Previous
Henry Reyna
El Pachuco is a multifunctional character in Zoot Suit, since he serves as both a narrator and a part of Henry’s consciousness, often talking to him and giving him advice in times of hardship. Valdez describes El Pachuco as the very embodiment of the “pachuco myth.” He is always dressed in a zoot suit and is adamantly against anything or anyone that challenges the Chicano community. A proud man, he often urges Henry to forget about people like Alice who try to convince him that they’ll be able to help him win his court case. To that end, El Pachuco is something of a pessimistic pragmatist, which is why he tries to tell Henry not to expect justice from the American government. In keeping with this, El Pachuco also doesn’t think it’s a good idea for Henry to join the military, since El Pachuco believes that he should spend his time fighting for the Chicano community, not for the nation at large. During the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943 (while Henry is in prison), El Pachuco gets into an argument with several white men, who ultimately beat him and strip off his zoot suit. In the aftermath of this altercation, El Pachuco rises wearing a loincloth and looking—according to Valdez’s stage note—like one of his Aztec forebears. In this way, El Pachuco represents not only the quintessential image of a pachuco, but also the ways in which this identity is tied to Mexican history and the Chicano community’s cultural heritage. It’s also worth mentioning that El Pachuco is a metanarrative character, often addressing the audience to call attention to something that’s happening in the play. In turn, he demonstrates his self-awareness and the close attention he pays to the ways in which he and his fellow Chicanos present themselves.
El Pachuco Quotes in Zoot Suit
The Zoot Suit quotes below are all either spoken by El Pachuco or refer to El Pachuco. 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:
).
Act 1, Prologue Quotes
HE adjusts his clothing, meticulously fussing with his collar, suspenders, cuffs. HE tends to his hair, combing back every strand into a long luxurious ducktail, with infinite loving pains. Then HE reaches into the slit [of the newspaper backdrop] and pulls out his coat and hat. HE dons them. His fantastic costume is complete. It is a zoot suit. HE is transformed into the very image of the pachuco myth, from his pork-pie hat to the tip of his four-foot watch chain.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
This is a description of El Pachuco, who has just emerged from behind a large newspaper, which he cut open with a switchblade. As audience members set their eyes on El Pachuco for the first time, he largely ignores them, attending to how he looks. By “meticulously fussing” with his clothes, he makes it clear that his appearance means a great deal to him. This is because he is “the very image of the pachuco myth,” meaning that he is an embodiment of the cultural identity that Zoot Suit takes as its central topic. When El Pachuco tends to his Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aper
PACHUCO: […] Ladies and gentlemen
the play you are about to see
is a construct of fact and fantasy.
The Pachuco Style was an act in Life
and his language a new creation.
[…]
I speak as an actor on the stage.
The Pachuco was existential
for he was an Actor in the streets
both profane and reverential.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
El Pachuco says this in his opening monologue, directly addressing the audience and signaling to them that he’s aware not only that he’s being watched, but also that he’s an actor in a play. By saying this, El Pachuco highlights his own self-consciousness, demonstrating that he’s attuned to the ways in which others perceive him. This is in keeping with the attention he pays to his looks and clothing, as he strives to control how he presents himself, grasping the fact that people perform and construct their own identities. In alignment with this idea, El Pachuco says that “the Pachuco Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inv
Act 1, Scene 3: Pachuco Yo Quotes
PACHUCO: The city’s cracking down on pachucos, carnal. Don’t
you read the newspapers? They’re screaming for blood.
HENRY: All I know is they got nothing on me. I didn’t do anything.
PACHUCO: You’re Henry Reyna, ese—Hank Reyna! The snarling juvenile delinquent. The zootsuiter. The bitter young pachuco gang leader of 38th Street. That’s what they got on you.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
In this passage, El Pachuco talks to Henry, who has just been thrown in jail for murder even though he’s innocent. El Pachuco explains to him that law enforcement officials have decided to strictly persecute the Chicano community by targeting pachucos like Henry and his friends in the 38th Street Gang. Upon hearing this, Henry insists that this won’t work because he hasn’t done anything to deserve punishment, but El Pachuco suggests that this is a naïve way to approach the situation. After all, he implies, it doesn’t matter whether or not Henry really broke any laws—what matters is that Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt.
PACHUCO: Off to fight for your country.
HENRY: Why not?
PACHUCO: Because this ain’t your country. Look what’s happening all around you. The Japs have sewed up the Pacific. Rommel is kicking ass in Egypt but the Mayor of L.A. has declared all-out war on Chicanos. On you!
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
In this exchange, El Pachuco voices his disapproval of Henry’s decision to join the Navy. Henry, for his part, likes the idea of fighting for his country in World War II, but El Pachuco feels otherwise, saying that, though Henry lives in the United States, he can hardly call it his country. This isn’t because Henry doesn’t deserve to feel at home in his own nation, but rather because El Pachuco is painfully aware of the fact that the American government continues to mistreat the Chicano community. Although racist white authorities subject Henry and his friends to injustice and discrimination, Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit
Act 2, Scene 6: Zoot Suit Riots Quotes
PRESS: […] The Zoot Suit Crime Wave is even beginning to push the war news off the front page.
PACHUCO: The Press distorted the very meaning of the word “zoot suit.”
All it is for you guys is another way to say Mexican.
But the ideal of the original chuco
was to look like a diamond
to look sharp
hip
bonaroo
finding a style of urban survival
in the rural skirts and outskirts
of the brown metropolis of Los, cabron.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
This conversation takes place between El Pachuco and a member of the press during the Zoot Suit Riots of 1943. As white servicemen and civilians alike attack young Chicano men for wearing zoot suits, El Pachuco criticizes this member of the press for using terms like “pachuco” and “zoot suiter” as substitutes for more blatantly racist words. The journalist, for his part, claims that there’s nothing wrong with this, saying that American citizens have good reason to be contemptuous toward the Chicano community—after all, he points out, “The Zoot Suit Crime Wave is even beginning to push the war news Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut
PRESS: Henry Reyna went back to prison in 1947 for robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. While incarcerated, he killed another inmate and he wasn’t released until 1955, when he got into hard drugs. He died of the trauma of his life in 1972.
PACHUCO: That’s the way you see it, ese. But there’s other way[s] to end this story.
RUDY: Henry Reyna went to Korea in 1950. He was shipped across in a destroyer and defended the 38th Parallel until he was killed at Inchon in 1952, being posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
ALICE: Henry Reyna married Della in 1948 and they have five kids, three of them now going to the University, speaking calo and calling themselves Chicanos.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
In this passage, several characters narrate Henry’s future while hugging him. This scene takes place at the very end of the play, just after Henry breaks down and his family and friends embrace him in a collective hug, showing them their unyielding support. As this happens, a member of the press enters and says that Henry will soon return to prison and eventually become addicted to drugs. However, El Pachuco refutes this, saying that this is only the version of Henry’s life that the press has chosen to latch onto. This comment then encourages Rudy and Alice to furnish their Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nis
Get the entire Zoot Suit LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
El Pachuco Character Timeline in Zoot Suit
The timeline below shows where the character El Pachuco appears in Zoot Suit. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act 1, Prologue
...switchblade thrusts through the middle of this page and cuts a slit big enough for El Pachuco to climb through it, making a grand entrance. When he fully emerges, he adjusts his...
(full context)
Act 1, Scene 1: Zoot Suit
El Pachuco struts about to music as the stage transforms into a dance in the 1940s. Henry...
(full context)
Act 1, Scene 3: Pachuco Yo
...him to wait for him to return. While waiting, Henry paces and calls out for El Pachuco , who appears and asks what he wants. When Henry wonders where he’s been, El...
(full context)
...to the Navy the following day. After saying this, he looks up and guesses that El Pachuco doesn’t want him to do this. El Pachuco confirms that this is true, but Henry...
(full context)
Act 1, Scene 4: The Interrogation
...only he tells them what happened the night of the Sleepy Lagoon murder. Hearing this, El Pachuco urges Henry not to tell them anything—a statement that only Henry (and the audience) can...
(full context)
...with the member of the press who came in with him. As he does so, El Pachuco says that, although Henry doesn’t deserve mistreatment, it’s clear he’ll be forced to endure it....
(full context)
...instead of clothes, she drapes newspapers over a clothesline). As she calls her son’s name, El Pachuco narrates, clarifying that this scene takes place in the past, before the Sleepy Lagoon murder....
(full context)
...and Tommy Roberts, all of whom are in the 38th Street Gang. As they dance, El Pachuco sings in Spanish about getting together with friends each Saturday night, getting drunk, and dancing.
(full context)
Act 1, Scene 6: The People’s Lawyer
...Henry’s parents to represent the members of the 38th Street Gang in court. Right away, El Pachuco tells Henry to be careful because George might be a police officer. When George asks...
(full context)
Act 1, Scene 7: The Saturday Night Dance
...start knife-fighting. Henry soon emerges victorious, poised with his blade against Rafas’s neck. Just then, El Pachuco snaps his fingers and everybody freezes in place. El Pachuco tells Henry that “two more...
(full context)
Act 1, Scene 9: Opening of the Trial
As the trial commences, El Pachuco snaps his fingers and decides to speed things up, skipping ahead to Della’s testimony. While...
(full context)
Act 1, Scene 11: The Conclusion of Trial
...their lives in prison. As Henry and his friends are led out of the courtroom, El Pachuco turns to the audience and says that there will now be a short break so...
(full context)
Act 2, Prologue
When the play resumes, El Pachuco waxes poetic about how pachucos are forced to fight a domestic war while the country...
(full context)
Act 2, Scene 1: San Quentin
In prison, Henry reads aloud a letter to his family. As he does so, El Pachuco points out that it sounds quite dismal and sad, but Henry ignores him, going on...
(full context)
Act 2, Scene 3: The Incorrigible Pachuco
...comes, she draws close to him and asks what she can do for him, but El Pachuco encroaches upon them, so Henry claims that he doesn’t need anything. Going on, he says...
(full context)
Act 2, Scene 5: Solitary
In solitary confinement, Henry talks to El Pachuco , who urges him to accept his current circumstances, saying that this is the only...
(full context)
Henry gets mad at El Pachuco for advancing such a bleak vision of the world. Insisting that he doesn’t need El...
(full context)
Act 2, Scene 6: Zoot Suit Riots
At a dance hall in Los Angeles, El Pachuco and Henry stand off to one side, watching sailors and pachucos jitterbug to the music....
(full context)
As the servicemen berate El Pachuco (who is also present at the Zoot Suit Riots), a member of the press joins...
(full context)
El Pachuco tells the journalist that the pachuco style was originally related to the Chicano community’s effort...
(full context)
Act 2, Scene 7: Alice
...tells Henry that Rudy is now in the Marines. When Alice leaves, Henry looks for El Pachuco , trying to tell him that he was wrong to be so pessimistic about the...
(full context)
Act 2, Scene 9: Return to the Barrio
...all go inside to have drinks. Before Henry can follow everyone in though, he sees El Pachuco . When he asks where he’s been, El Pachuco says he has been in the...
(full context)
El Pachuco tells Henry that the police are still out to get pachucos and that warring gangs...
(full context)
...to leave, but Henry insists that she stay. Alice then says she loves Henry, but El Pachuco snaps his fingers and she freezes. Just then, Rudy enters and congratulates Henry, saying that...
(full context)
...1955, at which point he becomes addicted to drugs and dies in 1972. Hearing this, El Pachuco says that this is only the press’s version of the story, adding that there are...
(full context)
