Theme Of Masculinity In Drown By Junot Diaz

Masculinity is an idea that people, usually men, set, to achieve their ego. From generation to generation, men put on this mask of masculinity to hide their true self, to put up a front that’s made up of lies and discomfort. In the collection of stories Drown, by Junot Diaz, Diaz portrayed, through the perspective of Latino men, an overall idea of masculinity, and how masculinity is being used and misunderstood. From Ramon to his two sons, Yunior and Rafa, Diaz portrayed a pass of this idea of masculinity through family, passed down from the first to the next generation. Ramon, during the youth of Yunior and Rafa, sets up an image of how a man should be, how to show people their masculinity. The concept of masculinity, portrayed by Diaz through

In "Fiesta 1980," we see an interaction, between Rafa and Yunior, where Rafa sets up a picture of how men should behave, despite the age of Yunior, 9 years old. During the talk between Tio and Yunior’s mother, Virta, Tio, in front of Yunior, talks about how he 's at the age of getting "laid" if he is back in DR, Dominican Republic. Later on, Rafa tells Yunior, in English, how "It 's the only pussy you 'll ever get" (Diaz 31). Despite the fact that Yunior is still young, his surroundings, people around him, already sets forth a picture of how he should behave and act as men. Further on in the story, we get to see how Yunior 's father illustrates masculinity and manhood through actions and through Yunior 's own short thought of Virta and his father. From the very beginning of "Fiesta 1980," readers are given the fact that Ramon is disloyal to Virta. Not only does Rafa and Yunior know that their father is cheating on their mother, Ramon even brought Yunior to the woman that he is cheating with when Yunior is sick when riding the VW. During the meeting, Yunior, due to his surrounding that caused him to be early knowing, was ashamed, or most likely, scared, of

Yunior says it as if though the girls were all the same and that no matter what their background is if they live in a certain area and their skin color is that, they 're all the same. Yunior, in his self-directed manual, tells himself that "...if the girl is from around the way, take her to El Cibao....If she 's not...Wendy 's will do" (Diaz 145). Depending on the girl 's skin color and background, the place to go is different. Even though all girls are themselves and all is unique, Yunior puts it as if they 're all same and the only difference is their color and their environment. A total domination, of what the girl is, is shown when Yunior places the girls into category and give them a