Drown Junot Diaz

Elise Ngo

ENG 100

Professor Panish

March, 2018.

Immersion in Another World

        Junot Diaz is an author who was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New Jersey. He published Drown in 1996, which is a semi-autobiographical fiction collection of ten short stories. The stories are set in the 1980’s, after the American invasion in 1965 in the Dominican Republic. The stories are narrated by several Latino characters, living either in the East coast of the United States, or the Dominican Republic. The book tells the story of Yunior, a young Dominican boy, who was living in a poor situation in Santo Domingo, and then immigrated in the United States with his family. The East coast of the United States has a strong Hispanic influence, due to the high immigration rate from Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, especially in Florida and New York. Therefore, the notion of the “American Dream” is that everyone, no matter their origins, their social background or where it comes from, has their chance to succeed in America. Unfortunately, it is not as easy to achieve this success as it seems. Most immigrants from these countries do not necessarily have the financial means to support their needs during a migration, moreover, in the 80’s, most immigrants are arriving on American soil illegally. Writing about different topics such as masculinity, community, family, and sexuality the author also gives a different point of view of the American Dream by relating his own experience with the main character’s history and gives a Dominican’s perspective of immigration in the States. Regarding immigration, there are three different aspects that can be viewed by analyzing this book: the life condition in Dominican Republic, the “Dominican Dream” and the reality of being an immigrant in the United States.

Most people wishing to emigrate from one country to another usually want to get out of a precarious situation. In the case of the Dominican Republic, most people live with a very low income. In the story “Arguantando”, the narrator, Yunior, tells the story of his childhood in the Dominican Republic, where he lives with his brother, his mother, and his grandfather. The environment in which the family lives is uncomfortable and they struggle to live, indeed, Yunior explains how their life situation is in Santo Domingo. “We lived south of the Cementerio Nacional in a woodframe house with three room. We were poor.” (Diaz 70) Their precarious situation can be seen by the fact that they do not have the financial means to feed themselves properly “We did not eat rocks but we did not eat meat or beans, either.” (Diaz 70), including the cost of educational supplies and basic needs, although they go to school, the mother does not have enough income to provide them with the necessary school supplies “At Mauricio Baez, our school, the kids did not bother us too much, even though we could not afford the uniforms or proper mascotas.” (Diaz 71). This kind of financial situation is a major cause of immigration to the United States. Usually one of the family members can access a visa and/or citizenship, allowing them to move to a more prosperous country in order to make a success of their lives. As far as the De Las Casas family is concerned, it is the father who has left. The United States is considered a place of wealth where everyone can make a successful living, which in a certain way creates the myth of the “American Dream”, and more precisely in this case, the “Dominican Dream”.

The United States is a place of prosperity, and many immigrants dream of being able to live there. In the story “Negocios”, the father Ramon, who have not yet left for the United States, asked Abuelo for money to be able to pay for tickets plane. At the beginning of this story, we can see by this statement that the United States is a place of success, the father said: “All I want for your daughter and our children is to take them to the US. I want a good life for them.” (Diaz 164) This is a typical representation of the “American Dream” that many immigrants want to achieve. Most immigrants from islands such as Cuba or the Dominican Republic are located on the East coast of the United States, especially New York and Miami, mainly because of a geographical location, but also because “Nueva York was the city of jobs”(Diaz 167) In comparison with the cities of these islands, where houses are made of wood and most have a zinc roof, the author describes the contrast of the economic situation in the United States when the father arrives in the country: “Papi recognized the prosperity in the buildings and in the tall operative lampposts.”(Diaz 168). The author represents the United States like it is a place where everything is better than anywhere else. In the story “Ysrael”, the two brothers discussed with a boy who had half of his face eaten by a pig, and they say: “[Ysrael] -I’m going to have an operation soon. -You better watch out for that, Rafa said. Those doctors will kill you faster than the Guardia. -They are American Doctors.” (Diaz 18) By writing this, the author expresses the wealthiest of the country compared to the Dominican Republic, because where the healthcare is good, the economic situation is usually prosperous. In the story “Fiesta 1980” the author represents America as a place where good fortune is not beyond reach “None of us spoke until we were inside Papi’s Volkswagen van. Brand-new, lime green and brought to impress.” (Diaz 27) During the 1980’s, many foreigners manage to access America in order to succeed, but the reality is ultimately very different from the myth of the “American Dream”, that everybody knows.

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