Lorena Sandoval

Honors ELA
Mr. Cook
23 January 2015

Zoot Suit Essay

The job of the judicial system is to rightfully punish people for breaking the law based on
their actions. Nobody in the justice system is meant to judge based on race, ethnicity, or
background. But in the play Zoot Suit, a main conflict that is present is racism. This
racism takes a toll on Henry Reyna, the main character. The biases of the justice
system perpetuate the Pachuco behaviors.

Lieutenant Edwards demonstrates a bias of Pachuco behavior when he arrests

Henry Reyna. He explains how he thinks Henry has potential, but the way he is could
never be changed. He says I noticed right away the kid had leadership potential.
However you cant change the spots on a leopard (38). In different words, Lieutenant
Edwards is saying how Henrys behavior will never change no matter what. This
response triggers Henrys Pachuco behavior and causes him to believe it is true.
Therefore, Henry keeps on acting like a delinquent. Knowing Henry for awhile now,
Lieutenant Edwards is convinced that every time he sees Henry, it is because he broke
the law, again. It is no surprise to him that Henry keeps breaking the law because his
actions are always going to remain the same. Although Lieutenant Edwards is part of

the justice system, he still makes his bias against Pachucos clear, causing it to
perpetuate Henrys actions and behaviors.

From the moment when Henry got arrested, Sergeant Smith displayed his bias
on Chicano behaviors. Throughout the whole interrogation, Sergeant Smith shows little
patience with Henry, as well as commenting on how everything [pachucos] touch turns
to shit (31). Without hesitation, Sergeant Smith confirms his bias on how pachucos are
no good and never do anything right. He believes that Pachucos are a bad influence,
explaining how the youth club was turned into a gang. He later states, you cant treat
these animals like people (32). He implies his bias by describing the pachucos as
animals because of their wrong behaviors. All of these comments provoke Henry to
continue with his wrong actions against the law. He takes Sergeant Smiths bias as
encouragement to keep on being the leader of the 38th street Pachuco gang. Sergeant
Smith takes part in being in the justice system and boldly states his bias against
Pachucos, adding to Henrys ignorant behavior.

In Zoot Suit, the central conflict of racism has a lot to do with the justice system.
Sergeant Smith and Lieutenant Edwards show a racial bias against Henry Reyna during
an interrogation after his arrest. Neither one of them truly believes that Henrys actions
will change, causing him to act the way they expected. These biases of the justice
system perpetuate Pachuco behaviors, especially with Henry.

Works Cited Page:

Valdez, Luis. Zoot Suit and other plays. Houston, Texas: Arte Publico Press, 1992,
University of Houston.