Parrot in the Oven; Pages: 110-139

Summary: He ducks, shuffles to the left, ducks once more, and throws a haymaker! The opponent falls, it’s done! He’s done!
That’s the thrill that went through my mind as I read this chapter. Chapter 7, The Boxing Match, was like a movie, a whole 2 hour movie compacted into just one chapter. At this point in the story Manuel did not get into the school across town. Rebecca’s plans to transfer Manuel didn’t go quite well, and the administration said it was too late. Manuel also mentioned how there was an imbalance in the student body. This could have been due to the fact that most of the student body was primarily white/Caucasian. It’s not like Manny was going to rue the fact that he wasn’t accepted, he was still being himself.

With his friend Albert Sosa, he sat outside eating lunch on a picnic table during school hours. The only reason why those two sat there eating lunch was because they wanted to get a glimpse of Miss Van De Meer. Manny would describe her as the next big thing around the block. Albert and he were obsessed, and I mean obsessed with the women. It didn’t matter if it was cold, those two would have been eating their lunch outside to watch the way she would fluff her hair and fix the collar of her ruffly blouse.

Manny and Albert were interrupted one day by Lencho Dominguez, a tuff guy who loved to box. Lencho knew why Manny and Albert were there at the picnic table, and the rest of the school probably picked up on it as well. When Lencho spoke, he immediately mentioned Miss Van de Meer, and how she teaches a bunch of ‘gavachos’. This is very interesting, for one, gavacho is another term used by Mexicans to describe white people. Like gringo, gavacho is used in the same way. Though, the difference between these words is that gringo has a stronger connotation. Gringo is also most often used by Mexicans, and any other Spanish-speaking individual around the world to describe a white person. Lencho also mentioned that Miss Van de Meer has couches and comfortable chairs in her classroom, which raises the question about equal opportunities. It seems that in Manny’s time, and still today, many Mexicans, and even worse, Hispanics, don’t get the same fair treatment as the non-colored folks do. This is not always true though.

As Manny and Lencho continued to have their dialogue, Lencho asked Manny if Nardo (Manny’s brother) wanted to join the boxing club. Manny didn’t really know if Nardo wanted to box, because if anything, he would have asked Manny, ‘Hey, Manny, do you think I should join Lencho’s boxing team?’ The other problem was that Manny didn’t have a close relationship with his brother lately. In the novel, Manny even mentioned himself that Nardo “hadn’t asked [him] a thing that lately.”

A few days had past, and Manny had realized something that even surprised me: Alberto joined Lencho’s boxing team. Manny said it was a surprise for him because Albert couldn’t punch the wind out of a buddle, not that he’ll try that of course. But it wasn’t only Albert that joined the team, it was this other fellow named Chico. Manny described him as a nice guy, but he also described him as a soft type a guy, a guy who wouldn’t be the bully, but the victim. In knowing that, Manny began to hang around with the boxing team, and helped out as much as he could with the equipment. He had noticed that Lencho wanted Chico and Albert to be as fast as possible, so they did a great deal of conditioning, and Lencho kept them away from the weight machines. Lencho wanted those two to be at their best when it was time for the matches.

ASIDE: Coach Roger’s is the basketball coach and he’s also the coach of the boxing team. Coach Roger’s had a secret weapon on his boxing team: Boise Johnson. Boise is a black individual, as well as a feared one.
A boxing tournament was mentioned in every homeroom, and flyers were stapled everywhere around the school. Finally, when it was time for the fight, Manny was more ready than ever. He took his assistance seriously, like some scientist working on the latest high-tech project, and probably nothing could have stopped him from being ring side. Though, the Berets, the crew Lencho was associated with could have replaced many by the ringside, but they were the only ones. Manny’s job at ringside was to get it organized, so he did in a meticulous manner.

Albert was up to fight first, and his opponent was Rochel Johnson, Boise’s brother. The fight ended soon after it began. Albert only lasted two minutes in the ring with Rochel. For the most part, Albert was backing away from Rochel throughout the whole fight, until Lencho cried, “charge!” With that, Albert charged, but it didn’t do him much good, because Rochel saw him coming from a mile away. Albert tripped and stumbled onto the crowd, and in seeing this, Coach Mazzini mercifully waved the fight over. Chico was supposed to fight the second match, but when Manny was through with taking Albert to the locker room, to his surprise he saw Chico coming in. Unready for the match, and after seeing the damage on Albert, he was about to walk away from it all. That’s when Manny once more stepped up, and told him he can’t back down, unless he’s scared of course. With Manny’s words, Chico got prepared and headed out to the ring. When the first bell rang, Chico immediately began to attack his opponent. He was aiming for his stomach, but mostly hit his arms and shoulders. Chico’s opponent was Malcolm Augustus, who had biology class with Manny. Surprised at first by Chico’s aggressiveness, Malcolm soon clamed down and began to swing back at Chico’s head with jabs. Both fighters were strong until the third round, until Chico got hit with the bomb. Chico was doing somewhat well, until he tried to duck a jab and come inside, but instead ran into Malcolm’s elbow. He was out cold, and there was no way he was getting up. The fight was over! If it wasn’t for the deadly elbow, we might have seen round four!

With the end to Chico’s and Malcolm’s fight, the crowd began to talk about Lencho and Boise, and how they wanted to see them fight. Both were extremely tuff individuals, and there was no knowing who would win, until they settled it in the ring. That’s exactly what had happened too, Lencho and Boise went at it in the ring. The first round was intense; both fighters throwing deadly rights, and combinations. It was the meanest fight of the night, and there was no doubt about it. When the rounds began it was somewhat clear of the winner of all the rounds. Boise was mostly the more aggressive one, the one who threw more blows and actually landed them. Though, Lencho would smile when the blow’s seized to a stop, as if they didn’t faze him one bit. By the third round, Lencho was really in for it, and Manny wasn’t sure what Lencho’s plan to begin with! Boise threw punches that landed like sledgehammers, and when they landed, Manny saw Lencho’s jaw vibrate like electricity just ran through it. More rounds had passed, and the misery didn’t stop for Lencho. But, finally, Mr. Hart rang the bell, the fight was over! Lencho lost the fight! At the fight, Lencho’s crew was there, the Beret’s, and they witnessed it all. Due to the results of the fight, they decided to kick Lencho out, saying that he was an embarrassment to the crew. Manny didn’t leave Lencho alone by the ring though, he knew that he must have felt horrible deep inside. When everybody exited the gymnasium, Manny walked up to Lencho, and began to work on the gloves because Lencho needed them to be unwrapped. Once more, a sign of maturity in Manny was shown, he’s realizing how others are feeling, and trying to comfort them to an extent.

Quotation: "Right then no one was around, except me, and Lencho kept searching for somebody to take off his gloves... I went over and began peeling the tape and undoing the laces-because Lencho wanted somebody to take off his gloves" (Martinez 139).


Reaction: Manny did not only take off the gloves because Lencho needed someone to take them off, I believe that he felt bad for the guy and wanted to abet him. In the novel we have seen Manny coming of age, getting more mature and becoming a man. He’s done many great things that were great examples. For one, he comforted his sister when the father was arrested by the police. And the most recent example of his coming of age is helping Lencho when he was in a sorrow state of mind. The character Manny, which is our protagonist, must have desires, if not, then he’s not a character at all! We are in luck, because I have found the true desire’s of Manny Hernandez, he wants to be a vato firme. A vato firme is the type of guy who people respect.

Manny wants to be respected, and I respect that!
Why? Well, for one, most males want to be respected, and not just viewed as an individual who people could walk all over on.