Manuel Gomez

Manuel Gomez was a citizen of the West Coast Democratic People's Republic. He ran a junk shop next to Charlie Simpkins' grocery for about fifteen years. He was married and had a son named Vissarion.

While Gomez shared Simpkins cynicism about the system, he was cowed and willing to play by the system's rules. Thus, he taped up the poster "POWER SPRINGS FROM THE BARREL OF A GUN" in his shop as required by the state prior to a round of elections. When Vissarion told him that Simpkins had not put up his poster, Gomez went over to see for himself at closing time. He warned Simpkins that this was a bad idea, but Simpkins was resolute, so Gomez simply wished him luck. On the other hand, he didn't go out of his way to tell the authorities.