Drown “The fact that I am writing to you in English already falsifies what I wanted to tell you.” (Diaz) Drown; a compilation of short stories, by Junot Diaz portrays the integration of fiction and truth. Yunior, narrator, as he tells his stories, he exaggerates and jumps from one period of his life to another. The characters of the story can relate to many young adults. Their experiences and the journeys of their lives are what most Hispanic teenagers go through. The 10 different stories explain the different themes shown throughout the book. The Hispanic community faces many problems and Diaz states a couple of them; gender immigration, violence, drugs, family, cultural identity, and the Latin experience.
In the beginning, Yunior and Rafa are both ignorant and show a sign of hate towards Ysrael. The story about Ysrael is that when he was a baby a pig bit him on the face. They find out about Ysrael, because a boy told them a story about him. Yunior and Rafa both show their views of ignorance and hatred towards Ysrael. One day they decide to go and look for him. Once they find him their first attempt is unsuccessful.
Yunior and Rafa are trying to go along with the other kids so they can fit in. But when Yunior befriends Ysrael, he begins to have a serious conversation with him. Yunior is content talking with Ysrael, because he begins to realize that they share similar interest. Also both have family in the states. Yunior believed Ysrael when he told him that he was going to be cured once they had enough money to send him to the States. This was similar to the story Yuniors father had told them.
The Essay on Boccaccio’s 4 Moral Stories
“…that just as stupidity can often remove one from a state of happiness and place him in the greatest misery, so, too can intelligence rescue the wise man from the greatest of dangers and restore him to his secure state” (Boccaccio 93-94) so begins the story of Saladin, who from the beginnings of pecuniary humbleness becomes a sultan, but because of his many wars (with Christians and other ...
Meanwhile, Rafa sees this as his opportunity to see what is underneath the mask. “The mask twitched I realized he was smiling and the my brother brought his arm around and smashed the bottle on top of his head.” (Diaz 18) Once the mask was removed, their journey to see what was underneath it was not what they had expected to see. Instead of being happy by their accomplishment they were instead beginning to feel sick. Diaz uses the character of Ysrael to make a comparison with the immigration of lower class individuals. The boys only recognize the familiar and when Ysrael comes along its bizarre for them because they have never seen someone like him. Similarly with lower class people that get ready to face the hardships of getting accustomed to a new language, culture, and environment.
It’s tough for immigrants when they first arrive because not only are they faced with learning new traditions but also they have to deal with racism and hatred. Diaz demonstrates the theme of immigration and the hope for the American Dream when the father leaves his family behind and comes to the United States. He promises them that he will send money to them so they can go and be reunited once again. But as soon as he arrives he was forgotten about everything he left in the past. He, like any one, will do anything to be granted citizenship, even if it means cheating on his wife. The father loves his family but he didn’t realize that coming here and paying rent and having more responsibilities than before was going to be this hard.
The usage of drugs is a major theme in the stories. The narrator, unknown, in the third story is a drug dealer. Throughout the story his whole life is revolved around drugs. Drugs a very significant subject nowadays, has taken its toll on teenagers. Most of the narrator’s buyers are kids.
His part of the job is to take care of the kids because he is very close to them. The theme of gender can be united with the theme of family. In the beginning, the family is very poor to start off; and when the father immigrated to the United States he leaves a bigger burden on her. Hispanic’s face many struggles in their lives that is why the word family is so strong. The theme of family comes in when the father leaves. They had to learn how to take care of each other and help out around the house.
The Essay on Blackberries: Family And Father
People reflect upon their lives trying to find out when the age of innocence has come to an end. In the short story “Blackberries,” written by Leslie Norris, such simple events take place, but in truth, changes one’s life forever. The tale of a young boy goes through a series of trials and tribulations that first seem almost at the point of nirvana, but in the end leads him to ...
Even though the bond between them isn’t very strong, they will always have their family come first. This is shown when the father comes back and Wilfredo tries to get into Yuniors family business. Rafa becomes infuriated of the fact that Yunior was going to tell Wilfredo about their problems. “Hey, Sinbad, Wilfredo said, his head appearing in our window.
What’s going on? My father wrote us a letter! Rafa rapped me on the side of the head. This is a family affair, Yunior. Don’t blab it all over the place.” (Diaz 81) Culture identity is not known until you find a place with your family. Yunior wasn’t aware of this and since his family was poor he kept on moving around going from one house to another.
Yunior also didn’t want to be himself; he was always following in the footsteps of Rafa. All these themes sum up the Latin Experience. If you are Hispanic most of these problems you have faced already or will face in the future. In conclusion,.
