The Plum Plum Pickers: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Plum Plum Pickers" explores the lives and struggles of characters within the context of agricultural labor and the socio-economic dynamics of migrant workers. Central to the narrative is Manuel Gutierrez, a Chicano farmworker who strives to maintain pride in his heritage while grappling with the harsh realities of his labor conditions. His wife, Lupe, is depicted as a devoted mother, focused on creating a healthy environment for their children, despite the bleak prospects that loom over them.
Ramiro Sanchez represents a voice of resistance, drawing from Mexico's revolutionary past to advocate for the rights and dignity of farmworkers, reflecting a broader desire for independence from oppressive systems. The character of Frederick Y. Turner, the compound owner, embodies the excessive self-interest of American capitalism, often disregarding the humanity of those who toil for his profit. In contrast, Morton J. Quill, the Anglo manager, reveals the personal turmoil faced by those complicit in such systems, struggling with his own insecurities and illusions of power. Lastly, Jim Schroeder serves as a beacon of solidarity, offering support to the workers while rejecting the exploitative practices common in the industry. Collectively, these characters illustrate the complex interplay between identity, labor, and resistance in a challenging socio-economic landscape.
The Plum Plum Pickers: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Raymond Barrio
First published: 1969
Genre: Novel
Locale: The Santa Clara Valley, California
Plot: Social realism
Time: The 1960's
Manuel Gutierrez (gew-tee-EH-rrehs), a Chicano farmworker from Texas. Seeking to assert his Mexican heritage and its celebration of the land's potential, Manuel struggles to define himself through the value of his work. He is not ashamed of physical labor, viewing himself as the crucial link between the ripening plums that either will provide sustaining nutrition or, left unattended, will fall to the ground and rot. Unconvinced by the rhetoric of the growers that the conditions of his life are steadily improving and that he will someday reap the benefits of his labor, Manuel clings to his integrity of self-identity, even when he is reduced to the status of a caged animal.
Lupe Gutierrez (LEW-pay), Manuel's wife and the mother of his three children. She cleans their tiny shack on the compound, obsessed with providing the best possible conditions for the children's health. Although she realizes the ever-present threat of agricultural accidents and the narrowness of her children's lives, she keeps hoping to escape the probable destiny of her children of following their father into farm labor.
Ramiro Sanchez (rah-MEE-roh SAHN-chehz), a mestizo who urges the crews to claim their independence from the abuse of the growers. Cynical toward any particular ideological salvation, Ramiro pieces together various bits of revolutionary ideas while vociferously protesting any denigration of his crew or himself. He sees himself as heir to Mexico's revolutionary heritage. His strength and courage rest in his image of himself as Tenochtitlán, a god reborn to lead his people into salvation.
Frederick Y. Turner, the owner of the Western Grande migrant compound. Turner believes he is the triumph of American business and the embodiment of the self-made man. He has lied so much that he has come to believe his own lies. Eccentric in his hobbies and brash in his political manipulations, Turner has lost any recognition of the humanity of the migrants who make him rich.
Morton J. Quill, the Anglo manager of the Western Grande compound. Caught between his self-loathing and his fantastic projections of power, Quill opens the novel in fear of being attacked and closes it with his lynched corpse dangling from a tree. He never seems to grasp the fake realities that Turner constructs all around him, including that of his own importance.
Jim Schroeder, a local Anglo nursery owner. Defiant of Turner's ruthless attitude and disgusted by his exploitation, Schroeder supports the workers in their quest for labor reforms. He works beside his farmworkers, whom he pays a fair wage. Not fearful of physical work, he embodies the pastoral ideal struggling to survive in an environment of corporate indifference.