The Circuit

by

Francisco Jiménez

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Circuit makes teaching easy.

El Perico Character Analysis

El Perico is Francisco’s pet parrot. The summer after Francisco finishes fourth grade, his family gets the parrot from one of Papá’s friends who smuggled the bird from Mexico. The whole family is very fond of El Perico; Francisco, especially, loves petting it and teaching it to speak. Papá, however, is very stressed that summer, and he gets irritated when the bird squawks noisily. One evening, when the bird makes a great deal of noise, Papá strikes it with a broom, killing El Perico. Francisco is heartbroken by this, but he forgives his father and prays for him.

El Perico Quotes in The Circuit

The The Circuit quotes below are all either spoken by El Perico or refer to El Perico. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Change and Instability Theme Icon
).
Death Forgiven Quotes

[Papa] had been in a terrible mood the last few days because he was not sure where we would work now that the grape season was almost over. Covering his ears with his hands, he bolted to the corner of the garage, grabbed the broom, and swung with all his might at my friend who was perched on the wire. Red, green, and yellow feathers scattered everywhere. El Perico hit the dirt floor like a wet rag. Instantly Roberto, Mama, and I started wailing. My
father shouted at all of us to stop.

Related Characters: Francisco (speaker), Roberto, Papá, Mamá, El Perico
Page Number: 59
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Circuit LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Circuit PDF

El Perico Quotes in The Circuit

The The Circuit quotes below are all either spoken by El Perico or refer to El Perico. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Change and Instability Theme Icon
).
Death Forgiven Quotes

[Papa] had been in a terrible mood the last few days because he was not sure where we would work now that the grape season was almost over. Covering his ears with his hands, he bolted to the corner of the garage, grabbed the broom, and swung with all his might at my friend who was perched on the wire. Red, green, and yellow feathers scattered everywhere. El Perico hit the dirt floor like a wet rag. Instantly Roberto, Mama, and I started wailing. My
father shouted at all of us to stop.

Related Characters: Francisco (speaker), Roberto, Papá, Mamá, El Perico
Page Number: 59
Explanation and Analysis: