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Brandon Kruse
The Dominican-American writer Junot Diaz’s short story “How to Date A Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie” is an interesting aside within Drown.
“How to Date…“ is written second person and relies on the descriptive information of the previous stories to carry through the humorous anecdotes. It appeals to you as an expert in situations the general public might not generally be familiar with, “Supply the story about the loco who’d been storing canisters of tear gas in his basement for years…”(146) but when this happens he always supplies a “Don’t” section that draws a line where the narrators opinion has overexposed the stereotype with one of his own. “Supply the story… Don’t tell…” (146)
An FYI/DIY-like stereo instruction style that centers on specifics singular to Diaz/‘the narrator’ himself is used to legitimize and further generalize/marginalize the stories implications with irony. He mentions his own family photographs and domestic situation. The story is more of a personal reminder note to himself cultivated from numerous singular incidents that he has humorously exaggerated as general truths… stereotypes that the author satirically exploits, “A halfie will tell you that her parents met in the Movement, will say, Back then people thought it a radical thing to do. Your brother once heard that one and said, Man that sounds like a whole lot of Uncle Tomming to me. Don’t repeat this.” A girl of any one of these distinctions, by the end of this story, would probably feel disgusted/violated/exploited. There’s humor there because you are trying to get laid… but don’t… except maybe by the white girl.
Generalized separate instructions for brown, black, white, and halfie predict the stereotyped responses. He outlines his position in routines elaborated on in different parts of the book but typified and almost caricatured in “How to Date…” with subtlety. “You have choices. If the girl’s from around the way, take her to El Cibao for dinner. Order everything in your busted-up Spanish. Let her correct you if she’s Latina and amaze her if she’s black. If she’s not from around the way, Wendy’s will do.” The girl not from around the way I think is the white girl, the slut. But the part with the father and the directions is written specifically with her in mind, “The white ones are the ones you want the most, aren’t they… If she’s a halfie don’t be surprised that her mother is white.” The difference between the halfie and the white girl is telling, “A white girl might just give it up right then. Don‘t stop her.” whereas “The halfie might lean back, breaking away from you. She will cross her arms, say, I hate my tits…”
The story ties in with the other stories in an interesting way. It is specific to Junot Diaz’s situations in his other stories. The detailed information in the other stories is used as accent in this story. Also, what ‘the expert’ in this story does to prepare for his date, and his feeling toward each of the girls is reflected in other stories. For instance his cover up of the embarrassing articles such as “the government cheese” can be seen as a resentment toward poverty. Hiding the picture of his half-naked cousins with the leashed goat and the picture of himself with an afro as well as “…the basket with all the crapped-on toilet paper…”(144) tie in with the resentment of being stereotyped by race. In “Fiesta, 1980” the narrator shows us an apartment belonging to his aunt “…furnished in Contemporary Dominican Tacky” complete with “plastic sofa covers… disco ball… The sofas all had golden tassels dangling from their edges.” (32)
“How to date…“ comes at an interesting time in Drown as a whole. The book is entitled Drown and the lead story figures prominently because of the homosexual element. And apart from the title story the stories are about getting laid by chicks. It is in the middle of the book bridging an almost complete progression into “Drown” that fragments and then recollects by the final “Negocios”. Something in “Drown” the middle story haunted all of the stories after it. In “Boyfriend“ he is just a friend in a situation where a less mature Diaz would have gotten laid. “Edison, New Jersey” he lies about getting laid. There’s this story, which is almost like a reminder note, or a more mature ode to a simpler way of life. Then “No Face” which is interesting but detached. And then finally “Negocios” which is also written in third person perspective. And however much truth is in any of these stories (what Diaz actually has lived through) the first person stories sound ‘more true’ than either of the third person narrations. And the second person stands alone as this strange middle ground story.
Most of Drown is about love, loss, and lust. Junot Diaz seems to lust until he loses and then looks back on love. “Aurora” is the best example of the crazy lust involved in loving amidst numerous lost causes. Describe all the stories with one sentence including these three words?… well.
Junot Diaz is a Dominican writer who has produced the book “Drown”. The piece that I found the most interesting was the short story entitled “Drown” as well. The story is about Yunior who is the main character of the book. It takes place in his neighborhood where he grew up only now he is older and lives with his mother. His other family is not mentioned in this piece and we know that his father has left his mother to be with another woman. He is arriving home when his mother tells him that his old friend has come home to visit, Beto. He has an obvious sense of hostility as soon as his name is even mentioned but still has an urge to go see him. They were childhood friends and used to get in lots of trouble together. This included swimming in the local pool after hours which is where he goes to look for him. We find out that the reason he is angry with Beto is that when they were younger Beto had made a sexual advance toward Yunior. This came as a shock because Beto was always the one making fun of the “patos”. Turned out that he was one himself. This made Yunior uncomfortable but he thought that his best friend was to important and quietly agreed. Beto left for college and gave Yunior a present that he never even looked at and now when he comes back to visit, the empty promises of them being friends forever are thrown in his face.
I chose this story because I think that this is where you first see that Yunior is a product of his environment more than ever. His role in the family is identical to the role that he has selected for himself even later in life. His brother was always the dominant one and very similar to his father. His mother was closer to him and he has turned out to be more like her. Coincidently enough they are now living together yet both of them “alone”. There similarities can also be seen in the way that they let other people treat them.
I really enjoyed this book. The use of Spanish was especially interesting to me. The purpose of the book is to read the short stories in succession and learn about the young Dominican’s travel and assimilation in the United States. You learn how he changes from growing up in a very culturally based area to one of shock and unfamiliarity. His use of the language is very abundant in the beginning of he book and dwindles toward the end where you can see he has become more “Americanized”. The other time that you hear the Spanish is when he speaks with his parents. This is wonderful because you know that if you speak to someone who has another language as the primary they tend to use that when they really want to portray an important idea. I think that he incorporated this wonderfully.
I also like how shocking it was yet real at the same time. People do not realize what is like to move to a new country that seems to have everything to offer but when you get there you learn differently. I think the stories are harsh yet satisfying. Although I have never gone through this and our backgrounds are very different, I felt more than once that I could connect or sympathize with the author and I appreciated that as a reader. Kudos on the selection.
Junot Diaz’s “Drown,” a collection of stories about American life as an emigrant Dominican, does a great job of capturing the spirit of life and hardships that come with starting anew in the United States, and the artificial promise of the American Dream. It is also a refreshingly honest view of love, family, and friendship that any reader, immigrant or not, Latin or not, can appreciate and relate to. One of these stories in particular, “Negocios,” not only deals with the financial and social hardships that come with immigrant life, but also deals with the feelings of guilt, love, and betrayal that encompass the mind of the main character, Ramon, as well as the hatred that seeps out as a result of Ramon’s broken promises to his family.
The disdain that Yunior, the narrator, carries for his father is obvious to the reader after we learn of his father’s philandering ways, and soon afterward taking what amounts to a dowry from her father to fund his trip to North America, with the promise of finding a better life for his family. As the story goes on, though, the reader gets the sense that it is not all hatred that he feels for his father. He shows his pride for his father in noting that not until several years later did his father take a sick day from work, “He took a couple of sick days, his first three ever,” all the while working two jobs simultaneously for most of that time. It is this internal battle of pride versus disgust that makes this story interesting. It is clear that Yunior cannot escape the idea of being his father’s son, yet can’t hide his contempt for his father’s choices. In other words, despite doing nothing to deserve the praise, Yunior seems to think of his father as a good person who has just made a few bad decisions. This theme is replayed throughout the collection with Yunior’s contempt for his father being buffered by the love he has for him despite doing almost nothing to deserve it.
Part of that love, it seems to me, stems from an early image of his father on a virtual pedestal. He moves to America, where life is supposed to be so much better, with the promise of sending for his family. So, over the course of Yunior’s entire childhood, he’s looking forward to being reunited with his father so that he too can live the good life in America, “…dreams of gold rings and a spacious house with caged tropical birds in its rooms, a house awash with sea winds.” Part of it could also be a result of a natural pride that people selfishly find in things having to do with one’s self. Yunior understands that he is from the same blood as his negligent father, which means that he naturally needs to find the good in his father out of fear that those traits are hereditary. Or maybe I need to give up the psychoanalysis, and just take it for what it is: a very engaging, socially responsible, and well-written collection of short stories, and hope that there’s a sequel on the horizon.