El
Tonto Del Barrio
The
story describes a man; Romero, who has connections and possess a special
communication and arrangement with the Centro of the Golden Heights (Armas).
The author describes the man as touched despite being a lowly life as portrayed
in the eyes of the majority. Society classification has it qualms, and a man
who sweeps the streets is, usually, low life based on the status placed on the
dwellers of the city. In exchange, Romero gets handout after accomplishing
clean sweep of the sidewalks. However, there are individuals in the society who
feel for the man. For example, the son of Barela; Seferino offers Romero a wage
for his efforts in keeping the sidewalks clean and tidy (Madden). Romero
accepts the wage but as time goes by, he starts asking for more. However, he is
denied the increase by Seferino and this drives Romero to the edge. He starts
living on credit and as things escalate from bad to worse, the man starts
stealing. He becomes a nuisance in the city; lifting the skirts of women, and
flipping the traffic. However, the behavior of this character as portrayed by
the author goes back to normal once Seferino goes back to Harvard. The claim
that money changed Romero is an issue open for discussion as evaluated in this
paper. I am open to the opinion that money did not change Romero.
Initially,
Romero cleaned the sidewalks for free. There were not mumbling, or argument and
every person looked down on him. Then came Seferino, a man with a big heart and
who saw the mistreatment that the society imposed on a man who offered free
services and kept the city clean and asked for no wage (Daylover's Blog). The extended offer to give the man a wage was
valid and can not only be a just course, but a right he dissevered. Good works
should never go unnoticed, and Seferino notices the works of Romero. Arguing
and judging that money changed the behavior of Romero is an open argument. The
entire arguments being based on the view that an individual has on the society.
On one hand, a person who believes in justice and equality will support that
Romero deserved a pay and money did not change him. On the other hand,
individuals maintaining a high-class society status will oppose the opinion
outlining the poor decisions made by Romero after he received payment.
Having
an obligation and a job gives an individual a sense of purpose. The case of
Romero is not different in regard to this theory. Sweeping the cities sidewalks
inculcated a sense of belonging to the individual, a purpose and a role to
fulfil (Armas). It is the unseen motivating factor that made Romero wake up
every day and make the sidewalks clean. It was simply his duty. Despite his
commitment, he has been portrayed as an individual with erratic behavior.
However, the barrio tolerates his behavior based on the fact that he is a
central source of the society which shows commitment and hard work. During all
this time, Romero carries out his duty and obligation without a pay. Seferino
offers him a wage based on the fact that people have the same concept of money
and Romero’s was not different from the others (Saron's
Creative Writing Blog). Hard work and self-worth are essential
attributes that deserve a pay in the eyes of Seferino. Once he tasted money;
the life of Romero changed. He tasted the goodies that accompany better living
and money in particular.
The
wage denial that he had experienced for a long time had created a loophole that
alienated him from the good life. Once the wage from Seferino came, part of
this hole was filled. However, life had too much to offer that the wage he
received could not cover. He desired for more. As a result, he had asked for a
raise from his boss. The denial of a pay raise resulted into retaliation.
Romero started being reckless and living on credit. From a physiological
perspective, this can be interpreted as a way of trying to plead with his boss.
On the other hand, such a response can be interpreted differently and seen as a
challenge to an individual who has been corrupted by money. In an attempt to
defend my view and stand in this argument, I believe that money did not change
Romero, the lack of enough changed his perspective. If the money were the root
of his actions, he would have gone ballistic after receiving his first pay. The
lack of an increase made him change his behavior.
Prior
to the introduction of money in the equation, Romero can is portrayed as jovial
individual. One who sings and sets a jovial mood in the neighborhood. The
switch of insanity flips once he starts enjoying the value of money. Despite
his abnormality, he possesses a mature and positive attitude towards work. He
did it thoroughly and without being compelled or followed. The remuneration
that he received was in terms of handouts. During this entire time, Romero
never complains concerning the working conditions surrounding his work, and
neither does he ask for a wage. The story has a moral lesson; to always let the
lying dogs lie. The good-hearted Seferino did more harm than good through
introducing money to the individual. It is through his actions that Romero
acted in a disrespectful manner and one that imposed the lack of peace in the
society. He disrupted the daily ritual of Romero. His contribution to the society
was via cleaning the sidewalks. He always took his job seriously ‘he took great
care to sweep between the cracks and the sides of the building” (Armas),
setting an excellent example to the children in the society.
The
society consists of individuals with roles to play. Based on the value and
level of the individual status in the society, the remuneration levels vary. To
some, it may appear unfair and in the case of Romero, receiving handout after
cleaning the sidewalks may seem unfair to an outsider (Daylover's Blog). However, it was through this motivation that a
peaceful coexistence in a society without havoc elucidate. People place a
different value on wages and money and also react differently once they possess
money. To some it is not only an essential to living, it is a source of power
and recognition. As a tool to these values, the use of it should be accompanied
by a sense of responsibility. Romero is a part of a successful society; the
individuals care for his wellbeing despite the lack of appreciation in terms of
money (Saron's Creative Writing Blog).
The most valuable relationship in a society is observed in terms of peaceful
coexistence and valuing one another. If the introduction of money in the life
of Romero jeopardizes this values, then members of the society are inclined to
remove it from the equation. Despite being a villain in the village, Romero
signifies a strong work ethic and values the members of the society especially
their effort through the band to support him.
Works
cited
Armas, Jose. "El Tonto Del Barrio." Harper
Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. NY:
HarperCollins, 1991. 1137-1142.
Daylover's Blog,. 'Summary Vs.
Analysis Examples--El Tonto Del Barrio'. N.p., 2012. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.
Madden, Frank. Exploring Literature. 1st ed. New York:
Pearson Longman, 2009. Print.
Saron's Creative Writing Blog,.
'Journal 1: El Tonto Del Barrio'. N.p., 2012. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.
3 comments
The story is describing the personality of the strong man Romero. He worked for the city and country without any wage open heartedly. Get uk bestessay to complete their any kind of work. We should get the inspiration from such people and also follow them to earn a name in the society.
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