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DROWN, BY JUNIOR DIAZ ‘YSRAEL”
After reading chapter one of âDrownâ by Junot Diaz, My reaction was that I am very fortunate. The reason why I feel fortunate is because these brothers live in a situation where their mom always works so they have to live with their uncles and their father is in America while they are in Dominican Republican. Where as I live in with both of my parents and I am able to see them on a daily basis. Another reaction that I had to this is how my sister and I are very similar to Rafa and Yunior. Rafa is 12 years old while Yunior is 9 years old. Rafa is very hard on Yunior because Rafa feels as if he should be more tough. They donât talk that much but when they do, they have a lot to say. My sister and I argue a lot but in the end of the day its all love and that is the same with Yunior and Rafa.
Ysrael seems to play a big role on their society but I am curious on what his position is and who he is. So far I know that his face a big ate his face off and he is a really ugly face. Another thing I noticed was that Yunior seems to like Ysrael while Rafa does not. The reason why I believe this is true is because Rafa beat up Ysrael and all Yunior wanted to do was get out from that situation.
Rafa is way more angry than Yunior is. Rafa is more aggressive, rebellious and more violent. The reason I think this is because Rafa continues to belittle Yunior and he was also very disrespectful to the bus driver. Not only that but he also beat up Ysrael. I think the reason why Rafa is more disrespectful than his little brother is because he also had stress. Rafa had they look out for hi slit brother and do a lot more work since hi sprints are not living with them. Rafa is sort of a father figure towards Yunior.
In conclusion, from the first chapter I see that the circumstances that the boys are living in is very difficult but I am curious to see what else they do. I also see that Ysrael plays a big role on the town but I am curious to see why he is a town favorite.
The first three chapters of Drown by Junot Diaz were well detailed, somewhat relatable to a hispanic standpoint and I was confused at the chapter structure. In the first chapter we get to see Yuniorâs background story of how he grew up in the dominican republic and his relationship with his brother. It was surprising how the two brothers were using strong language for their age. And how Rafa was doing such vulgar things when he was young. We later see them finding interest in a boy name Ysrael. People say that when he was younger that a pig tried to eat his face so thatâs why he wears a mask. Rafa and Yunior soon get interested in wanting to know how Ysrael face looks like so they go on an adventure. They take a bus to get there and while they were there Yunior gets harassed by an older man. What surprises me is that he doesn’t tell his brother. After seeing Rafaâs attitude maybe he would have just made fun of Yunior. They soon get to where Ysrael lives. Rafa has thought of a plan to trick Ysrael, he told Yunior to pretend to be sick. When they approach Ysrael they asked where they could find a water fountain and Ysrael pointed them in a direction. They came back to him pretending they got lost. He decided to show them and as they were walking Rafa smashed a bottle to his face and started kicking him. And due to the glass in his face he took off the mask. And thatâs when Rafa and Yunior were able to see his face. They soon left to go back home. What surprised me is that they didnât feel bad in what they did. The second chapter was when Yunior and is family lived in the U.S. his momâs sister just came to the U.S. and they decided to have a party. During this time he and his brother both knew that their father has been secretly seeing a puerto rican woman. Yuniorâs relationship with his father wasnât the best. His father would always try to control him and his family. When they got to the party they were greeted with their aunt and uncle and by other guests. When Rafa and Yunior went to go hang out with the other kids they could hear their father loud and clear from the other room. The kids were all shocked by their fatherâs loud responses that they asked whatâs wrong with your dad. All Yunior response was âheâs in a bad moodâ. It seems liked Yuniorâs aunt could tell that something was wrong so she asked Yunior privately how was it at home, Yunior only shrugged at most of the questions. He said it might have been family loyalty. He just wanted to protect his mother and he was scared of his father finding out. I could understand where he is coming from. I was raised not to tell my other relatives on things that go into my personal life. Because my relatives gossip a lot and that would only leave to more trouble and them judging me.For the third chapter Iâm not sure if itâs Yunior still. This chapter talks about a man and his relationship with his on and off girlfriend. The narrator provides a backstory of their relationship. Aurora the girlfriend has a drug problem and was sent to juvie. And it seems that he abused her in the past. Despite the circumstances the author quietly hopes for Aurora to leave her drug addiction. The narrator then remembers when Aurora got out of juvie. He wanted to break all ties with her, but when he saw her; excitement filled him and soon realized he loved her. Aurora told him how she imagined an idealized version of her life with him and after a few weeks he started to abuse her. I felt that this chapter had a contradiction. The narrator wished for Aurora to stop her drug addiction but he also had abusive nature. Their relationship was toxic and I donât think anything could change that.
While reading the “Ysrael” story from “Drown,” a collection of short stories written by Junot Diaz, I was surprised by how the dynamic between Yunior and Rafa was presented. The hierarchical relationship between the two siblings, with Rafa being the older sibling who orders Yunior around while Yunior accepts Rafa’s treatment of him, is surprising in the sense that it differs from American society’s view of sibling relationships in modern times. In modern society, the relationships between siblings are generally more equal in that younger siblings would be more willing to contest the actions of their older siblings. In the case of Yunior and Rafa, it is possible that their relationship in the story came to be in part due to Rafa being older than Yunior and because Yunior feels that he wants to be accepted as someone “worthy” in Rafa’s eyes. To further elaborate, Yunior believes that his older brother has more authority than him and is therefore allowed to order or bully him. As for Yunior’s want to be validated by Rafa, it is connected to the fact that Rafa is older than him; Yunior wants to be acknowledged as Rafa’s equal. In the context of this reasoning, the relationship between Yunior and Rafa is interesting. The interactions between the two brothers as well as their relative positions of authority to each other throughout the story are related to how I would communicate with my own family. For example, just as Rafa would expect Yunior to follow his instructions without dissent, my father would often expect me to obey his instructions without any informal rebuttal. My father would most definitely not expect me to address him by “yo” or “sup.” These kinds of familial relationships have led me to understand the importance of social positions within the confines of relationships between various people. To further explain my understanding of social positions within relationships, I refer to how on internet forums such as the Youtube comment section of a video, people will often discuss with one another on an informal basis. This is due to how people on the internet don’t normally share any revealing personal information about themselves, including their real-life identities and their addresses. This anonymity allows users to freely discuss with one another as equals with the minimal worry of reprimand for displaying improper social behavior or being targeted in. Personally, in an out-of-academia setting like a group chat with friends online, I would often use informal language and write abbreviations as well as emoticons to them. In an academic setting, I would surely not be able to write in such a way and would instead be expected to write formally and clearly with proper explanations as well as proper grammar. Thus, my reading process and writing process very much depends on whom I am communicating with.
After reading the first chapter of the book “Drown” by Junot Diaz, it surprised me a lot because it included so much drama in this short chapter, we go from understanding that both Rafa and Yunior live with their uncles since their parents arenât around due to their mom working and their father being in New York, to observing Rafa’s actions both in and out of the campo and eventually the action Rafa took against Ysrael. Reading the chapter made me feel comfortable due to understanding the Spanish words being used which made me fully understand the scene furthermore. The chapter starts off with informing us about their situation and how Rafa is portrayed. He is friendly around Yunior when they are in the campo but when they go back to the capital he instantly switches gears and acts all tough towards Yunior. I feel like I related to this a lot because we all have that sibling relationship in which it starts good for a day but in a matter of seconds everything changes and now we are fighting.We get to see that he is also a player and likes to be around girls non stop due to him having sexual intercourse with them if he gets any luck. Eventually Yunior gets informed about Ysrael and tells his brother about it. Rafa’s curiosity wouldn’t let him sleep and the thought of unveiling his face wouldn’t leave his mind. The next day they headed towards the town of Ocoa, Rafa’s curiosity led both him and Yunior to go find Ysrael himself and unveil his face. We get to see Rafa try to pull a scam in the bus but eventually backfires when Yunior goes up to him after being sexually assaulted by a random stranger. They eventually find Ysrael and after a few minutes of conversation, without hesitation Rafa hit Ysrael with a bottle which pinned him on the floor, in which Rafa took advantage and took off his mask. I was completely surprised once again because It was a violent action that I would have never thought Rafa would be capable of doing. Besides the violent action, the words used to describe Ysrael’s face made me envision how it would look like being in that scene staring at Ysrael’s face. This scene made me believe that Rafa was a jerk because his curiosity made him make a move which was very violent towards a defenseless kid. I really liked this chapter a lot because I am immediately put into the plot of the chapter and I got to see it develop starting with Yunior’s recognition of Ysrael all the way up to the unveiling of Ysrael’s face.
The book “Drown” by Junot Diaz so far has been an interesting one. Something that catches my attention is the relationship between Yunior and Rafa. Rafa is the older sibling and he at times treats Yunior unfairly and he accepts it. I feel bad for Yunior in a way because I find it very unfair that he has to take all the heat from Rafa just because he is older and has more “authority” than him. The relationship between siblings should consist of respect and friendly competition but with these two, that is not the case. When I first started reading, I had a feeling that Rafa was going to be the one who is rebellious or causes trouble in some way. Both siblings lived with their uncles due to the fact that their parents could never be home or just were not home at all. Something i find interesting is how Rafa is two faced in their relationship. When they are both in the campo, Rafa treats Yunior good but when they are in the city, unfortunately it is the opposite for Yunior. In a way, I can relate to this because I had a similar relationship with my older brother when I was younger but instead of acting tough towards eachother, we would hit eachother. One of the most interesting parts of the story so far is the event of finding out how Ysraels face looks under the mask but I did not like how it got to that point. It went from all three of them being together to then Rafa hitting Ysrael with something that made him fall to the floor. I say it is interesting only because of all the events that lead up to that moment and for the ones that are yet to come. The chapters themselves are like mini timelines and I cant wait to get more into the book.
Junot Diaz’s “Drowning” book has seemed interesting to me since each chapter is like a little compilation of the most important thing he feels and wants to tell us about his life. Rafa is Yunior’s older brother and sometimes he tries to a very bad way huh unfair. I do not feel identified with Rafa since personally, I am the one who has the role of “older sister” I take good care of my younger sister since I feel she is helpless and often can not defend herself. I have heard that men are more coarse and rude and often do not tend to get along with their other siblings, but I don’t know if that is true. Personally, I think that one as an older sister is the example for the brothers, I feel that one as an older brother has a great responsibility since our little brothers learn from us. When I read how Rafa treated his brother, I assumed that something bad happened to him, maybe not having his parents at his side, affection for not having that paternal affection made him so rude. One of the things that intrigued me most was when they began to annoy Ysrael, I feel that he did not deserve that treatment since he was only a sufficient child he had with all that suffering he had for not being able to look good. Rafa didn’t have to hit him just for wanting to see his face. I feel that Ysrael deserved more respect. I feel that the lack of communication between Rafa and his parents made him an abusive man. He wanted to take out his sadness by making others feel less. It is really sad. I did not like the part of Aurora since I felt that the life that led Aurora was something that I would not wish it on anyone. Personally, it is so difficult to be with someone who suffers from addictions. The life of an addicted person is the most heartbreaking and it is really sad to think of how young ruin their life. The relationship she presented to Aurora is somewhat toxic since, instead of helping her, he only thought about sexual things with her, I feel that he did not love her as he said, he only felt desire for her.
After reading Chapter 1 in âDrown by Yunot Diazâ my reaction was that Iâve heard similar stories from my parents who also spent a good majority of their childhood in Dominican Republic before moving to the United States. Diaz starts the chapter by explaining to us the situation in which his mom works so they must be sent to the campo with their uncle for the summer. Their dad is in the states and barely communicates or interacts with them. Thereâs a very distinct component in the chapter that sticks out to me and thatâs the relationship between Rafa and Yunior. Rafa shows different behavior towards Yunior when they are home in the capital versus when they are in the campo. Rafa is much friendlier when they are in the campo and acknowledges Yunior a lot more. The way Yunior looks up to Rafa even when Rafa is just being a bully is a very similar relationship to the one of many siblings including mine. I feel that as siblings we all fight, and we all bully each other. Another reaction I had was the very well explained and detailed part in the book like the part where they both take the bus to go see the boy named Ysrael that they are curious to see and learn about. Diaz continues by describing Yuniors experience on the bus and how he allegedly got groped. This well detailed part is both disturbed but well written to understand it to the fullest. The part where they finally find Ysrael and unmask him is also very detailed.
In chapter 1 called Ysrael in the novel âDrownâ by Junot Diaz talks about the experience that the two boys named Yunior (the narrator) and his brother Rafa who lived in Dominican Republican in which they encounter a boy named Ysrael after their mom sent them to live relatives due to the long hours of work in which they become friends so Yunior and Rafa could betray him since his face is covered by a mask due to a pig biting Ysrael’s face off when he was a very young so the brothers plotted a plant to take a look at his face. As time went on getting home on a bus they encounter a man on the bus that was touching in the wrong area which they immediately left the bus and after that Rafa beats up Ysrael to forcefully remove the mask to which to found out that no doctor could ever fix so after that Yunior and Rafa moved to the United States after their father returns to them.
The second chapter called Fiesta was mostly about Yunior and Rafa beginning their life in the U.S where they live now since their father has come back to them and that he was looking for his job. Both of them are going to experience new lives by having a fiesta thrown by their momâs sister. Even though they were celebrating with a fiesta their father was often very abusive and easily angered even though Yunior doesnt want their father to be part of their lives due to the way he treats his mother but he still wants to have a good relationship. They soon figured out that a woman who was Puerto rican this came to mind that the woman was his dadâs mistress, meaning that he was cheating on their mom for the known reason their father wasn’t part of their lives. At the end Yunior and his brother Rafa are enjoying the party to start a new life in the U.S.
In the third chapter introduces a new character named Aurora who is a drug addict who has landed herself in a detention center who was on and off relationships with Yunior who is technically now a teenager around 15 years old living in an area that is basically a bad neighborhood where drugs are being traded at and hanging around with bad friends that influences you the bad way such as his friend Cut who he and Yunior to get high on drugs. Through these harsh times Yunior is going to be able to help Aurora to get her clean.
To the first three chapters I should appreciate the good things I have in my life because in the life Yunior had gone throughout his life seems to be a very harsh life from the beginning where bad activities are roaming throughout the Dominican Republic to the more dangerous neighborhoods to be in while fixing his drug addict girlfriend. These harsh reality in this world shows how good I got things in life.
In the book âDrownâ by Junot Diaz is a very interesting book that touches the premise of violence, drug usage, and love. In the first chapter you will notice that the chapters are oriented in a way to tell each characterâs story for each section. With that said, we first started with a nine year old boy named Ysrael. Ysrael is the complete opposite to his brother Rafa. He was 17 at the time and unlike Rafa Ysrael tends to be timid and rarely stands up for himself. For example Rafa and Ysrael were on the public bus and 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 Ysrael penis. Ysrael 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 followed the story of another brother of Rafa whoâs name is Fiesta. Fiesta has a major problem that every time heâd go into his fatherâs van he would vomit. His father is quite abusive to him and his family which is the reason he gets sick in his fatherâs van. Fiestaâs father, also known as Papi in the book, has also been cheating on his mother with another woman. Papi literally controls their lives, even can go as far to tell Fiesta not not eat at a party so he wouldn’t throw up in his van.
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 for six month to kick her habits but soon she returned back to the streets. She was homeless, and skinny at the points where you can feel her bone whilst 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.