Author: Kevin Lin

Throughout the novel “Drown”, Junot Diaz emphasizes the theme of relationships. Yunior, a young child that living in the Dominican Republic with his brother and his mother with his father that left the family to pursue a better life in America. Yunior struggle with relationships, from his relationship with the family to his relationship with Aurora, Yunior lacks a father figure in his life so he looks up to his mother for guidance and his brother Rafa; Rafa is a tough brother and would always the one that bullies Yunior. Rafa looks up to his father, a womanizer and always an aggressive type of father when Yunior was little his father decided to move to America to live a better life and by doing so he left his family behind. Before leaving Yunior’s father was quite strict with many things, he would bring them to another woman’s place and have Rafa and Yunior say downstairs while their father is having an affair. Their father is an unfaithful man, a player, and also aggressive. Yunior wishes to tell his mother the truth but because of his father’s aggressive nature, he is afraid to speak. Rafa grew up with their tyrant of a father and had to endure the punishments, Rafa would consistently bully his brother or bully the people around him. Rafa would bully Ysrael, especially his a bottle on another kid because he was different. In chapter Aurora, Yunior became in love with a girl that he supplies drugs to and became attached to this girl, however, this girl was a lost hope to many a junkie, a slut, and many more. Yunior thought he could help her and change her for the better. Unfortunately, she didn’t need him to help her and she became more and more helpless. Yunior’s relationship is filled with a ton of many problems from lack of love, par pressure, and addiction. Diaz mixes all this problem seamlessly and emphasizes how relationships play a big role in this novel.