the family and chooses to give up on his brother. Following this event, Mingo then also decides that it would be better for him to leave the house and so he goes away.
B. Mingo as Mr. Sunday, his new Anglo-American identity
In the previous part, Mingo‟s presentation is observed as a different type of person compared to the rest of the family. Mingo is Americanized, but his family members are not. He also wants to reach everything on his own, and later he betrays his own family. He does not let anybody breaking his dream to be an Anglo-American and accepted by the society. This part elaborates more about Mingo and his American Dream.
Mingo‟s style is also different from the rest of the family. He dresses up in a
stylish American way. All of his clothes are new. He wears expensive shoes and drives a sport car. These are different from the rest of the family who dress up just like another Mexican.
Mingo also eats different food from the rest of the family. He eats food which is usually eaten by the Anglo-Americans. He eats healthy and fresh food. Meanwhile, the rest of the family only eats tortilla, an original Mexican food. In addition, when his mother offers him a home-made tortilla, he prefers to eat an American food outside.
From the way Mingo speaks, he is also different. He uses better English grammar than the others. He rarely ever uses Mexican word. Mingo is also being irritated when somebody says a non-proper term to indicate Americans, like
Americanos, Gringos, and Gavachos which are used by the rest of the family.
Mingo‟s mindset is also unlike the other family members. He is determined,
while others are not. His way of thinking also resembles American traits. He has a dream and wants to realize it even it is not easy to do that. It is not easy because his neighborhood and even his family are not on his side.
neighborhood, do not do anything to make their life better. They are only grumble about it.
The study above about Mingo‟s characteristic is consistent with the theory of American Dream as written in chapter two. It says that inner characteristic of a person plays important role. Indeed, Mingo is. From the outside it is obvious that Mingo is Americanized. At the same time, Mingo‟s characteristics are inspired by American
way of thinking. For Mingo, this combination makes everything easier to reach his dream to be an Anglo-American, since the United States itself is a free country.
In the previous part, Mingo has to let go of his past to reach his American Dream. He believes that he will not reach his American Dream unless he cuts off his ties with his family and erases the Mexican blood in him.
CHATO opens the door to the side room, “MINGO‟s room.” MINGO is standing in the doorway. He is dressed in a professional gray suit and is carrying a briefcase. He wears a smart hat and glasses, shoes shined, etc. His face is unusually pale; in fact, it almost looks bleached.
(Valdez, 1989: 1034)
Mingo prefers to forget the family and goes away. Two years after, he comes back. Mingo comes back as a different person. He comes in from his former room. From the appearance, Mingo represents an Anglo-American. His face is as pale white as Anglo-American, not like any other Mexicans. He dresses up as a professional civil servant. He becomes a person like he always wanted. He becomes a person who helps the family. Mingo already reaches his American Dream.
that he is an Anglo-American. [With an Anglo accent] Muchas Gracias. (Valdez, 1989: 1034). He does not use his Mexican accent but he is now speaking English with Anglo accent. This strengthens Mingo‟s new identity as Americanized Mingo.
CRUZ : [Touching MINGO‟s face.] Como te llamas? (Trans: What is your name?)
MINGO : [Pause.] Mi nombre is Sunday, señora. (Trans: My name is Sunday, mam)
CRUZ : You speak Spanish?
MINGO : Un poquito. (Trans: A little bit). It‟s part of my job. (Valdez, 1989: 1034) remember her as his parents. Mingo lets go of his past.
In the conversation, Mingo speaks Spanish. However, it is only part of his job. He uses Spanish so that people understand him since he is a social worker who helps the poor. The Spanish language he is spoken has nothing to do with his Mexican blood. He learns Spanish in order to advance his working position.
I was poor too. That‟s right. I also used to live in a lousy dump with cockroaches a lot like this one. Everything was almost exactly like this . . . but that was a lotta years back . . . in another barrio . . . another town . . . another time. [Snapping out of it.] Now I‟m middle class! I got out of the property I
