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The first three chapters of Drown written by Junot Diaz were pretty much interesting and a little confusing as well since Diaz used a lot of informal Spanish words. Therefore, it was challenging for me to figure out what those words meant at the moment. The first chapter reveals how Yunior grows up in a Dominican Republic family and the relation with his elder brother Rafa. It is astonishing how Rafa have been acting obnoxious towards women at this very young age. Rafa is first presented to the reader in ‘Ysrael’, the first story in Drown. He is twelve years old in the story, while Yunior is nine. Rafa engineers the assault of a disfigured youth in the town of Ocoa. He is a boisterous bully who likes girls and sex. On the other hand, Yunior, who is the younger brother in the story, is a sensitive young man who is keenly aware of the people and places around him. Later on, we get to see Rafa and his brother Yunior finds interest in a boy named Ysrael because a pig ate off much of his face when he was a kid and wears a face mask to hide his face which triggered them to find out how he looks like. One summer, those two brothers travel to Ocoa to find Ysrael. They trick him and assault him to see his disfigurement and soon they leave after being able to see his face and do not even regret for doing so.
Chapter 2 is about Yunior’s mom moving to U.S and his dad finding a job allegedly. When his mom’s sister comes to U.S and decides to throw a party, they get exposed to his dads secret affair with a Puerto Rican woman. His father got a short temper and treats his family poorly including Yunior. Yunior surely resents him for the way he treats his mother, yet still wants a good relationship with his father. He is self-aware and witnesses the struggles people like him go through everyday in their lives of poverty and drug abuse. Midway through the story, he decides he does not want to live like this anymore and begins to consciously change his actions to get out.
In chapter three, readers are introduced to the on and off relationship of Yunior with Aurora. YUmior graduates high school and soon starts selling marijuana to earn some cash. His girlfriend, Aurora comes to see him from juvenile after solitary confinement just to have a family with him. Yunior seems like he loves her and wants to help her clean.
Overall, it is a great story so far. I am looking forward to what happens furthermore. I have doubts in my mind about their relationship because Aurora seems violent and abusive.
In chapter 1,2, and 3 of the book “Drown” by Junot Diaz, we’ve met a sum of interesting characters like Yunior, Aurora, and Rafa. These characters are different in their own way like Yunior who is timid and early stand up for himself. For example in chapter one Rafa and Yunior were on the public bus and Yunior had a stain at the bottom part of his waistline. A man suddenly walked up to him and said that stains like that are tough to remove and started rubbing the stain while provocatively touching Yunior penis. Yunior then pushed the man away and publicly stated what had just occurred but then just simply got off the bus letting the man go free.
In the second chapter we also followed the story of Yunior, and Rafa in which they were attending a party also known as a Fiesta. Their parents are called mami and papi and will also be attending the party with them. Papi is a cheater, and a very impulsive man who abuses his family. Papi would go as far to restrict his child Yunior from eating at the party since he has a tendency to throw up in his van because of the awful memory of his dad . On the other hand you have mami who is a very quiet, and a scared mother who cares for her kids even though she lets papi rule over her 100% of the time.
In chapter three, we got to read about the story of Aurora who made some wrong choices in life. She is unfortunately addicted to drugs, and sex which would destroy her life. She was in juvenile detention for six month to kick her habits but soon she returned to the streets. She was homeless, and skinny at the points where you can feel her bone while holding her hands.
All and all I enjoyed reading these chapters and how they are separated into short stories kinda keeps it a little fresh since you are not bored with the same setting and or with one’s point of view.
I have to admit that the changes on the story sometimes doesn’t make any sense. Chapters one and two are really comprensible and understandable, even believable. You have many characters that you could relate with, but every chapter had something incredible… For example, in chapter one, everything was “ok” in every sense, the history was good, nice start, but then they put Ysrael, a character with a horrible history. For many people he’s just something you see every day in Dominican Republic, but for me, as a Dominican I can’t believe no even one word from that history. This sounds like the exaggerated history you do when you’re trying to flex with your others friends or when you don’t know what you actually saw. Despite those lies, I related to Yunior a lot, he is the kind of character that I am, he had a life similar to mine.
In chapter 2, we focus in his complicated relationship with his dad, and the intervention of his mom between that. What the author want us to think, is that Yunior’s dad is a horrible person, maybe focusing on the bad things, maybe evading the good things he may have done. In many parts we can see reflections of that, like when he don’t let Yunior eat. That may have seen as something horrible and inhuman, but that was for Yunior’s good. As a result, I don’t think the figure of Yunior’s dad isn’t as bad as we see.
In chapter 3, here is when I can’t believe the entire chapter, this is a time skip too different, too unbelievable. How are we supposed to think that Yunior, that kind, innocent and well behaved, could be a drug dealer… Sometimes the way he act and the bit of innocence he has come to the light, specially with the girl he is in love with. Nevertheless, is that Yunior? Just to make sure, I searched up for “Yunior” in this chapter, and no, his name wasn’t mention the entire chapter, I would like to believe that we see another person, such as his brother or a new character in the book.
Dean Fedoryk, Chapters 1-3, English 1121
Chapter 1 “Ysrael” starts off the book with introducing some characters named Yunior which is the narrator, his older brother Rafa and another boy named Ysrael. Rafa is twelve years old and Yunior is nine years old. They live in Dominican Republic with their uncle because their mother works a lot in a factory. They both go back and fourth speaking to each other about relationships and other things then while on a bus, an older man sat next to Yunior and groped him. He pushed him away then later got off the bus to get a drink. In chapter 2 “Fiesta 1980”, Yunior explains that his aunt and uncle have moved to the United States and they celebrated with a party. Yunior’s father told him not to eat because he gets car sick but he disregarded his father and ate anyway, later on getting sick and his father got angry with him. In chapter 3 “Aurora”, this new character is introduced and she is a small drug dealer. The narrator said she was recently released from juvie. Her drug problem continues throughout the chapter with the narrator hoping it would stop soon.
Dean Fedoryk, Chapters 4-6, English 1121
Chapter 4 “Aguantando” focuses and talks about Yunior’s relationship with his parents and about his father not being there. Yunior only bases his relationship with his father off pictures and stories because he was too young when he left to go to the United States. The mother also brings up how she received a letter from the father stating that he would come back and send them money since their family was poor in Dominican Republic. Yunior’ s mother was overwhelmed with excitement and told all of her friends as well as planned a welcome party. When the day arrived and Yunior’s father did not return home, Yunior’ s mother was heart broken. Chapter 5 “Drown” takes place while Yunior is in high school. At this time in the story he is living alone with his mother. When Yunior returns home, he finds his mother on the phone with his father who lives with another woman in Florida. Yunior disapproves of their talking and tells his mother that she has talked to his father enough. Yunior’s friend Beto were watching porn together and he grabbed Yunior in a sexual manner. In chapter 6 “Boyfriend”, the narrator explains that when he smokes weed he sleep walks. On one of thes weed induced ventures, the narrator finds himself in the hallway and partially wakes to hear the fight happening on the floor below him. A boyfriend and a girlfriend are fighting and at the end the boyfriend exits, leaving the girlfriend crying and alone. This altercation reminds the narrator of his past lover, Loretta. During the following days, the narrator listens from his apartment as the girlfriend processes the breakup. The boyfriend comes over several times to retrieve his things and the narrator continues to listen to the couples fighting and conversation and compare it to his own time with Loretta. The narrator asks out the girlfriend and she comes over to his apartment. They make small take and drink coffee, but do not go out again.