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Leticia Neria PhD thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText ...

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friend: ‘Estos huesos son los que dan dinero a manos llenas’. This is something we<br />

would like to say openly about police extortion. Again, we find this moment funny<br />

because the situation describes the violation of a rule that expects policemen to be<br />

truthful and not accept bribes. If we consider the police as our anti<strong>thesis</strong>, then the<br />

enjoyment will be greater. Also, if we do not feel sympathy for the policeman’s wife,<br />

we will also greatly enjoy it when Borola beats her because the lady refuses to lend her<br />

money.<br />

As we have seen, politicians are some of the favourite characters to make fun of<br />

and criticise. In La Familia Burrón, Juanón Teporochas, another town cacique, believes<br />

that his friend Briagoberto Memelas has died, and he organises a funeral which a large<br />

crowd attends. When his assistant expresses surprise at Juanón’s ability to summon<br />

people, Juanón replies: ‘¿Tú crees que llegué a cacique por menso y tarugo? Soy<br />

político y sé manejar la borregada’. 161 Juanón is contradicting what Borola, and some<br />

other characters, think about politicians, since he states that because he is smart, he can<br />

bring people to political meetings. In this act of humour, it is temporarily allowed to<br />

discuss how politicians used to bring people to propaganda events. Here we see a<br />

politician admitting his fault, denigrating himself and all politicians in similar<br />

positions. 162 Pointing to this fault reminds us of the existence of the fault. We enjoy<br />

making fun about the politicians, criticising and ridiculing them, pointing to the<br />

problems that should be changed and making them look ridiculous. However, reality is<br />

as ridiculous as the scenes in the comic books. About this, Eco writes that ‘el humor<br />

intenta restablecer y reafirmar el marco roto. No funciona para que aceptemos ese<br />

161 La Familia Burrón, 17228, p. 26.<br />

162 Borregada is a way to refer to the people who participate in event or accept whatever is ordered<br />

without questioning. Lara, Diccionario del español… [accessed 8<br />

April 2011]<br />

134

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