Junot Diaz, the author of "How to date a brown girl (black girl, white girl, or halfie)", was born in the Dominican Republic before moving to the United States where he was raised by his grandparents (Moreno 532). The early years of his life spent in the Dominican Republic helped to provide him with two different points of views regarding Dominican people, which he ties into his writing. The story is written in the second person, structured as an instruction manual for how to date different races of girls. The main speaker is a teenager named Yunior, who is presumed to live in a poor area. The narrator lists the steps for what to do in general, with specific intercessions of different things to do depending on the girl’s race. I believe that Diaz intended the story to focus on the various racial issues that it brings up, which can …show more content…
be shown through the narrator trying to hide his own race, the stereotyping of how the girls of different races will act, and the feelings that he has towards each race. The first major race issue presented by Diaz is the attempts by Yunior to hide his Dominican heritage and culture from the girl he is seeing, and instead aims to be whatever will please the girl. One example of this appears in the text where Yunior instructs the reader to: “Take down any embarrassing photos of your family in the campo, especially the one with the half-naked kids dragging a goat on a rope leash.” (Diaz 1). This action of hiding the photographs, which were presumably taken in the Dominican Republic, shows one example of the actions that Yunior tries to go through in order to hide his heritage. Bautista shares a similar view of the actions Yunior takes to hide his heritage in his analysis of the Dominican-American identity shown in the story. He explains that the hiding of his culture could be related to the historical campaign of Dominican politicians to have the country be thought of as a “white” nation. Diaz would have experienced this first-hand in his youth, consequently leading to Yuniors actions of hiding things that make him Dominican in order to appear more “white” to the girls. (86). While Diaz attempts to hide the race of Yunior, he fully embraces the races of the different girls that Yunior tries to date. This could also be interpreted as Diaz feeling that his heritage has a negative stigma in the United States. He has no problem bringing up the different races of the girls, but tries to keep his Dominican heritage as something more secretive in the story in order to make a point of this. The next racial issue brought up in the story is the stereotypes of the different girls, which Diaz shows with the assumptions of how things will turn out and the different actions to take depending on whether the girl is black, white, or “halfie”. This is shown in the following paragraph from the story, where Yunior explains some of his assumptions. A local girl may have hips and a thick ass but she won't be quick about letting you touch. She has to live in the same neighborhood you do, has to deal with you being all up in her business. She might just chill with you and then go home. She might kiss you and then go, or she might, if she's reckless, give it up, but that's rare. Kissing will suffice. A white girl might just give it up right then. (Diaz 2) This quote shows how Yunior has certain mindset for what will happen based solely on the girl’s race, irrespective of the personality of the girl herself. Diaz likely included these stereotypes in order to bring to light some of the stereotypes that are often assumed of different races. This also ties into him hiding his heritage, as he wants to help remedy these stereotypes before they get to a point where the different races feel as if they need to hide their true selves, as Yunior does in the story. Finally, Yunior creates another racial issue through his feelings towards the different races of the girls.
This creates a relationship between his feelings, and his expectations as talked about in the previous paragraph. Yunior clearly states his feelings towards the different races in the story: “The white ones are the ones you want the most, aren't they, but usually the out-of-towners are black, blackgirls who grew up with ballet and Girl Scouts…” (Diaz 2). This quote explains how Yunior wants to be with white girls the most, but most of the time ends up with upper-class black girls. Diaz’s point in including this preference could be to raise the issue of favoring a certain race just based on the expectations of them, such as Yunior’s expectations as explained in the previous paragraph. Yunior believes that “A white girl might just give it up right then.” (Diaz 2), which can be related to his preference for white girls as he sees them as the “easiest”. Diaz likely included this to relate to his own heritage, as he doesn’t want Dominican Americans to be preemptively judged based solely on the expectations that people may have for
them. In "How to date a brown girl (black girl, white girl, or halfie)", Junot Diaz focuses on bringing certain racial issues to light. This is evident through the story, but is most apparent in Yunior’s attempt to hide his Dominican culture, due to the history of Dominican culture, as well as the feelings that Diaz may have about it. Also apparent is that Diaz wishes to make stereotypes about certain races more well known, in order to prevent them from becoming any worse. Finally, Diaz wants to raise awareness about people judging races based only upon the stereotypes that may follow them, and rather focus on more important things.
When it comes to analyzing the “banana massacre” scene in chapter 15, I found three narrative techniques the author used to describe this scene. Therefore, one can notice that this part of the book is the climax. As a result, one infers what the author is trying to say about Latin American history and politics.
In the essay of Mr.Gary Soto, we learn about his experiences about falling in love with someone of a different race. Ever since he was young, he would be lectured that marrying a Mexican women would be the best option for his life. Gary’s grandmother would always proclaim: “... the virtues of marrying a Mexican girl: first, she could cook,second, she acted like a woman, not a man, in her husband’s home” (pp.219). Being conditioned into the notion that all Mexican woman have been trained to be proper women, Mr. Soto set out on finding his brown eyed girl; however, what love had quite a different plan. This paper will cover three different themes Gary’s essay: The tone, the mindset of the character’s mindsets, and the overall message of the
Sandra Cisneros “Never Marry a Mexican” and Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao are stories that reflect on the cultures in which the characters grew up in. In Never Marry, Clemencia, the narrator, reflects on her past sexual relations as well as her childhood. She speaks of her parents’ marriage and then transitions into her relationship with college professor and his son. In Oscar Wao, Yunior, the narrator, gives a second-hand retelling of Oscar’s experiences in New Jersey growing up as well as in the Dominican Republic. A person’s identity is largely influenced by their culture, this is especially the case in Hispanic cultures. The social constraints that these cultures place on social class, sexuality, and gender norms can be very detrimental to a person’s self-esteem.
By reminiscing on his upbringing from living in Lima, Peru, a third world country. Father would constantly recall his biographical anecdotes to share with the family. Some stories were beyond gruesome in detail. Going in depth to the painful memories that still lingers around like a scar, my father told us how our grandfather, his own father, was abusive for even the most minute things. For instance, when my father would wore outfits that did not meet my grandfather’s standards, or looked into his father’s eyes fearfully when he was being punished, and even when he did not walk my grandmother to and from the grocery store. The mistreatment had reached the end of father’s patience when he became a rebellious son, breaking curfews and refusing to return home at the end of the day. In Junot Díaz 's short story Fiesta, 1980, narrated by an son, Yunior, who describes the hardships he and his Dominican family shared as they drove to a party in the Bronx in New York City. At the age of twelve, Yunior loses his innocence as a result from the never-ending verbal, emotional, and physical abuse his father, Papi, had taunted him with. This lost innocence was caused by what he had said, did, and did
Just as their father wanted, the girls kept their Dominican roots alive and never forgot where they came from. This novel, “How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents”, is a coming of age novel, where four girls learn through experience how it is like to grow up in a tough time period. In America, the girls had the freedom to attempt almost whatever they wanted because they were free from the constricting rule of the patriarchy that ruled the Dominican Republic. All four were growing up but took separate paths during life to get to where they are as adults. Through the use of multiple narrators, Alvarez creates different perspectives throughout the story. The girls have come a long way from their mother’s color coding system when they were identity less to the women they are today. Each sister fought and conquered some sort of internal or external battle, helping them to overcome obstacles given by society that marked them as different. As adults, the sisters can keep their Dominican roots alive while living in the United States through
Both Dumas and Cordero are growing up in a culture that is different from their parents’; this difference is one reason why both girls have a feeling of ‘otherness.’ Even though both girls feel a struggle between their heritage and the American culture they live in, they deal with this struggle in dissimilar ways. Although Cordero does love her family, she feels as though she is trapped by her Mexican heritage. She is surrounded by Mexican-American females who are oppressed, unsatisfied, and often longing for a different life. We get many stories of her grandmother, cousins, and neighbors who are stuck in a place of discontent with no way out; and she does not be part of an endless loop of females who are under the control of men.
Junot Diaz is a Dominican-American writer whose collection of short stories Drown tells the story of immigrant families in the urban community of New Jersey. His short story “Fiesta, 1980” focuses on Yunior, an adolescent boy from Dominican Republic and his relationship with his father. On the other hand, Piri Thomas was a great Latino writer from Puerto-Rico whose memoir Down These Mean Streets tells his life story as an adolescent residing in Harlem and the challenges he faces outside in the neighborhood and at home with his father. Both Diaz and Thomas in different ways explore the dynamics of father-son relationships in their work. Furthermore, both expose masculinity as a social construct.
The relationships between mothers and daughters is a topic that authors often call upon to tell a story. It is an important part of every culture, which makes the topic relatable to any reader who picks the book up. Junot Diaz understood the universality of mother/daughter relationships and incorporated it in his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Although the book is mainly about Oscar, an overweight Dominican boy from New Jersey and his quest for love, the book also spends a lot of time exploring the relationships between Oscar’s sister Lola and their mother Beli and Beli’s relationship with her mother figure La Inca. Junot Diaz does not write mother/daughter relationships in an honest way and focuses on the conflict in the relationships
Upon returning to the Dominican Republic after many years, Yolanda decides to take a trip across the island––something her family views as ridiculous. “‘This is not the states’ . . . ‘A woman just doesn’t travel alone in this country.” (9) This quote highlights the sexism inherent in Dominican society. Yolanda’s family is asserting that women are not individuals capable of taking care of themselves. On another hand, Yolanda’s close friendship with Mundín causes tensions as their mothers confront them about crossing gender lines. “My mother disapproved. The outfit would only encourage my playing with Mundín and the boy cousins. It was high time I got over my tomboy phase and started acting like a young lady señorita. ‘But it is for girls,’ . . . ‘boys don’t wear skirts.’” (228) This is an example of how Dominican societal norms and gender roles have impacted the sisters. Yolanda and Mundín were the only boy-girl playmates out of all the García children, yet this was frowned upon by both of their parents as to not impede the seemingly inevitable growth of Yolanda’s femininity, and conversely, Mundín’s masculinity. Moreover, this shows how societally-prescribed gender roles were instilled in Yolanda at a young age. However, this is not the only way in which women’s freedoms are
Brownies is a story by Z. Z. Packer, a young African American writer. This story appears in Packer’s short stories collection, Drinking Coffee Elsewhere. The story is about a Brownie troop of fourth-grade African American girls from suburban Atlanta, Georgia, who go to summer camp. At camp, they encounter a troop of white girls and believe that one of the white girls addressed them with a derogatory racial slur. The African American girls resolve to beat up the white girls. This story is about racism and racial segregation as it is experienced by young black girls. Ironically, the story has a twist. Packer shows the reader about racial segregation and prejudice in the world through this short story. Prejudice among groups as well as within
“Papi pulled me to my feet by my ear. If you throw up— I won 't, I cried, tears in my eyes, more out of reflex than pain” (307). As this scenario presents violence, it displays innocent Yunior’s response towards his abusive father as he pulls Yunior’s ears. In the short story Fiesta 1980, Junot Diaz depicts the life of young Yunior as he struggles with his Dominican family issues. Yunior was picked on the most in the family, especially from his dad. As Poor Yunior was the victim of his dad’s affair with a Puerto Rican woman, it affected him psychologically. Yunior suffers from the fact his beloved mother is being cheated on; therefore, he vomits as he rides his dad’s van, as his first ride in the van is linked to his first meeting with
In Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, he is telling the story of a Dominican family but mainly about the son, Oscar de Leon. The book opens with the story of Oscar as a child and him having two girlfriends at the same time. The older people in town see him as a ladies man and encourage him. The boy and the two girls all break up and his life seemed to be on a steady decline since then. He grows up to become a nerdy, fat, and awkward adolescence with few friends and even less interest from girls. This phase persists throughout his life and he never develops out of the nerdy boy he was as a child. The Dominican Republic was a hostile and poor place during the time of the novel. The dictator Trujillo controls the lives of the people in the country. This influenced the de Leon family’s present and future. Diaz develops the story by using the superstition, the cane field, and male dominance of the Dominican men
In her novel, Kindred, author Octavia Butler addresses the challenges of interracial relationships. She touches on both consenting and non-consenting relationships. While Dana and Kevin are in a consenting relationship, their experiences and difficulties are similar to that of Rufus and Alice. Conversely, there are also many aspects of the two relationships that are very different.
Junot Diaz's short story “Fiesta, 1980” gives an insight into the everyday life of a lower class family, a family with a troubled young boy, Yunior and a strong, abusive father, Papi. The conflict, man vs. man is one of the central themes of this story. This theme is portrayed through the conflicts between Papi and his son. Papi asserts his dominance in what can be considered unfashionable ways. Unconsciously, every action Papi makes yields negative reactions for his family. Yunior simply yearns for a tighter bond with his father, but knows-just like many other members of his family-Papi’s outlandish ways hurts him. As the story unfolds it becomes obvious that the conflicts between Papi and himself-along with conflicts between Yunior and himself-affect not only them as individuals, but their family as a whole.
Throughout the story there is evidence that the main character is ashamed of himself and his background. He hides the government cheese, which tells us that he is in a low economic class. He also takes down embarrassing photographs of his family and himself, which is more indication that he isn’t proud of his family, background, or heritage. Yunior also tells us many things to do in order to be like other people, especially white people. He tells us that you need to run your fingers through your hair and to write directions for parents in your absolute best handwriting (Diaz 236). It is also evident that he is ashamed of his background when he states “You’ll wonder how she feels about Dominicans. Don’t ask.”(Diaz 237). Also, when he is telling the girl stories about the neighborhood, he says not to tell her that his mother knew immediately what t...