the influence of american dream towards mingo, … · american dream towards mingo’s...

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

2015

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJIPLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

ii




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

2015


v

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

Lenny Yuliasari Raharjo


vi

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




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,

Lenny Yuliasari Raharjo


vii


viii

FOR

THE ALMIGHTY GOD

DUITT LISTYAWAN

TAN ENG SIEN

IMAN JUNIARTO RAHARJO


ix

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.

Lenny Yuliasari Raharjo.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE………...…………………………………………………. ii

APPROVAL PAGE ……………………………………………………. iii

ACCEPTANCE PAGE…………………………………..…………….. iv

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN

PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH ………………….……………... v

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ……………………………..…….. vi

MOTTO PAGE …………………………………………………………. vii

DEDICATION PAGE…………………………………………………... viii

ACKNOWLWDGEMENTS…………………………………………… ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………….. x

ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………... xi

ABSTRAK………………………………………………………………... xii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION………………………………………. 1

A. Background of the Study…………………………………………. 1

B. Problem Formulation……………………………………………… 4

C. Objectives of the Study…………………………………………… 4

D. Definition of Terms……………………………………………….. 5

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE………………………… 7

A. Review of Related Studies…………………………………….….. 7

B. Review of Related Theories……………………………………….. 11

a. Theories of Character and Characterization…………………... 12

b. Theories of American Dream…………………………………. 13

C. Review on Mexican-American in the 1960s ……………………... 15

D. Theoretical Framework …………………………………………… 17

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY……………………………………. 19

A. Object of the Study……………………………………………….. 19

B. Approach of the Study……………………………………………. 20

C. Method of the Study………………………………………………. 21

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS……………………………………………. 23

A. Mingo as the Mexican-American Son…………………………….. 23

B. Mingo as Mr. Sunday, his new Anglo-American Identity………… 38

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION……………………………………...…. 43

BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………….…. 45


xi

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.

Based on the analysis, the researcher finds out that Mingo has to let go of

his root in exchange for his American Dream. His character is not fully clear

revealed from the beginning of the play. However, it is revealed gradually until

the end of the play. At the beginning, Mingo is described as typical Mexican-

American person. Later in the end, it is revealed that he is changed into an

Americanized person because of his own American Dream.


xii

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

Dari analisa, peneliti menyimpulkan bahwa Mingo harus melepaskan jati

dirinya sebagai ganti untuk mencapai mimpinya menjadi orang Amerika. Karakter

Mingo tidak langsung terlihat jelas dari awal naskah. Tetapi karakternya terlihat

berubah sedikit demi sedikit sampai di akhir naskah. Pada awalnya, Mingo

digambarkan sebagai orang Amerika keturunan Meksiko yang khas. Lalu pada

akhirnya dia terungkap kalau dia berubah menjadi seorang yang berbeda karena

pengaruh mimpinya menjadi orang Amerika.


1

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.

This happens since the mid-sixteenth century, as stated by Lemay.


2

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

Mexican immigrants came into unemployment. It was caused by the Great


3

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

American Dream in the United States. He is Mingo.


4

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

character and his characterization.


5

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

This term is commonly used to recognize US citizens who are descendants

of Mexicans, following the pattern sometimes used to identify the extraction of

other ethnic Americans (such as, African-American). This term is acceptable to

many Mexican descendants, but for those who do not view themselves as

"Americans" by choice, this term is problematic

(http://www.mexica.net/chicano.php). Although the term Mexican-American is

common, a lot of people who disagree with this term will say that they have been

brainwashed by Anglos and they have betrayed their own people (Salazar, 1970).


6

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.

(Novak, 1972: 84).


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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

Mexico who come to America to make money. After they settled, they breed their


http://www.uscis.gov/us-citizenship

8

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

no longer counted as Mexicans because they were born in the United States.


9

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.

It was no coincidence that when El Teatro Campesino separated from the

union, their first acto (a short play), Los Vendidos, dealt with the identity

of Chicano. Now that his theater was no longer intimately connected to the

farm-worker struggle, Valdez could dedicated his efforts to exposing the

problems beyond the fields. This issue has always interested Valdez,

beginning with the character of Domingo/Mr. Sunday in The Shrunken

Head of Pancho Villa (Milagro, 2009: 3).


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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

by the Sell-Out to buy the model. She was offered four types of Mexican by the


11

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

formulations.


12

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.

b. Asides and soliloquies: all of the further characterization is of course

established through dialogue.

c. Dialogue between characters: Not only does the language of the

character speaking to others also sheds a great deal of light on his

personality.

d. Hidden narration: While a character in a play is never directly

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

the beginning of the pattern and it determines the character’s characteristics. After


13

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

freedom of making money.


14

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,

American Dream is to become an Anglo-American person with similar features.


15

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

noncitizen immigrants (legal as well as undocumented) from receiving means-


16

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).

Later this group of people made national activism under MEChA

(Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán). This Chicano Movement focused

considerable attention on educational issues, especially access to higher

education. MEChA soon became the primary vehicle for student activism on

campuses throughout the United States (Costañeda, 2006).


17

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.

(Meier 1972: 222)

D. Theoretical Framework

The purpose of this undergraduate thesis is to answer the two questions

that are previously formulated in the chapter one. Thus, the theories above, the

character and the characterization and the American Dream are needed to help

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

researcher uses Reaske’s characterization. However, since there are no asides and


18

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

struggle, and the society reaction towards them in the United States.


19

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.

The brothers, Joaquin and Mingo, are become the main focus on this play.

Joaquin who always finds trouble in the hood and Mingo who wants to let go of his

root and become Anglo-American.


20

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.

This approach sees a literature as a representative of an age and society,

including economic, social, and political system. From the explanation above, this

criticism helps the researcher to reveal the influence of American Dream towards

Mingo.


21

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.

The third step is collecting data, references, and theories related to this play

from both library and online sources. In this part, the researcher uses library research.

The information collected is mostly from printed books and some from trusted

internet sources. Next, the researcher sorts the contents which can be used.


22

The fourth step is analyzing. In this part, the researcher organizes the whole

data. It is including the theories, references, and approaches. After that, the researcher

starts to analyze the character using related theories. This later reveals that the

character has a dream to be achieved. Knowing that the character has specific dream,

the researcher digs up deeper about the character’s goal, which the American Dream

theory is applied. In order to understand the circumstances, the researcher also needs

historical background during that time. It is needed so that the research finds exact

answer.


23

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

one to act five. In the story, he appears in every act although not in every scene.

The family consists of 6 people. The father is Pedro. He is described as a lazy

and a wino family leader. He contributes nothing important to the family. The mother


24

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).

MINGO is dressed in fashionable casual clothing (Valdez, 1989: 1021).

The way Mingo dresses himself represents the Mexican-American outfits. The

clothes and properties that Mingo buys indicate that he is a hardworking person and

also, he socializes with Anglo-American people. He can be said as a hardworking

person because he finds occupation faster than all of his family members who are still

unemployed. Furthermore, he uses his skills to get a better job than any other

Mexicans who usually work as low field-workers. His clipboard and money box also


25

show that Mingo is not a low field-workers. The clipboard and money box represent

that Mingo is a professional field-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.

After living in the neighborhood for a while, his habit that makes him into an

American is getting serious. He keeps American‟s typical food in the refrigerator,

such as bread, steaks, milk, eggs, orange juice. Like what Lupe mentions in the

dialogue, “Besides, there‟s plenty of food there – bread, steaks, milk, eggs, orange


26

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.

The most obvious proof is when Belarmino yells some American stereotype

in Spanish to Mingo. He does not understand Spanish and he replies Belo by telling

him to speak in English. Belo says that Mingo is Americanized, broken down,

rootless, shameless, self-centered, useless, stingy, softheaded, stubborn, foul-

mouthed, amoral, drowned, and insane. Then, Mingo answers repeatedly "SPEAK

ENGLISH!" (Valdez, 1989: 1030). This shows that Mingo is in the process of

forgetting his mother-tongue language.


27

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.

Mingo is materialistic and also optimistic. In this case, materialistic is a

person who is middle-class oriented. Mingo is obsessed with middle-class things. It is


28

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,

Joaquin says that nobody is going to get rich from working on the fields. It can be

seen that Mingo has no support from his family. However, Mingo is so confident at

getting money. He believes in every little chance. He is going to work hard in the

land of opportunity, yet he starts from the bottom.


29

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

the house located in a different neighborhood, in which he believes that it is closer to

America. However, the other family members are not excited. Mingo‟s families are

worried about their new neighborhood, and they do not want to move away from their

old house. Simply, they do not have enough confident to face new environment, they


30

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-Americans. Mingo prefers to use the term 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

by Latin-Americans to refer American citizens. Mingo is annoyed when somebody


31

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

only cares about himself and his American Dream. He does everything to make his

dream comes true, even though he has to betray his family, friend, and race.


32

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.

I trade it in for my Chivi. (about his new red sports car) I also took 200 bucks

outta the bank and bought new clothes. See? Everything new. You should see

how great it feels! Instead of the head, I'm spending money where it counts:

on self improvement. And with my credit, I can get anything else I want.

Thirty dollar shoes, color TV, a Hi-Fi stereo, a new bowling ball, steak

dinners, cocktails! I can even go to college. Sure State College! The G.I. Bill

will foot the bill. Heh, you get that? G.I. Bill foot the bill? I know it's below

your mental intelligence to comprehend the simplicity... [During this speech


33

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-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.

Mingo's effort to differentiate himself from the family is getting stronger

when he mocks Joaquin "Like a stinking Mexican!" (Valdez, 1989: 1025). Mingo

thinks that he is not one of them, but sadly, he is. They are from the same parents, the

same neighborhood, and even the same ethnicity, but they are not the same anymore.


34

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

shows that Mingo feels like he does not belong to the family as he never sees himself

as a loser.


35

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.

(Valdez, 1989: 1016)


36

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

Mingo in Spanish. Joaquin gets mad at Mingo. In reply, Mingo just yells back and

commands him to talk in English. “You talk to me in English!” (Valdez, 1989: 1019).


37

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 the conversation above, the researcher sees that Mingo tries to cut the

ties with his family. Mingo denies that he is a part of the family. He says that he has

no relationship with the people in the house and he is just someone who rents a room

there. He does not admit Joaquin as his brother because he steals from the

supermarket and acts like a Chicano antihero. Mingo even helps the officer to find

Joaquin as Mingo sees him doing something wrong. Mingo‟s act is quite different


38

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.

For Mingo, the characteristics of American Dream are having middle-class

economic level, having higher social status, and accepted by the Anglo-American

society. Mingo‟s efforts in reaching his American Dream are proven in the previous

part. Mingo joins a state college which is usually meant for Anglo-Americans just to

blends with them. Mingo also works hard to buy a house in the Prune Blossom Area

where its neighborhood is surrounded by the Anglo-Americans. From his appearance,

it can be seen that Mingo is well-dressed. These acts show that Mingo does not want

to be seen as a low class immigrant. He wants to be seen as an American citizen with

higher social status.


39

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.

Mingo is determined to make his dream comes true. He believes in every little

chance he has in the land of opportunity. This is contrary to the rest of the family

members who only depend on the welfare. On the previous part, the researcher writes

that Mingo is just coming from the battlefield, and he reaches success not more than a

year. On the other side, the rest of the family members, who lives longer in the


40

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.

From the physical description, the researcher brings to a close that Mingo

looks like Anglo-Americans now. Furthermore, his way of speaking also resembles


41

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)

Mingo comes to the family as a new person. He introduces himself as Mr.

Sunday. Sunday is the translation of his name, Domingo, which is shorten into

Mingo. He translates his name into English so that he has nothing to do with his

Mexican ties. In short, Mingo has already let go of his past and becomes someone

new. Even though Cruz remembers Mingo as one of her kids, Mingo does not

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

lived in because I cared about myself. Because I did something to help

myself. I went to college. So now I‟m a social worker helping out the poor!

(Valdez, 1989: 1036)


42

As Mingo confesses, he has changed. Mingo changes into someone that is

completely different from the way he used to be. Mingo says that he was also from

another slum area, but he manages to get out of it. It is because of his hard work, his

strong will, and his dream to be an American. He still wants to help the family but he

has to be another person. He cuts the tie between him and his family in order to

success like he always wanted. In the end, Mingo only cares about himself, not

others.


43

CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

In this chapter, the writer concludes all of the analysis given in the

previous chapter. This research consists of two problem formulations that can be

seen in the chapter one. The problem formulations are made to make the research

easier. They contain the presentation analysis of character Mingo in the play and

the influence of American Dream towards Mingo’s character.

From the analysis, the researcher concludes that Mingo’s character are

revealed gradually. At his first appearance, he said he want to help his family.

However later it is revealed that he is spiritually different from the others. He is

not like the others since he is already Americanized. He only cares about himself

and his American Dream.

Mingo is described as an American oriented person, especially after he

comes back home from the war. His American oriented personalities can be seen

from his appearance, his habits in daily life, and his way of thinking. He speaks

English properly. He eats American food. He dresses neatly. His way of thinking

is also consistent with the theories of American traits by Reaske. Meanwhile, his

family members still hold their culture and habits tightly.

Mingo also treats others differently because he thinks he is more superior

as he is Americanized. He sees the Mexican-Americans, especially his own

family, as low, feckless, and old-fashioned because they do not have the courage

to change their life in the land of opportunity.


44

From the research,Mingo is described as a determined person. He is brave

enough to make his dream comes true and being like an Anglo-American even

though he receives no support. He does everything to be one of the Anglo-

Americans, including letting go of his root as a Mexican-American.

In the end, Mingo lets go of his past by leaving his Mexican-American

culture and habits. He forgets his family. He even bleaches his skin and changes

his accent in order to look like the Anglo-Americans. He finally makes his dreams

come true by changing his identity and being like an Anglo-American.

In his play, Luis Valdez portrays the struggle and the irony of achieving

American Dream. He also offers criticism and social commentary towards racism

and discrimination in reaching American Dream.


45

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