In The Eyes Of The Cisco Kid Shooting John Wayne

In the Eyes of the Cisco Kid Shooting John Wayne

Joseph Parish

I have decided to comment upon the selection of “The Day the Cisco Kid Shot John Wayne” by Nash Candelaria. Upon looking at the title, I expected something a bit different since I was a fan of Cisco when a young child. However, I found this tale was about a Mexican-American boy living in New Mexico and attempting to fit into his new role in the world. His first encounter involved a conflict with a schoolmate named Chango. After some minor skirmishing, the two become friends and Chango offered to allow the newcomer to join their “gang”. The author then relates a tale of the various activities which the gang members did together such as attend the movie theater to watch an assortment of Spanish style shows foremost being “The Cisco Kid”. As a result of his Catholic school attendance, he recalls the nun stating that “only good Catholics go to heaven” so he is adamant against other religious affiliations and makes sly remarks about them. At school, he felt a bit guilty at not being allowed to speak his native language since the nun had totally forbid any language other than English.

The most important part of Mr. The Candelaria’s story involves the white boy who had just moved next store to the writer. He was different and not of Spanish descent, so the gang picked on him continually. After the parents talked together, they forced the two neighbor boys to be friends and to attend the movie theater together. With a little encouragement from the writer the gang members accept the white boy and they all become friends. The story portrays how prejudice and racism is a two-way street and doesn’t occur only between whites and Latinos but vice versa as well.

I was surprised and amazed at how the story developed a snapshot of the family life for typical Latinos, which are not that different than the average white person. As I read the tale, I recalled doing similar deeds while in school. I vividly remember paying to get into the theater and sneakily opening the exit door for my fellow classmates to enter. My childhood memories take me back to times where my friends and I defended our “turf” from the intervention of outsiders. We too found that in those days we could make friends with various ethnic groups within the neighborhood and hostilities would be at a minimum. I think we were actually better adults as a result of these experiences.

Surprisingly, Nash Candeleria was not born in Mexico, but rather a native of Los Angeles, California. He did however spend most of his life in a white Catholic neighborhood with summer times taking place in the rural Albuquerque location. He developed a deep love of New Mexico, which is shown in his writing. As a child Nash did not experience any sort of prejudice on a large scale and his teachers at school actively encouraged him to advance his education. Upon his graduation from the University of California he quickly left his chemistry career in favor of writing. During the Korean War, he entered the Air Force and obtained the rank of a second lieutenant at which time he wrote his first novel. His writing sets the stage for Latinos who were deep in search of their identity, ethnic pride, and acceptance within society. Although his focus may initially be based upon inspiring Latino’s, Candelaria’s writing is universally acceptable for all races be they Chicano, Black or Anglo.

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