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Enrique
Throughout the play, multiple members of the press involve themselves in whatever’s going on. By announcing headlines, they call attention to new developments and advance the play’s plot, all while reminding viewers of the ever-presence of the news media, which is always waiting to run a story about Henry and his friends.
The Press Quotes in Zoot Suit
The Zoot Suit quotes below are all either spoken by The Press or refer to The Press. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 2, Scene 6: Zoot Suit Riots
Quotes
PRESS: […] The Zoot Suit Crime Wave is even beginning to push the war news off the front page.
PACHUCO: The Press distorted the very meaning of the word “zoot suit.”
All it is for you guys is another way to say Mexican.
But the ideal of the original chuco
was to look like a diamond
to look sharp
hip
bonaroo
finding a style of urban survival
in the rural skirts and outskirts
of the brown metropolis of Los, cabron.
Related Characters:
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Page Number and Citation:
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:
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Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Zoot Suit LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Press Quotes in Zoot Suit
The Zoot Suit quotes below are all either spoken by The Press or refer to The Press. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 2, Scene 6: Zoot Suit Riots
Quotes
PRESS: […] The Zoot Suit Crime Wave is even beginning to push the war news off the front page.
PACHUCO: The Press distorted the very meaning of the word “zoot suit.”
All it is for you guys is another way to say Mexican.
But the ideal of the original chuco
was to look like a diamond
to look sharp
hip
bonaroo
finding a style of urban survival
in the rural skirts and outskirts
of the brown metropolis of Los, cabron.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
PRESS: Henry Reyna went back to prison in 1947 for robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. While incarcerated, he killed another inmate and he wasn’t released until 1955, when he got into hard drugs. He died of the trauma of his life in 1972.
PACHUCO: That’s the way you see it, ese. But there’s other way[s] to end this story.
RUDY: Henry Reyna went to Korea in 1950. He was shipped across in a destroyer and defended the 38th Parallel until he was killed at Inchon in 1952, being posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
ALICE: Henry Reyna married Della in 1948 and they have five kids, three of them now going to the University, speaking calo and calling themselves Chicanos.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
