Comprachicos is a complex Spanish neologism, literally translated as “buyers of children” and mentioned by Victor Hugo in the novel “The Man Who Laughs”. This name refers to hypothetically existing groups that supposedly changed the physical appearance of children, inflicting deliberate injuries on them. The most common methods that were used in this practice included stunting by tightening the body, putting muzzles on the faces to deform them, changing the cut of the eyes, breaking bones and joints. The resulting underdeveloped and crippled human beings were doomed to lead a miserable, humiliating, but in some sense commercially advantageous existence.
"The man who laughs"
In the center of the novel of the French writer is the story of a young aristocrat kidnapped and mutilated by malefactors in order to cut out a permanent evil grin to him. In the book of Victor Hugo, comprachicos are described quite comprehensively. But there is no real evidence of their existence. This is probably still a fiction. Comprachikos are the very abductors to whom the article is devoted.
Case study
According to a study by John Boynton Kaiser, published in the Journal of the American Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology, Victor Hugo gave us a fairly accurate picture of many of the characteristic details of 17th century England. The word "comprachicos" is used to describe people symbolizing the savagery and barbaric customs of the past. Much of what today seems unimaginable in its cruelty for the 17th century could be an ordinary everyday routine. This is especially true of crime.
Activities
It is believed that the most common freaks created by members of the Comprachicos gang are artificial dwarfs. There were a lot of them in Europe during the writer's life. Many dwarfs worked as court jesters. According to the assumptions of some historians, the children mutilated by comprachikos (photos have not been preserved) could be found in European cities of the 18-19th century.
Gang members digested their children’s eyes, mutilated their mouths, broke their bones, and possibly drove them crazy. Theoretically, in addition to circus freaks, they could make representatives of some extremely unpopular professions - janitors, executioners, pickpockets, and so on. Due to the demand for dwarfs and other freaks in the royal courts, the occupation of their "production" could be quite profitable.
The art of creating freaks
If you believe the authors of the novels, the craft of the attackers can be compared with the art of bonsai or Chinese woodcarving. By limiting the growth of children and causing serious injuries, they seemed to set the direction for their further development. Some children were brought by criminals to such a state that even their parents could not recognize them. Using various chemicals, criminals managed to change the memory of their victims, causing partial amnesia.
Our days
The term "comprachicos" is a word very rarely used in the modern language, with the exception of references or references in urban legends. There is a story known at least since the 1980s, which refers to a Japanese bride who disappeared during a honeymoon in Europe. A few years later, her husband discovers that she was abducted, mutilated and forced to work in a freak show.
The word "comprachicos" was used as a derogatory term applied to individuals and organizations that manipulate the minds and views of children in a certain way in order to permanently distort their beliefs or worldview. The twentieth-century philosopher, Ayn Rand, in her Comprachicos article, called the educators of her time “Comprachicos of the Human Mind”. Her criticism was directed primarily at educational progressives, as well as at teachers of primary and secondary schools, who, in her opinion, used psychologically harmful teaching methods.
In popular culture
In the 2010 album Immersion of the Australian band Drum and Bass Pendulum, one of the songs was named Comprachicos. It sings about criminal manipulations and restraint in development.
In the 2011 comic "Batman and Robin No. 26," there was a villain whose father mutilated him after reading the notorious novel.
Some details
Presumably in Spain in the 14th and 15th centuries there really was an occult or secret society called comprachicos, whose mission was to kidnap and mutilate children for the sake of the mercenary goals of individuals.
The fact is that both Rand and Ellroy refer to Hugo in their works, but it is difficult to find any historical report about this sect. One can only try to find out what is true: whether it was a figment of the French prose writer’s imagination, the long-standing myth that he used to write the work, or a real group that left an invisible mark on history.
Influence
Comprachicos are also mentioned in Mike Parker's book “The Greatest Freaks of the World,” which contained a small section on this criminal community. Parker probably also obtained information directly from the fictional story presented in the novel.
The gloomy story of the great French novelist arouses painful curiosity in people - many would like to know whether such a group of cruel "creators of freaks" existed at least sometime or not. But the reader already knows the answer to this question thanks to the facts described in the article, referring us exclusively to literary works that have no relation to real life.
Origin
Comprachicos is a distorted version of the Spanish word Compraquenos, which is also supposedly translated as “buyers of children.” It is noteworthy that the writer specifically says that comprapepeños (the original Spanish word) did not steal their victims: they bought them from parents who were too poor to care for them, or even picked up abandoned babies.
When researching this topic, one may come across some interesting facts about Victor Hugo. To some extent, he was associated with Freemasons and / or Illuminati. Although the writer is not listed on the websites of Masons as one of the famous members of a lodge, but rumors about his participation in secret societies go stubbornly.
Hugo was also an occultist and supposedly drew a lot of inspiration (besides the fairy tale of the beauty and the beast) for his novel from a series of magical sessions in which he personally participated when he lived on the Jersey coast in England. This fact definitely provides food for thought.
In addition, the writer was inspired by the Chinese art of creating dwarfs. According to apocryphal legends, in China there was a custom consisting in placing a child in a special vase. The baby grew inside this vase, his body was deformed, completely repeating its shape. When the child reached a certain age, the vase was broken, and the freak resulting from this sadistic operation was used to entertain the Chinese nobility. There is also "mass production" of crippled children in India, which are then used as beggars.
Conclusion
Although this group, most likely, was invented by the writer, the craft of comprachicos is terrifying and makes you think about real analogues of this organization. Children abducted by the comprachicos became real cripples, and if such a community existed, numerous witnesses would help expose it. Or at least they would give us comprehensive information about him.
In addition, the legend of inhuman criminals excites the minds of our contemporaries. Many see them as an archetype of invisible conspirators who secretly command the fate of the world. They decide in advance which of the children will live and who will die. Who will spend a happy childhood, and who is destined to lurk in gloomy and cold casemates, waiting until they are acquired by some perverted aristocrat.
Photo comprachikos does not exist, but very often they are portrayed as mysterious masked people. Masks emphasize the fact of obscurity and mystery. Does the world know about their existence for sure?