Parrots are beautiful, intelligent birds. Mange is a purulent disease caused by parasitic mites that enter the body and cause unsightly sores and incessant irritation. Who or what does The Mangy Parrot refer to? Is Mangy Parrot simply Periquillo's nickname or is it meant to be a metaphor for New Spain? If the parrot is the symbol of the lands and peoples of New Spain: the colonial system of castes and government is the disease that infests the land. Unable to directly publish his views due to censorship, de Lizardi wrote his seemingly funny and entertaining account as a cover for his ideas. Throughout the story Fernández de Lizardi cleverly weaves his true goal which is to increase opposition to colonial social and governmental practices and encourage support for the coming revolution. Lizardi begins his story with the story of how children's hands are tied. Older women tied the hands of children simply because it was done to them and therefore this made it the best policy and the old ways should be followed even when there is no evidence to support them. (de Lizardi, p. 2) When Lizardi began his serialized novel, the Spanish had exercised colonial control for three hundred years. During that time the Enlightenment and the American and French Revolutions took place. The human rights philosophies that fostered those revolutions made many aspects of Spanish colonial rule obsolete and corrupt. The author informs the reader from the beginning that he is done with the old ways and that they no longer deserve to be supported. As the novel progresses, de Lizardi's use of satire grows until his characters make statements so extravagant or unqualified that they cannot be mistaken for anything else... middle of paper..... .bers and Indians to achieve equality in the system must overthrow the system and demand equal treatment and opportunities. The use of humor and satire is only effective when the reader identifies with the kernel of truth at the center of the joke. The amusing story of Periquillo's misadventures was not only an entertaining story but also contained a bitter commentary on the state of colonial rule. Serialization in the native language allowed the story to reach the masses and keep the issue in the public eye by spoon-feeding weekly reports that raised public awareness and increased discontent with the status quo. De Lizardi's fictionalized and unapologetically first-person account of life in New Spain highlighted the corruption, injustice, prejudice, and inequalities in society caused by the colonial caste system and encouraged public support for a revolution.