Analyzing Jose Armas 'El Tonto Del Barrio'

564 Words2 Pages

“El Tonto Del Barrio”
If asked, “what is the most important thing a person needs?” one of the most prevalent answer would be money. However, do people think about the negative influence money has on them. In the short story “El Tonto Del Barrio,” the author, José Armas uses characterization, irony, and symbolism to show how money makes people greedy for more.
José Armas use characterization to show how people can change. “Characterization is the development of characters in a story,” (Madden 67). In the story, Armas portrays Romero as the protagonist, who shows changes in his character due to the influence of money. At first the writer describes Romero as being the most helpful person in his neighborhood who is liked by everyone. For example, in the story Armas writes about the “ritual” that Romero follows every day, “After breakfast he would get his broom…sweeping the sidewalks for all the businesses,” (Armas 896). Moreover, Armas mentions that whenever Romero becomes ill, someone will always go to his house to visit him. At this point a reader may wonder how a kind hearted man like Romero could show such a change in his character. The readers may find Seferino responsible for this situation. Although, Seferino tries to help Romero by offering him money, the scenario of the story changes that no one expects. …show more content…

“Irony of situation results from the contrast between what is expected and what actually happens,” (Madden 68). As thought Romero does not behave the way Seferino thought. For instance, Romero says to Seferino “I want a raise” (Armas 899). Moreover, when Seferino refuses to Romero’s demand, he immediately quit his job and stops to sweep the sidewalks. This outrageous behavior of Romero is unacceptable as he was doing his job before without getting any payment. Romero was a different man, before the idea of capitalism came to Seferinos

Open Document