The Secret to Success Is the Constancy in the Purpose"

Los Aullidos de Lobo

"The secret to success is the constancy in the purpose"- Benjamin Disraeli.

To society, success has the shape of a big house, with luxury cars, a beautiful wife with slim curves next to a fine young man wearing Oscar de La Renta suits, living in the big cities, working on the top floor of the skyscrapers of wealth. Many would consider themselves successful when finally having a family, others would consider themselves successful if they find true love. Ultimately, society gave a sketch to every person of how success should look like and anything else outside these depictions are disregarded as achievements. In the novel Barrio Bushido, Benjamin Bac Sierra depicts reality from "the barrio's" perspective. Santo, Lobo and Toro are the protagonists of this controversial reality that challenges what society says success is. Each of them has their own distinct definition of success. Toro "always charged forward", as the author said on a lecture; Santo held on to who he was and believed in sacrifice as his destiny, while Lobo always knew that success cannot be unreachable as the "American Dream". For Lobo the pursuit of success had to be a selfish journey to the line of "happy meals" where he was not going to wait, and he would get them at all costs, and he did, yet it didn't make him happy.

Lobo means wolf in Spanish; Wolves are extremely intelligent beings, having great curiosity, the ability to learn quickly, and a full range of emotions people like to attribute to humans alone. Wolves develop complex hunting strategies in order to chase down and capture their prey as a group. Lobo was no exception as he was one with his brothers, who are brothers not in blood but by the blood that they have spilled together out of cruelty. Those who were ‘successful' considered them as the trash of society. Toro and Santo shared with him their "vidas locas". They have always lived their lives running and chasing. Lobo said: "The world was twisted upside down and earthquaked […] So I tell YOU, did you think that just because there's an invisible standard of how society is supposed to be that that is the way it must be […]" (Kindle Locations 254-257). Lobo perceived life successful when living a "Vida Loca" with no remorse, where there is no looking back, and without being afraid of consequences. And because of this, he thought that society was a lie. In Lobo's eyes corruption was part of everybody's lives as he said: "So I put my head up and started the journey that we all go on—that long hard journey to hell—cause I knew I wasn't right, but neither was anyone else. No one got the answers, so I made up my own answers" (385-386). From an early age Lobo already stole, hurt and betrayed other people for Toro's, Santo's and his own interests. He embraced the "barrio", codes that his people have kept due to the rough lives they've had. Lives to whom society turned its back on and labeled them to the skunk of the barrio. He had nothing to prove to society for he was not a part of it, so he decided to live for not only his friends but most importantly for himself. "Tears, smiles, and laughs got me right here to this predicament, and now I'm here, and I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to do, but live, but die, but be who I am and sing my song, but wear my Pendle-Tone, with all of its moth-eaten holes and rusted homeboy medals pinned right above my pumping heart, and struggle and hustle every moment I have"(261-263).

Lobo presented a determined personality as it is described before, but his strong will to obtain success was compromised when he met Sheila. A fierce woman, unafraid. Sheila was the one to put his guard down and to whom he open himself to. Lobo would not trust anyone, for he was sure about humans being ruthless. But once he met Sheila everything changed for him. He flirted with her like flirting with an illusion of being considered normal to society. Lobo knew that a woman like her would not be attracted to a scary wolf, but she was. Sheila was herself with Lobo, and Lobo showed her that he was able to love. He gave Sheila his time, shared with her his dreams, he became vulnerable around her. As he "released a genuine smile from somewhere mysterious in the depth of his soul, and he yanked her into his heart" (426-427). Sheila's relationship with Lobo let him explore a side he did not know he had within himself, until she was put in danger by himself. As the novel continues, Lobo's actions are described as abruptly and impulsive. He was involved in an issue that later on would cost him the most important decisions of his life. Lobo worked as a bodyguard for Kwai Chung who was a very smart and also determined Chinese man, who aspire to go to Harvard. Chung basically only needed Lobo to be with him while he collected his money from bets that he run in the neighborhood, because Lobo had a tough reputation, and the "barrio" knew he did not care about anything. But Chung've had got himself in a dispute with one of his clients named Sasquatch. Sasquatch has been rejected from the triads being Chinese, because he grew up in an african american neighborhood, yet he was not count as as members of the african american gangs either. Sasquatch despised Chung from having such a good business with all the people from the barrio, triads, latinos, and african american. Chung won the respect from all the people he had business with, because he honored his word and payed everyone fairly. Sasquatch gave some troubles to Kwai Chung and refused to pay him for his debts. Chung took the decision to report Sasquatch to the police, and this got Sasquatch in jail. Sasquatch found out that Chung turned him to the police, and he decided that he would make him pay for it. Lobo was given a mission from Kwai Chung, to go to Sasquatch house and get the