Henry Reyna Character Analysis in Zoot Suit

Henry is a 21-year-old member of Los Angeles’s Chicano community, and the protagonist of Zoot Suit. The leader of the 38th Street Gang, Henry is a well-liked young man who enjoys wearing zoot suits and going to dances with his girlfriend, Della. Even though he’s still relatively young, he’s had quite a few run-ins with the police, since they frequently arrest him simply because he’s a young Chicano man wearing a zoot suit. The audience learns this when Lieutenant Edwards arrests Henry and his friends, all of whom Edwards suspects are guilty of murdering a man named José Williams, who died at place called the Sleepy Lagoon. Because Henry was supposed to report to the Navy the following day, he’s especially frustrated that he’s been arrested, but Edwards doesn’t care, since the only thing he does care about is the “Mexican Crime Wave” that the local newspapers have been writing about recently. Thankfully, a man named George Shearer decides to represent Henry and his friends in court, even though Henry is skeptical of him at first because he’s not used to white people helping him—in fact, he’s accustomed to white men like George using their power against him, not in his favor. Luckily, though, George genuinely wants to help Henry, and he also introduces Henry to Alice Bloomfield, a reporter who wants to counter the negative narrative that has emerged about the Chicano community in the press. Again, Henry is hesitant to accept support, but he comes to trust Alice and even develops romantic feelings for her—feelings he doesn’t know what to do with when he and his friends are eventually let out of prison and he must decide between Alice and Della. In the end, Henry doesn’t choose Alice, though it’s not particularly clear what his future holds, since the play draws to a close as his loved ones narrate different futures for his life. They suggest—variously—that Henry goes back to jail, that he goes to war, that he dies a drug addict, and that he dies a war hero, to name just a few of the narratives.

Henry Reyna Quotes in Zoot Suit

The Zoot Suit quotes below are all either spoken by Henry Reyna or refer to Henry Reyna. 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:

Racism, Nationalism, and Scapegoating Theme Icon

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: El Pachuco (speaker), Henry Reyna (speaker)

Related Symbols: Zoot Suits

Page Number and Citation: 29

Explanation and Analysis:

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: El Pachuco (speaker), Henry Reyna (speaker)

Page Number and Citation: 30

Explanation and Analysis:

GEORGE: […] The problem seems to be that I look like an Anglo to you. What if I were to tell you that I had Spanish blood in my veins? That my roots go back to Spain, just like yours? What if I’m an Arab? What if I’m a Jew? What difference does it make? The question is, will you let me help you?

Related Characters: George Shearer (speaker), Henry Reyna, Smiley Torres, Tommy Roberts, Joey Castro

Page Number and Citation: 43

Explanation and Analysis:

ALICE: I’m talking about you, Henry Reyna. And what the regular press has been saying. Are you aware you’re in here just because some bigshot up in San Simeon wants to sell more papers? It’s true.

HENRY: So?

ALICE: So, he’s the man who started this Mexican Crime Wave stuff. Then the police got into the act. Get the picture?

Related Characters: Alice Bloomfield (speaker), Henry Reyna (speaker)

Related Symbols: Newspapers

Page Number and Citation: 49

Explanation and Analysis:

ALICE: Believe it or not, I was born in Los Angeles just like you. But for some strange reason I grew up here, not knowing very much about Mexicans at all. I’m just trying to learn.

Related Characters: Alice Bloomfield (speaker), Henry Reyna

Page Number and Citation: 49

Explanation and Analysis:

PRESS: (Jumping in.) Your Honor, there is testimony we expect to develop that the 38th Street Gang are characterized by their style of haircuts…

GEORGE: Three months, Your Honor.

PRESS: …the thick heavy heads of hair, the ducktail comb, the pachuco pants...

GEORGE: Your Honor, I can only infer that the Prosecution…is trying to make these boys look disreputable, like mobsters.

PRESS: Their appearance is distinctive. Your Honor. Essential to the case.

GEORGE: You are trying to exploit the fact that these boys look foreign in appearance! Yet clothes like these are being worn by kids all over America.

PRESS: Your Honor…

JUDGE: (Bangs the gavel.) I don’t believe we will have any difficulty if their clothing becomes dirty.

GEORGE: What about the haircuts. Your Honor?

JUDGE: (Ruling.) The zoot haircuts will be retained throughout the trial for purposes of identification of defendants by witnesses.

Related Characters: The Public Prosecutor (“Press”) (speaker), George Shearer (speaker), The Judge (speaker), Henry Reyna

Related Symbols: Zoot Suits

Page Number and Citation: 53

Explanation and Analysis:

PRESS: (Springing to the attack.) You say Henry Reyna hit the man with his fist. (Indicates HENRY standing.) Is this the Henry Reyna?

DELLA: Yes. I mean, no. He’s Henry, but he didn’t ...

PRESS: Please be seated. (HENRY sits.) Now, after Henry Reyna hit the old man with his closed fist, is that when he pulled the knife?

DELLA: The old man had the knife.

PRESS: So Henry pulled one out, too?

GEORGE: (Rises.) Your Honor, I object to counsel leading the witness.

PRESS: I am not leading the witness.

GEORGE: You are.

PRESS: I certainly am not.

GEORGE: Yes, you are.

JUDGE: I would suggest, Mr. Shearer, that you look up during the noon hour just what a leading question is?

Related Characters: George Shearer (speaker), The Judge (speaker), The Public Prosecutor (“Press”) (speaker), Della (speaker), Henry Reyna

Page Number and Citation: 58

Explanation and Analysis:

PRESS: […] We are dealing with a threat and danger to our children, our families, our homes. Set these pachucos free, and you shall unleash the forces of anarchy and destruction in our society. Set these pachucos free and you will turn them into heroes. Others just like them must be watching us at this very moment. What nefarious schemes can they be hatching in their twisted minds? Rape, drugs, assault, more violence? Who shall be their next innocent victim in some dark alley way, on some lonely street? You? You? Your loved ones? No! Henry Reyna and his Latin juvenile cohorts are not heroes. They are criminals, and they must be stopped. The specific details of this murder are irrelevant before the overwhelming danger of the pachuco in our midst. I ask you to find these zoot-suited gangsters guilty of murder and to put them in the gas chamber where they belong.

Related Characters: The Public Prosecutor (“Press”) (speaker), Henry Reyna

Related Symbols: Zoot Suits

Page Number and Citation: 62

Explanation and Analysis:

GEORGE: […] All the prosecution has been able to prove is that these boys wear long hair and zoot suits. And all the rest has been circumstantial evidence, hearsay and war hysteria. The prosecution has tried to lead you to believe that they are some kind of inhuman gangsters. Yet they are Americans. Find them guilty of anything more serious than a juvenile bout of fisticuffs, and you will condemn all American youth. Find them guilty of murder, and you will murder the spirit of racial justice in America.

Related Characters: George Shearer (speaker), Henry Reyna

Page Number and Citation: 62

Explanation and Analysis:

TOMMY: […] I don’t want to be treated any different than the rest of the batos, see? And don’t expect me to talk to you like some square Anglo [...]. You just better find out what it means to be Chicano, and it better be pretty damn quick.

[…]

I also know that I’m in here just be cause I hung around with Mexicans ... or pachucos. Well, just remember this, Alicia ... I grew up right alongside most of these batos, and I’m pachuco too.

Related Characters: Tommy Roberts (speaker), Alice Bloomfield, Henry Reyna

Page Number and Citation: 68

Explanation and Analysis:

HENRY: […] You think you can just move in and defend anybody you feel like? When did I ever ask you to start a defense committee for me? Or a newspaper? Or a fundraising drive and all that other shit? I don’t need defending, esa. I can take care of myself.

ALICE: But what about the trial, the sentence. They gave you life imprisonment?

HENRY: It’s my life!

ALICE: Henry, honestly—are you kidding me?

HENRY: You think so?

ALICE: But you’ve seen me coming and going. Writing to you, speaking for you, traveling up and down the state. You must have known I was doing it for you. Nothing has come before my involvement, my attachment, my passion for this case. My boys have been everything to me.

HENRY: My boys? My boys! What the hell are we—your personal property? Well, let me set you straight, lady, I ain’t your boy.

Related Characters: Henry Reyna (speaker), Alice Bloomfield (speaker)

Related Symbols: Newspapers

Page Number and Citation: 71

Explanation and Analysis:

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: The Press (speaker), El Pachuco (speaker), Rudy (speaker), Alice Bloomfield (speaker), Henry Reyna

Page Number and Citation: 94

Explanation and Analysis:

Henry Reyna Character Timeline in Zoot Suit

The timeline below shows where the character Henry Reyna appears in Zoot Suit. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Self-Presentation and Cultural Identity Theme Icon

...Pachuco struts about to music as the stage transforms into a dance in the 1940s. Henry Reyna, the leader of the 38th Street Gang, dances with his friends and fellow gang... (full context)

Public Perception and the Press Theme Icon

...with the young Chicanos. Upon seeing them, Smith tells them to run off, but when Henry asks if he can do the same, Lieutenant Edwards tells him to get in line... (full context)

Sergeant Smith places Henry in jail and tells him to wait for him to return. While waiting, Henry paces... (full context)

What makes this specific run-in with the police worse than usual, Henry explains, is that he’s supposed to report to the Navy the following day. After saying... (full context)

...headline, which clarifies that the police arrested 22 members of the 38th Street Gang. Addressing Henry, Edwards says that he had hoped not see him back in jail for a long... (full context)

Moving on, Edwards reminds Henry that the country is at war in Europe. This, he claims, is why he and... (full context)

As Lieutenant Edwards tries to reason with Henry, Smith tells Edwards to stop, saying that it’s futile to be reasonable with “animals” like... (full context)

As Henry faints from Sergeant Smith’s blows, he sees a vision of his mother. In fact, an... (full context)

Dolores points out to Henry that, though he and his friends like zoot suits, the police target them because of... (full context)

As Henry, Della, Lupe, and Rudy leave, Enrique tells Henry not to let his brother drink beer,... (full context)

Moving on, a reporter asks Edwards if he was really the first person to arrest Henry, and Edwards says that he was, adding that he saw “leadership potential” in Henry but... (full context)

In jail, Joey, Smiley, Tommy, and Henry complain that the police always pin crimes on them. They also note that all of... (full context)

George makes it clear to Henry that he doesn’t intend to make much money from representing him and his friends in... (full context)

George agrees that the news media has presented a biased image of Henry and his friends, but he says that what really matters is whether or not they... (full context)

...the 38th Street Gang enjoy themselves while drinking beer and listening to loud music. As Henry and Della dance, Henry’s ex-girlfriend, Bertha, approaches and confrontationally asks if she can step in... (full context)

Henry and Rafas pull out switchblades and start knife-fighting. Henry soon emerges victorious, poised with his... (full context)

The scene returns to the present. As Henry sits in his jail cell, George enters with Alice Bloomfield, who introduces herself to Henry... (full context)

Alice tells Henry that other newspapers are linking “the Pachuco Crime Wave” to fascism and spreading other absurd... (full context)

Henry talks to Alice about his life, discussing the fact that he’s been arrested multiple times... (full context)

...members identify them. Claiming to be concerned that the jury will be unable to tell Henry and his friends apart from one another, the judge also declares that each defendant must... (full context)

...skipping ahead to Della’s testimony. While Della takes the stand, El Pachuco points out to Henry that the members of the 38th Street Gang are slumping in their seats and making... (full context)

The scene changes as Della describes the night of the Sleepy Lagoon murder. She and Henry are seen walking under the moonlight, holding hands and looking out at a set of... (full context)

When Henry wakes up, he and Della go back into town to get the rest of the... (full context)

Back in the courtroom, the prosecutor cross-examines Della. Addressing her, he says, “You say Henry Reyna hit the man with his fist.” Turning to Henry, who is standing, he asks... (full context)

...during the altercation on the Williams’ ranch. In this same manner, the prosecutor suggests that Henry purposefully killed José Williams. (full context)

...School for Girls (a correctional facility) for one year. During a short recess, George tells Henry that it’s clear they’re going to lose but that they’ll have to set their sights... (full context)

...to the worst influx of crime in the city’s history. The prosecutor also upholds that Henry and his friends pose an imminent threat to American families, saying that they represent “the... (full context)

...sentenced to death. Instead, they will spend the rest of their lives in prison. As Henry and his friends are led out of the courtroom, El Pachuco turns to the audience... (full context)

...community. However, he adds that this will all happen later in the play. For now, Henry and his friends are locked up in San Quentin prison. (full context)

In prison, Henry reads aloud a letter to his family. As he does so, El Pachuco points out... (full context)

Henry reads aloud the letters he and the others receive in prison from Alice Bloomfield, who... (full context)

In a letter to Alice, Henry asks her to arrange for a private visit with him the next time she comes... (full context)

Henry tells Alice that he doesn’t need her to take care of him, asserting that it’s... (full context)

Incensed that Henry plans to accept injustice, Alice talks about how difficult it has been to work on... (full context)

...been drafted and is going to fight in World War II. When he hears this, Henry immediately wonders if the government purposefully did this to deprive the members of the 38th... (full context)

After George bids Henry and his friends a sentimental farewell, the guard tells them they’ve been given new work... (full context)

In solitary confinement, Henry talks to El Pachuco, who urges him to accept his current circumstances, saying that this... (full context)

Henry gets mad at El Pachuco for advancing such a bleak vision of the world. Insisting... (full context)

At a dance hall in Los Angeles, El Pachuco and Henry stand off to one side, watching sailors and pachucos jitterbug to the music. Rudy enters... (full context)

When Henry gets out of solitary confinement, he asks Alice why she’s working so hard to help... (full context)

Alice begins to cry, but her tears turn to laughter. She and Henry then start kissing, but the guard interrupts and tells Alice she has to leave. Before... (full context)

Back at home, Henry greets Rudy and his parents, along with George, Alice, and the other members of the... (full context)

El Pachuco tells Henry that the police are still out to get pachucos and that warring gangs are still... (full context)

Alice tells Henry that she’s going to leave, but Henry insists that she stay. Alice then says she... (full context)

In a wash of voices, everyone talks at Henry. George approaches and tells him to forget about what has happened and to focus on... (full context)

As Henry embraces Della, the other members of the 38th Street Gang come over to celebrate. Joey... (full context)

Tommy interrupts this scene to tell Henry that police officers have arrived and are trying to arrest Joey. Apparently, the officers claim... (full context)

A member of the press enters and narrates Henry’s future, saying that he goes back to prison in 1947 for armed robbery. As a... (full context)

Zoot Suit

Henry Reyna Character Analysis

Henry Reyna Quotes in Zoot Suit

Act 1, Scene 3: Pachuco Yo Quotes

Act 1, Scene 6: The People’s Lawyer Quotes

Act 1, Scene 8: El Día de la Raza Quotes

Act 1, Scene 9: Opening of the Trial Quotes

Act 1, Scene 11: The Conclusion of Trial Quotes

Act 2, Scene 2: The Letters Quotes

Act 2, Scene 3: The Incorrigible Pachuco Quotes

Act 2, Scene 6: Zoot Suit Riots Quotes

Henry Reyna Character Timeline in Zoot Suit