English & Literature

Who is Manuel Carmona from Collected Short Stories Volume Three and what is their importance? W._Somerset_Maugham English & Literature Manuel Carmona | Collected Short Stories Volume Three

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Manuel Carmona is the comical character known as the Hairless Mexican. He claims to have been a General in Huerta's army. This Mexican's outstanding characteristic is that he has no visible body hair. No eyebrows, no arm hair, no hair on his head. He wears wigs, which Ashenden considers comical. R. admits to Ashenden that he does not completely trust the Mexican but that he believes that the Mexican will do the job he had been hired to do. R.'s belief is unfounded because the Mexican winds up killing the wrong man. Ashenden suspects from the beginning of the story that the Mexican is not capable of doing his job. In the end of the story Ashenden refers to the Mexican as what he really is, a bloody fool.