Drown

The structure of a novel enables it to embody, integrate and communicate its content by revealing its role in the creation and perception of it. A complex structure such as that of Robert Drewe’s work The Drowner, published in 1996, refers to the interrelation or arrangement of parts in a complex entity1. Drewe’s novel is a multi-faceted epic love story presenting a fable of European ambitions in an alien landscape, and a magnificently sustained metaphor of water as the life and death force2. The main concerns of the novel include concerns about love, life, death and human frailty. These concerns are explored through the complex structure of the novel. That is, through its symbolic title, prologues, and division into sections. The

As mentioned earlier, the first literature relating to Latin America where from an outside view and opinion. Now with the Chicano literature of the 1970s and ’80s we get a more direct perspective from Latinos themselves. Of course many centuries have passed since the early writings but now works are more sophisticated and adapted to fit the needs of expression and ideas. One of the great more modern writers is Tomás Rivera, known famously for writing "…And the Earth Did Not Devour Him" which is also seen in film. In his work we can see various 'chapters' or stories that even though they are short in length they carry a heavy message towards the reader. In this message he presents the hard life of many Chicanos and downs of everyday living for migrant Hispanic workers. In his book there is not a short citation that would fully explain the deplorable situation and circumstances that occur in the lives of the people.

Junot Diaz was born in the Dominican Republic and immigrated with his family to New Jersey, where a collection of his short stories are based from. Out of that collection is a short story “Fiesta, 1980”, which was featured in The Best American Short Stories, 1997. This story is told from the perspective of an adolescent boy, who lives in the Bronx of northern New Jersey with his family. He is having trouble understanding why things are the way they are in his family. Diaz shows Yunior’s character through his cultures, his interaction with his family, and his bitterness toward his father.

     “The fact that I am writing to you in English already falsifies what I wanted to tell you.”(Diaz)

Rodriguez's parents think they are doing the best job possible raising their three children. Being a lower class family, money was not something that was always available. His mother and father can always supply them with love and nurturing. The way they let their children know they are special and close is to talk to them in their private language. His parents could not speak good English; they could not translate their terms of endearment for the children without the saying losing its meaning. "Using Spanish, he (the father) was quickly effusive...his voice would spark, flicker, flare alive with varied sounds." Only speaking English, the father is a completely different person. Speaking Spanish is was a loud vivid man, only using English changed him into a quiet, often thought shy person. In society's eyes, speaking Spanish at home further damages their children's' chance at a bright future. "My mother grew restless, seemed troubled and anxious at the scarceness of words exchanged in the house." His mother carries a burden of frustration for what she thinks is best for her children. It is puzzling why they didn't set aside a special family time for only speaking in Spanish. Were the nuns and society so intimidating to Rodriguez's

     Rodriguez's parents think they are doing the best job possible raising their three children. Being a lower class family, money was not something that was always available. His mother and father can always supply them with love and nurturing. The way they let their children know they are special and close is to talk to them in their private language. His parents could not speak good English; they could not translate their terms of endearment for the children without the saying losing its meaning. "Using Spanish, he (the father) was quickly effusive...his voice would spark, flicker, flare alive with varied sounds.? Only speaking English, the father is a completely different person.

The novel How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, by Julia Alvarez, illustrates these challenges. Throughout the novel, we see how different aspects of culture shock impact the Garcia family. In this essay I will discuss how particular events change each family member’s Dominican cultural values and identity.

The family structure in the two cultures varies greatly. In U.S. culture boys and girls are encouraged to go and try new things. The kids only work to provide themselves with pleasures while they’re parents provide the necessities. However, , the boys in the film wake up before dawn to go pick in order to earn money to support their families financially. Some of the boys even had to quit the cross country team in order to put food on the table. They do not work to buy themselves a car as Valles says he runs because he can’t afford a car. The boys started from the bottom and fought their way to the top as many Latinos have to do whereas in the U.S. some poeple start at the top to only get higher because of the many opportunities given to them. Another almost comical difference in cultures is the chicken offered to White and his family. There is a different sense of welcoming given from a live object versus say a pie as is seen in U.S. culture. The entire town seems to have a close relationship. This is proven by the water the boys take from the little store and when the store owner gives White a coke after running. ALso, when the town comes togewther to throw Jamie a quincenera and when they all support the boys at the state championship. The Latino culture calls for much more intimacy in

There is a notion that people in society have been trying to obtain the “American Dream” forever. These dreams breed and give birth to different patterns and concepts, such as fear and desire. Drown by Junot Diaz reflects the fears and desires associated with the struggles of immigrants. Yunior the main character in Drown faces struggles with those. Yunior’s fears of losing his cultural identity, but at the same time being an outsider. The fear of falling short and not gaining power is something he grapples with. Yunior desires to surpass his father, and become a better man than him. While he also desires to become a part of the dominate culture and retain the Dominican Republic values. Despite reaching for the ideals of the American Dream,

Junot Díaz, unlike most authors, has an ability to tell his stories without the use of large, descriptive passages. With only a few words he can immerse his readers into the environment of his stories, such as the subject work, Drown. Whether in a comfortable suburb or a decrepit neighborhood, Junot Diaz is skilled in producing active scenes with minimal words in his piece Drown. As Barbara Stewart writes about Junot’s work in Outsider with a Voice, “The New Jersey of which [Junot] writes is the one he knows: a place of blue-collar towns and Latino immigrants, of tostones (mashed fried plantains) and malls and roads where ‘beer bottles grow out of the weeds like squashes’” (New York Times, 8 Dec. 1996). I agree with Stewart’s assertion that, “[Junot] writes about the [place] he knows” because of his rich environmental descriptions, and the way he uses this information to provide context within Drown. Díaz uses his language to immerse the reader into his works. One chapter within Drown that illustrates this well is “Aurora”, a chapter centered on the life of drug dealer Lucero and his romantic endeavors with a questionable woman named Aurora. Díaz uses his careful word choice to illustrate the story setting, to provide context clues, and to provide a deeper meaning to the text in “Aurora”.

As a Hispanic that grew up in the American culture I can relate to numerous parts in the book where I have had that obstacle come my way and having to think why did I chose to do this instead of that. I can relate to this book for all the gender stop point and obstacles that are put in place by the Hispanic culture. But just how in the book the father overcame the Dominican dictatorship, I have learned to overcome the hesitations that are thrown at me for being an independent Hispanic woman. I can see why the Garcia sisters are faced with being in between two worlds and finding a place to call home. It may be difficult to chose, but the right decision to take is always outside of what society or everyone else is expected of you to be seen as.

During the Mexican-American War the border moved, but the people didn’t. History has shown us that no matter how thick the border might be Latino Americans have a strong connection to their culture and roots; instead of assimilating, Mexicans live between two worlds. The film, Ballad of Gregorio Cortez gave us a perspective of two cultures; “Two cultures- the Anglo and the Mexican- lived side by side in state of tension and fear” . Cortez is running for his life as he heads north, while the Anglo believe that because of his Mexican ethnicity, he would travel south to Mexico. Throughout the film there were cultural tensions and misunderstandings; language plays an important part of someone’s identity, and for many Latino Americans Spanish is their first language. The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez also shows us that language plays an important role, and can cause confusion between two different groups. For example, Anglos refer to a male

To practice machismo, also known as masculinity in a Dominican culture, males have to hide their flaws and act a certain way. If men express their un-masculine nature, they will be seen as expressing their weakness. In Drown written by Junot Díaz, contains many stories about Dominican Republic male struggles as an immigrant in America. One of the struggles Díaz expresses in his text is appearing masculine in society’s eyes. From the story “Drown”, the unnamed narrator expresses what it means to be masculine. “Boyfriend” is a story about another unnamed narrator observing his neighbor’s relationship, and comparing it to his own past. Yunior, the narrator of the story “Negocios”, explains the history of his father Papi, also known as Ramón. Society creates many definitions for what it means to be masculine, leading the narrator from “Drown”, the narrator from “Boyfriend”, and Ramón struggling to choose between doing what they want for themselves, or do what society wants to see.

We can find the same life style with Hispanic people, normally each teenager have a different life style. Every family past throw good, bad experiences in which the teens get involved and affected by the change that happed in his family ties. John let us know who is the rich teen, the special girl, the nerd and the problematic guy. I think we all know someone with one of this type of personality. In the back of each one of this teens, there is a family who can be the cause of they conduct and education. In my opinion, I don’t think they are families exaggerations. Always there is going to be the good and bad, it is just who it should be. In the book, Miles is seem like a guy with a good life his family love him and they do everything for they soon. Chip (the coronel) is a troubled boy who never knew his father, but he wants a better life for his mother who has passed through a sad life. Alaska, is a special girl who seem her mother died and she lived with the sadness in her hearth, she even had a family. I considered this tree teens the main ones, because they are completely different buy always together like good friend, just exactly who it should

All the stories in the book had a specific theme that somehow identifies the Latino culture. The most known theme is “mi casa es su casa”. This saying is important in the Latino culture because it shows our friendliness and our caring for one another. Mi casa su casa means that we give a shelter to our families or friends who are in need. Especially, to our family members who are traveling from different states or countries. We provide them with shelter while they look for a job a job and are able to get a home of their own. Another reason for that is