Drown Character Analysis Essay

Junot Diaz’s, Drown, is littered with overlooked moments that reveal so much about the characters. In my group’s rendering we made the claim that Ysrael is more than an emotionless superhero. We included the scene of Ysrael standing alone in the rain crying.This moment, to me, is the most important in the whole movie. It’s short and easy to miss, which reflects the easy to miss moment nature of the book but also shows the true complexity of Ysrael’s character.

Ysrael is infamous for getting his face eaten off by a pig, that’s what he’s known for and everyone wants to try and and get a look underneath the mask to understand who Ysrael is. We, as a class, also tried to look unveil the mask the characters in the book to try and get a true glimpse

of who they are.
However, I propose there is a better way to go in and attempt to understand these characters. I say, we keep the masks on and see how history affects these characters actions. One could spend hours trying to look under someone’s mask, in this case Ysrael’s, to understand their history but history only tells us so much about someone. Everyone has a past, and it definitely does leave a mark on who we are but we all have to move past it. In order to truly understand Ysrael we have to look past his scars and see how he responds to what he experiences daily. This is a true testament to who he is a character.
Once we do this we realize how easy it is to define Ysrael as this hypermasculine emotionless superhero, who takes “no shit”. But rather, we actually see that he is an extremely vulnerable and emotional person, who just wants to be accepted into society.
In order to see how Ysrael caves to be a part of society and his true colors it is important to first compare the scenes in which Rafa and Yunior try to unmask Ysrael in the first chapter and the scene where Ysrael is at the doctor’s office in “No Face”. This is because these two moments put Ysrael in similar situations emotionally.
One of the only times we see Ysrael communicate with others is when Yunior and Rafa take his mask off, “'Where did you get that?' I asked. 'Nueva York, he said from my father' 'No shit! Our fathers from there too! I shouted.”This moment is important because we see that he will gladly take any opportunity to talk to someone. Even if this someone, just happened to throw a rock with him just moments ago. He could’ve easily ignored Rafa and Yunior when they asked him where the colmado is. But he didn’t, even though he knows at the end of the day any interactions he makes with other people won’t matter because no one actually wants to get to know him as a person. They're all just there to see what's under his mask. He’s done this dance so many times and knows what to expect, but will still take any opportunity to not isolate himself from society.
We see Ysrael yearning to be a part of society again when he’s at the doctors office. He reveals the fact he has tried to get his face fixed before, “that the Canadian doctors will fail like the santeras his mother had, who called upon every spirit in the celestial directory for help”. This isn’t the first time Ysrael reckoned he could finally be a part of society. He faces internal pressure from his own family to look like everyone else. Even more riveting, they turned to higher powers before science and legitimate doctors to try and fix his face. His family thought Ysrael was so hopeless, the only possible way for his face to return to normal is with the intervention of divine powers. After that failed, his family considered going to a doctor but are still skeptical because divine beings couldn’t help.
The scene when Yunior and Rafa take his mask off is also very important for several other reasons. The next being, Ysrael reveals the fact that he does have doubts regarding his surgery. He tells Rafa and Yunior, “ I saw them last spring. They want me to go next year. They’re lying to you, they probably just felt sorry”. This seems like a moment where Ysrael is trying to convince himself that he’s going to get his face fixed more than trying to convince Rafa and Yunior. This is also especially intriguing because he tells Rafa that he’s seeing American doctors. In “No Face” we learn that he could potentially see Canadian doctors. Ysrael is over exaggerating the After Rafa, scoffs at the idea of Ysrael seeing American doctors, Ysrael says nothing. He doesn’t come up with a witty retort, but rather he dismisses what Rafa said entirely and changes the subject.
We see this brief moment of doubt echoed in “No Face” when Ysrael visited his doctors.

We once again see Ysrael come face to face with his own doubts about the plausibility of his surgery happening. He is quick to ask about how fast the day of his surgery is approaching but also thinks about the slim chance it happening, “He’s scared of the operations and scared nothing will change…”. In this moment, we see that Ysrael never openly states that he’s scared, much like with Yunior and Rafa This is because he still has to play the role this emotionless person in front of everyone. He can never truly get his guard down. This is because he doesn’t expect sympathy from anyone. People already ridicule him for him face, by showing vulnerability will make him appear weaker and give everyone something else to laugh at.

These two moments of doubts connect to and showcase Ysrael’s internal desire to be accepted into society. We see he’s willing to wait years for his face to be normal again, yet he doubts anything would truly change even if the surgery went as planned. This is because no one truly knows who he is, and no one cares to, Everyone sees him as a caricaturistic, 2D figure. They made a permanent association with a pig and Ysrael. Yet these two moments show how complex of a character he is. He’s insecure, one of the most human emotions and is something everyone can relate

to.
Due to this insecurity, and the fact Ysrael cannot stop having facade he doesn’t have anyone to relate or connect to, which causes him to turn to fictional characters as attempt to relate someone, since he clearly struggles to relate to the people surrounding him when Padre Lou buys him a comic book."Today he buys Kaliman, who takes no shit and wears a turban. If his face were covered he'd be perfect". He’s able to see himself as Kaliman because Kaliman is known for devoting his life to doing the good thing, fighting crime and saving people. In Ysrael’s eyes he’s doing all of these things. But rather instead of saving “people”. He’s saving the only person that matters, himself. At this moment we realize that Ysrael sees himself as both a hero and a victim.
Ysrael never asked for his face to be eaten off by a pig, he doesn’t deserve to get constantly made fun for something that was out of his control. Yet, this is the reality Ysrael must face every single day. Everyone surrounding him doesn’t care about the person behind the mask, all they care about is what is under the mask. He can’t walk down a street without getting asked if he eats cats or was ever a girl. The constant ostracization he faces forces himself to create this hardened exterior. By doing this, he attempts to hide his vulnerability. He exterts his physical capabilities because unlike his face, they can’t get taken away from him.
Despite being able to identify with Kaliman, he isn’t able to fully relate to Kaliman. This goes much deeper than the fact that Kaliman doesn’t wear a mask. Everything about Kaliman is mysterious. In the comics, his true origin is never know, though there is much speculation about it. Much like how people have their own stories about Ysrael and no one really knows the truth. The similarities don’t end there. They both have very distinct facial features when compared to the rest of their community. Kaliman is known for his Caucasian features. Most notably, his intense blue eyes which only add to his allure.
This also where the differences between the two begin. Unlike Kaliman, Ysrael is exiled and mocked for looking different, while Kaliman is praised for being different and gladly accepted into society. Kaliman’s face doesn’t act as a barrier between him and the rest of society, like it does for Ysrael. If Kaliman wore a mask, his face wouldn’t be a factor in the way he gets treated. This potentially means that, the rest of society would view Ysrael the way they did Kaliman, a hero.