Analysis Of Junot Diaz 's ' The Dreamer '

“Negocios”, a story from Junot Díaz’s drown, provides an indepth look into the life of an immigrant from the Dominican Republic trying to make a life for him and his family in the United States. Ramon is constantly faced with difficult challenges but he shows an amazing amount of determination to achieve his goal of providing his family with a better life.

“Salvador, late or early, sooner or later arrives with the string of younger brother’s ready” Poverty stricken Salvador is plagued daily with the responsibility of his brother’s, seen as an invisible nobody at school, and aches with not having a break from this endless cycle, but none of it breaks Salvador’s spirit. He is an engine that keeps running, despite being mistreated, uncared for, and beaten. It’s amazing that Salvador, with his “geography of scars,” and “history of hurt,” hasn’t lost hope. He hasn’t lost hope because he thinks not of how difficult his situation is at the moment, but of the better future soon to come. A future where Salvador’s mama isn’t so busy, a future where they won’t eat corn flakes from a tin cup, a future where his crayons aren’t “little fingers of red, green, yellow, blue” or “nubs of black sticks that tumble,” He remains going everyday with his hopes that keep him going locked inside deep somewhere as he fulfills his responsibilities day to day. Salvador is also kept going by the love he gets from his brothers. Salvador’s name literally means ‘Savior’ and to his little brothers, he is their savior. He provides them with everything his mother can’t give them and with the love they give back to Salvador, he finds strength and keeps pushing forward. “Helps his mama with the business of the baby” Mature Salvador is. Salvador did learn to adapt to his life and became quite mature

The second turning point is like a surge of hope amongst the sadness. We are brought a new perspective of the scholarship boy from his reading of the book “The Uses of Literacy”. Rodriguez learns he is not alone in his feelings, “For the first time I realized that there were other students like me, and so I was able to frame the meaning of my academic success, its

Enrique’s journey from Honduras to the U.S. unveils the innate loyalty of a loving child to their mother and presents the dangers that a migrant faces on the road with consistent angst; nevertheless, it supports the idea that compassion shown by some strangers can boost the retreating confidence within a person. In Sonia Nazario’s “Enrique’s Journey,” he seeks the beacon of light that all migrants hope to encounter; “El Norte.” Like many children before him, it is the answer to the problems of a hard life. While being hunted down “like animals” leading to “seven futile attempts,” he is

It is not just the language of the Dominican culture that we find characters struggling to hold onto in Díaz’s Drown. We also find that the characters walk a fine line of defining themselves as newly Dominican American, and it seems they feel pressured to leave behind their old ways and traditions to join their new society. In the short story “Fiesta, 1980,” we find many examples of the family being torn between their Dominican customs and assimilating to their new American life. This story begins with the explanation of Papi’s most prized possession: a brand-new, lime-green, Volkswagen van. Much to Yunior’s chagrin (due to the fact that he gets sick every time he rides in the vehicle), this van means a lot to Papi, because to him, it represents an American family. According to John Riofrio (2008), “it[the van] is the embracing of the American way which has reenabled Papi’s masculinity,” (p. 33). After arriving at their Tia and Tio’s home for the party, Yunior sneers at his relatives’ apartment stating, “the place had been furnished in Contemporary Dominican Tacky” (p. 32). It seems as though Yunior, after only a short period in America, is already feeling embarrassed by his culture’s traditions. This chapter of the book also discusses the betrayal of Yunior’s father to his family, by having an affair with a Puerto Rican woman, whom

The book Esperanza Rising, by Pam Munoz Ryan, gives readers a reason to never be afraid of starting over. The main character named Esperanza, is faced with several challenging situations as a young girl. These challenging events are life changing at times, which forces her to make adult decisions at young age. The life Esperanza is forced to live is unfortunately a reality to many Mexican families that made the move to the United States in search of the American Dream. Events faced by Esperanza’s family alongside workers of the El Rancho de las Rosas, which Esperanza’s family owned, forces Esperanza to change into a mature young teenage female. Munoz Ryan shows Esperanza’s character change by challenges she is faced with. The outcome of these events show growth within her young life by the emotions Esperanza expresses. Throughout the book Munoz Ryan uses symbolism to show growth and change within all characters. However; it is obvious to see the symbolic aspects the author provides related to Esperanza’s changes. The author faces Esperanza with different events to help remind her of a once wealthy life along with her current immigrant life style. As a whole many factors influence Esperanza's change. In the onset of Esperanza Rising, Esperanza is a wealthy, spoiled and dependent eight year old child, due to life changing events, she matures into an independent and mature teenage female.

The purpose of this story is to show that your childhood does not define your whole life. Diaz obviously had a rough childhood at times. Especially moving into the United States from the Dominican. His family did not have many funds, to give him all the things he needed. This did not stop him from succeeding on his own though. Diaz went on to graduate high school, something that most

A man is insensible to appreciate prosperity until he has tasted adversity. Adverse situations shape an individual’s identity and play a significant role in one’s life by shaping personal values, determining one’s own potential and self worth. Khaled Hosseini conveys how hardships shape individuals identities through the characters of Amir, Baba, Hassan and Ali in his novel The Kite Runner. Like every individual they go through a series of incidents and hardships that shape who they become and how well they deal with struggles in

Reyna Grande is a successful and amicable novelist, How did she get this way? It is inspiring to see someone from such an unfortunate background and can achieve so much in her life. Outliers: A Story of success by Malcolm Gladwell speaks about how one can be fostered into success. Not only has she mastered the art of writing, she has also used her hardships in her life, to light a fire in her heart that has continued to help on her journey to success. Gladwell examines the theory of the 10,000 hour rule, as well as the Matthew effect. Grande has gone through a lot in her life, and that is why the successes that Grande was able to achieve are truly inspiring. Reyna Grande’s external successes came from her ability to capitalize on Gladwell’s rules of success, like the 10,000 Hour rule, the Matthew effect, and grit.

Although the book’s titular character is Oscar de Leon, he shares chapters with his sister, his mother, his college roommate, Yunior (revealed to be the book’s narrator), and his mother’s parents, the Cabrals. By representing a family with different personalities—Oscar is overweight, and nerdy while Lola is powerful and independent, for example—Díaz creates a microcosm for all Dominican immigrants. Each chapter (and character) in the past is melded into the story in the present, and in this way, the momentum and excitement is never lost until the very last

As children grow up in a dysfunctional family, they experience trauma and pain from their parent’s actions, words, and attitudes. With this trauma experienced, they grew up changed; different from other children. The parent’s behavior affects them and whether they like it or not, sometimes it can influence them, and they can react against it or can repeat it. In Junot Díaz’s “Fiesta, 1980”, is presented this theme of the dysfunctional family. The author presents a story of an adolescent Latin boy called Junior, who narrates the chronicles of his dysfunctional family, a family of immigrants from the Dominican Republic driving to a party in the Bronx, New York City. “Papi had been with

“Aguantando” means holding on. In the very first paragraph we see how important it is for the narrator, Yunior, to hold on to his father’s memory. Yunior lives with his mother (Mami), grandfather (Abuelo) and brother (Rafa). They live in a house where anything of value, including furniture, food, clothing and even Mami’s Bible is stained from a leaky roof. As a Hispanic male, believe me when I tell you there is nothing more sacred than Mami’s Bible in that home. Yet it is clear how important Papi’s pictures are because they’re always in a plastic sandwich bag to keep them dry. It’s also clear that Papi leaving was the

Growing up poor in the Dominican Republic strongly influenced the choices Yunior makes later in his life. In “Aguantando” Yunior recalls about how poverty was a part of his life. Díaz writes, “We were poor. The only way we could have been

This novel is partially based on the author’s childhood of poverty and personal fears of abandonment when her parents left her and her siblings with grandparents to find work on “the other side.” As Grande has shared in interviews about the book, she wanted to tell the story of those who are left behind.

Saddened but also encouraged by her friends’ experiences, Esperanza wants to become a writer, and change her dreams into reality.