The melting pot
The Melting Pot
Throughout the entire book of “The Mangy Parrot”, Lizardi composes many daily aspects of life of different social groups that made the society of Mexico turn around, so to speak. Some of the social groups that stuck out and helped made this happen were the middle class artisans, women, and the bureaucrats. During the course of this paper, I will cite examples of how Lizardi uses each of the social groups I have listed that portrays obstacles to a just and prosperous Mexico and conclude with whether I think this book is a social, moral, or political critique.
From beginning to end, the author Lizardi mentions the middle class artisans. Whether it be Periquillo being an apprentice to an artisan or an artisan just selling his specialty. I got the sense that Lizardi portrays the middle class artisans very critically and lowly. He talks about Periquillo’s parents getting into an argument over whether they want to make Pedro go specialize in a craft or whether he should go back to school to further his education in hopes of landing a better, more respectable job.
This goes on for a while as Periquillo’s mother is worried what others will think of their son, as an artisan is not a respectable job. His mother breaks into tears and eventually, Periquillo’s parents come to an agreement to send him to gain a higher education (Lizardi 11). Another example of how the middle class merchants are not highly illustrated by Lizardi is how they constantly fall for Periquillo’s roguery. On many occasions, Periquillo starts working for a middle class merchant and is either chased out by his foolish acts or steals gold and property after a confrontation with the middle class merchant.
One could say that Periquillo’s sheer suave was enough to where he was able to weasel his way into winning over these merchant’s hearts but I think it boils down to a little bit of both. One being Periquillo being a smooth talker, and the other being that these merchants
Throughout the entire book of “The Mangy Parrot”, Lizardi composes many daily aspects of life of different social groups that made the society of Mexico turn around, so to speak. Some of the social groups that stuck out and helped made this happen were the middle class artisans, women, and the bureaucrats. During the course of this paper, I will cite examples of how Lizardi uses each of the social groups I have listed that portrays obstacles to a just and prosperous Mexico and conclude with whether I think this book is a social, moral, or political critique.
From beginning to end, the author Lizardi mentions the middle class artisans. Whether it be Periquillo being an apprentice to an artisan or an artisan just selling his specialty. I got the sense that Lizardi portrays the middle class artisans very critically and lowly. He talks about Periquillo’s parents getting into an argument over whether they want to make Pedro go specialize in a craft or whether he should go back to school to further his education in hopes of landing a better, more respectable job.
This goes on for a while as Periquillo’s mother is worried what others will think of their son, as an artisan is not a respectable job. His mother breaks into tears and eventually, Periquillo’s parents come to an agreement to send him to gain a higher education (Lizardi 11). Another example of how the middle class merchants are not highly illustrated by Lizardi is how they constantly fall for Periquillo’s roguery. On many occasions, Periquillo starts working for a middle class merchant and is either chased out by his foolish acts or steals gold and property after a confrontation with the middle class merchant.
One could say that Periquillo’s sheer suave was enough to where he was able to weasel his way into winning over these merchant’s hearts but I think it boils down to a little bit of both. One being Periquillo being a smooth talker, and the other being that these merchants