Zoot Suits Symbol in Zoot Suit

In the play, zoot suits serve as an embodiment of the “Pachuco Style,” ultimately enabling Henry and his friends to strengthen their collective cultural identity as young Mexican Americans. At the very beginning of the play, El Pachuco calls attention to his suit before saying that the “Pachuco Style” is a performance of identity. Because pachucos wear zoot suits (which are made up of large pleated pants, long coats, and thick watch chains), the style itself becomes an integral part of this performance, not only helping people like Henry distinguish themselves as individuals, but also helping them connect and relate to one another. Unfortunately, though, the racist news media is—along with the American government—all too eager to turn the zoot suit into a symbol of criminality and danger, thereby using it against the Chicano community as a whole. This leads to all kinds of racial profiling, as police officers target minority groups wearing zoot suits. In turn, the suit itself becomes a representation of the unjust ways in which racists sometimes hijack important cultural identifiers and weaponize them against already disenfranchised and vulnerable communities.

Zoot Suits Quotes in Zoot Suit

The Zoot Suit quotes below all refer to the symbol of Zoot Suits. 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

HE adjusts his clothing, meticulously fussing with his collar, suspenders, cuffs. HE tends to his hair, combing back every strand into a long luxurious ducktail, with infinite loving pains. Then HE reaches into the slit [of the newspaper backdrop] and pulls out his coat and hat. HE dons them. His fantastic costume is complete. It is a zoot suit. HE is transformed into the very image of the pachuco myth, from his pork-pie hat to the tip of his four-foot watch chain.

Related Characters: El Pachuco

Related Symbols: Zoot Suits, Newspapers

Page Number and Citation: 25

Explanation and Analysis:

PACHUCO: […] Ladies and gentlemen
the play you are about to see
is a construct of fact and fantasy.
The Pachuco Style was an act in Life
and his language a new creation.
[…]
I speak as an actor on the stage.
The Pachuco was existential
for he was an Actor in the streets
both profane and reverential.

Related Characters: El Pachuco (speaker)

Related Symbols: Zoot Suits

Page Number and Citation: 25

Explanation and Analysis:

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

Related Symbols: Zoot Suits

Page Number and Citation: 29

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

Related Symbols: Zoot Suits

Page Number and Citation: 53

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:

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: El Pachuco (speaker), The Press (speaker)

Related Symbols: Zoot Suits, Newspapers

Page Number and Citation: 80

Explanation and Analysis:

Zoot Suits Symbol Timeline in Zoot Suit

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

Self-Presentation and Cultural Identity Theme Icon

Public Perception and the Press Theme Icon

...combs his hair, and puts on a suit jacket, completing his outfit—he is wearing a zoot suit , and he looks fantastic. Looking at the audience, he speaks in Spanish slang, saying... (full context)

...Gang, dances with his friends and fellow gang members, all of whom—including Henry himself—are in zoot suit s. As El Pachuco sings, Henry and his friends have a fantastic time until their... (full context)

...he’s the leader of the 38th Street Gang. Plus, the police see him as a “zootsuiter,” which they think is reason enough to persecute him. Hearing this, Henry loses his sense... (full context)

...asks why he has to go, he says it’s his last chance to wear his zoot suit before entering the Navy. Upset, she reminds him that his father doesn’t like the idea... (full context)

Dolores points out to Henry that, though he and his friends like zoot suit s, the police target them because of what they wear. Again, Henry ignores her, assuring... (full context)

...get away with it. For these reasons, the prosecutor says, the jury must condemn these “zoot-suited gangsters” to death. (full context)

...Williams—the only thing the prosecution can prove is that the 38th Street Gang members wear zoot suit s and certain hairstyles. To convict them as guilty of murder without sufficient evidence, George... (full context)

...briefly notes that marines and sailors will soon invade Los Angeles like Nazis, declaring “ Zoot Suit wars” against the Chicano community. However, he adds that this will all happen later in... (full context)

...to one side, watching sailors and pachucos jitterbug to the music. Rudy enters wearing Henry’s zoot suit , striding in with Bertha, Lupe, and their friend Cholo. When several sailors hit on... (full context)

As the servicemen berate El Pachuco (who is also present at the Zoot Suit Riots), a member of the press joins them, cursing people who wear zoot suits. Hearing... (full context)

...his parents have been forced to give up shirt collars and cuffs because of the zoot suit craze. Enraged, he asks El Pachuco if he’s aware that there’s a war going on.... (full context)

...the guard takes Henry away, El Pachuco appears. He’s elevated off the ground in a zoot suit , and Henry catches a glimpse of him as he raises his arms. Just then,... (full context)

...Gang. Enrique tells Henry to focus on his family. Dolores tells Henry to forget about zoot suit s. And Della asks Henry what he wants. Shouting above the chatter, Henry says that... (full context)

...other members of the 38th Street Gang come over to celebrate. Joey is wearing his zoot suit , so Rudy tells him that the style “died under fire” during the riots, insisting... (full context)

...cast then calls Henry different names, including “the born leader,” “the social victim,” and “ zoot suit er.” Finally, El Pachuco concludes that Henry “still lives.” (full context)

Zoot Suit

Luis Valdez

Zoot Suits Symbol Analysis

Zoot Suits Quotes in Zoot Suit

Zoot Suits Symbol Timeline in Zoot Suit