The Children of Sanchez

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Children of Sanchez is a 1959 novel by American anthropologist Oscar Lewis about a Mexican family living in the Mexico City slum of Tepito. Due to criticisms expressed by members of the family regarding the PRI government and Mexican presidents such as Adolfo Ruiz Cortines and Adolfo López Mateos, and its being written by a foreigner, the book was banned in Mexico for a few years before pressure from literary figures resulted in its publication.

The Children of Sanchez is a 1959 novel by American anthropologist Oscar Lewis about a Mexican family living in the Mexico City slum of Tepito. Jesus Sanchez, the father, age fifty, and his four children: Manuel, age twenty-two; Roberto, twenty-nine; Consuelo, twenty-seven; and Marta, twenty-five. My purpose is to give the reader an inside view of family life and of what it means to grow up in a one-room home in a slum tenement in the heart of a great Latin American city which is undergoing a process of rapid social and economic change. Due to criticisms expressed by members of the family regarding the PRI government and Mexican presidents such as Adolfo Ruiz Cortines and Adolfo López Mateos, and its being written by a foreigner, the book was banned in Mexico for a few years before pressure from literary figures resulted in its publication.

[edit] Film

It has been suggested that this section be split into a new article entitled The Children of Sanchez (film). (Discuss)

The film based on the book and with the same title was directed by Hall Bartlett and was released in 1979. It stars Anthony Quinn as Jesús Sánchez, a widowed farmer trying to care for his family in Mexico City. An abusive womanizer, he is a hard worker and feels that by supporting his family financially, he is fulfilling his responsibilities to them. His conflict with his daughter Consuelo (Lupita Ferrer) continues through the entire movie as she attempts to break out of the role of being a submissive daughter. For advice and love, Consuelo goes to her grandmother (Dolores del Río), the family's matriarch that even Consuelo's father respects. The musical score of the movie was written by Chuck Mangione and won a Grammy award.

"Children of Sanchez" is also the title song for the film directed by Hall Bartlett, written by artist Chuck Mangione. The title song earned him a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance. He has written versions of his title song for use in both concert band and marching band environments, both of which share the title of the original song.