My informant for this piece is my aunt, who heard this story as a child. She has strong ties to her hispanic heritage, and shared with me a common Mexican myth.

Informant:

“El Cucuy is a Mexican tradition, the Mexican version of the Bogeyman. I was told, obey your parents or else El Cucuy will get you.”

My analysis:

The Bogeyman in this narrative is clearly being utilized by parents as a means to scare children into obedience. It is  clearly not intended to represent a real creature, instead the status as the bogeyman meant to play on the child’s imagination through the possible appearance of an unknowable monster.  In addition, the vagueness of the statement implies that the creature has some omnipotent ability to know if a child is misbehaving, and therefore, they must always be on their guard. Although this version of the tale is short, it is effective as it gives just enough information for a small child  to be wary of whether or not their parent is telling the truth.