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

sistema de valores, pero por lo menos nos obliga a reconocer su existencia’. 163 To notice
the fault, does not force us to admit our destiny, but uncovers the broken rule, as if we
belonged to a distorted reality such as the one portrayed in the comic. Sadly, that is
exactly how Mexican reality is portrayed.
In Los Agachados, Licenciado Trastupijes wants to jail the hippies who are in
Chayotitlán. Nopalzin is arrested because he looks just like a hippy: ‘…son unos
greñudos que andan con guitarras y en fachas medio raras.’ 164 When he is presented to
Trastupijes, Trastupijes tries to speak to him in English believing that Nopalzin is a
foreigner. Nopalzin starts making fun of Trastupijes by saying random words and
sentences in English that are related with products or well-known slogans. In this case,
Nopalzin is making fun of the authority, a violation of a norm since we would not
behave like that if we were arrested. The licenciado is also shown as absentminded, not
recognising his fellow citizen, not a flattering description for the authority. But even
when Nopalzin is in trouble we might not be concerned about his luck. This may be
because he is an animalistic character who deserves his fortune, or because we
understand that comic characters are indestructible as discussed in chapter one, and we
trust that misfortunes will be overcome.
In chapter one, we saw that in order to recognise the violation of a rule, it is
essential to recognise the code that has been broken. When Borola wants to fly in Floro
Tinoco’s personal plane, a small plane in which Floro can hardly squeeze, Floro refuses.
Borola gets angry with him and complains by saying: ‘¡Egoísta, mal amigo,
comunista!’ 165 The plane, Floro and the scene itself are illogical because of the
proportions of the plane and Floro, and the idea of a personal mini-plane being used in
163 Eco, ‘Los marcos de…’, p. 17.
164 Rius, Los Agachados de Rius… p. 50.
165 La Familia Burrón, 16950, p. 7.
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