Literary Criticism of Zoot Suit (Essay Sample)

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Literary Criticism of Zoot Suit
Introduction
Luis Valdez’s Zoot Suit is among the most read plays in Chicano literature. The play was first published in 1978 and made its debut in Los Angeles' Mark Taper Forum, where it attracted several positive reviews from the audience. Many people acknowledge the play for its depiction of Chicano history and contemporary American drama, as well as Valdez's choice of formal elements in the play. Formalism criticism focuses on the formal elements like structure, settings, tone, symbols, and characters (Gardner et al., 1268). The historical criticism and new historicism focus on the background of the author's life and times (Gardner et al.,1274). Thus, it is important to analyze the play Zoot Suit based on formalism, and historical criticism and new historicism theories due to a variety of formal elements displayed and the connection with historical events.
Historical Criticism
Valdez's play is set around the 1940s and relates to historical events that occurred during the author's time. The 1942 historical Sleepy Lagoon trial for murder relates to the events depicted in this play. During the trial, a twenty-one-year-old, Henry Reyna, is accused and sentenced to life in prison by a biased court trial for committing a murder offense. Following the appeal headed by the Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee and activist Alice Bloomfield, the early decision by the courts got overruled, and Henry was released from prison after spending over a year behind bars. The last three months were even worse since Henry spent them in solitary confinement. In the play, Valdez dramatizes the entire trial. The members of the 38th gang street are regarded as foreigners, delinquents, and criminals. The members of the 38th gang street were denied fair opportunity to present and defend themselves the same way the historical sleepy lagoon murder trial was treated. El Pachuco also reminds the audience that the play has some historical connections to past events in Los Angeles. Thus, Valdez's place was motivated by past events that occurred during his time in the 1940s when the Chicano community faced racial discrimination from the law enforcement officers and courts.
Formalism criticism
Valdez uses Zoot Suits to symbolize the racial oppression of the Chicano and to get the attention of the audience throughout the play. Zoot suit that is worn by the members of the 38th street gang, particularly El Pachuco, symbolizes the identity of Chicano (Valdez 23). The heightened and flamboyant formality represents a sense of self-direction and rebelliousness, as well as a sense of pride in the Chicano's appearance. During the riots, the Chicanos get their zoot suits stripped off by the white servicemen to symbolize humiliation and racial oppression of the Chicano people.
Allegory is also a formal element that is used in the play. Allegory is observed in two incidents: the first involving the disappearance of Pachuco, and the second case is winning the appeal. During the zoot suit riots, Pachuco disappears in the next scene after being stripped off his zoot suit. While he initially appeared firm and untouchable, his disappearance from the scene shows that he can be affected by violence and riots, which symbolizes the suffering that the Chicano people face in the white-dominated society. Allegory is also evident when the 38th street gang members win an appeal that overrules the life imprisonment. This allegorizes the ultimate triumph that the minority Chicano people will face despite the media and court bias. It also shows that victory will only be achieved when people fight for the right cause, whether one is part of the Chicano community or white like Alice, the activist. Through these two cases of allegory, Valdez shows the existence of racial discrimination and hope for a final end to racial humiliation.
Language
Valdez uses a mixture of English and Spanish throughout the text to show a sense of solidarity with the other Chicano writers. In the United States, the Chicanos have been subjected to the linguistic hegemony of English. To fight this oppression, Valdez uses both Spanish and English to identify as a Chicano and to communicate t