Raw Draft

Diaz appears to use dialogue and interaction as an example of an objective correlative, leaving us to develop the characters on our own.  He uses Spanish slang, including swears and improper grammar, throughout several of his stories.  We are left to assume that these characters are uneducated and laid-back. *INCLUDE EXAMPLES OF POOR GRAMMAR AND SLANG TERMS.*  Almost all of Diaz’s stories are narrated from the first person point of view.  He simply hands us the actions of his family and friends.  Diaz also seems to choose a different setting or event for the characters in each one of his stories, but while he changes the “big” picture for us, our emotions don’t change.  For instance, the way in which his dad talks to him is the same in all of his short stories.  *INCLUDE WHAT HIS DAD TELLS HIM.*  

Using detailed descriptions of events, Diaz is able to let us further open up the character’s personality.  Diaz’s last story, Negocios, begins with Yunior’s dad having another affair with a new woman.  At first, he leaves the family to be with this other woman and to give Yunior’s mom some time to think about it, but then comes back thinking only about the money he may be losing from his father-in-law.  Again, he leaves to start a new life in the United States, yet only to find a new woman to spend his time with.  (163-165) He begins to live under her roof, and soon enough, has a son with her.  He names his son Yunior, but finds himself thinking about the Yunior he left in the Dominican Republic.  Diaz first leaves us with the impression that the dad doesn’t care much about his family, yet still holds some compassion for the son he left.  

Diaz also portrays the contrasting characters of the dad and the mom.  The dad is generally shown as more dominating when he walks around or is talked about.  For example, while “Papi’s voice was loud and argumentative… you had to put cups to your ears to hear…[Mami’s]” (page 33).  The dad always seems to need direct attention from many.  It was also expressed that the mom has turned into a “major-league wuss” being around Papi for most of her life (page 33).  The mother is most definitely described as an innocent and small woman, especially when Yunior talks about how she looks on special occasions. *NEED TO FIND WHERE HE SAYS THIS.*  In contrast, the father is revealed as aggressive, abusive, and most often is the leader of the family.

Lastly, Diaz depicts scenery details that make us visualize and emotionally feel the struggles in their society.  Yunior creates an image of himself having to catch worms with his brother Rafa for dinner (page 71).  Apparently, the water was also very filthy and filled with leaves and spiders.  The fact that his mother is able to pick out the best bucket of water fills him with pride, and also shows how unsanitary their living necessities were.  Besides the idea that the family has been living in horrible conditions, the mother appears to only feel safe when the windows are closed in their house (page 96).  She specifically seems to be worried about a robber making phone calls.  With this in mind, it looks to be that the only valuable thing they own in their house is their telephone.  As poor and low class as this family is, the mom dominates the dad’s role in the family and she begins to work “…ten-, twelve-hour shifts…” that still pay only enough money to rent their home and pay the bills (page 71).  The kids also cannot afford to even lose a pencil because if they did then they would have to stay home from school until they were able to get a new one.  Yunior uses the word “borrow” rather than buy when he refers to getting a new pencil which certainly shows that all the money the family has is limited to what they can use it for (page 71).  In fact, when the mom returns from her five week “vacation,” it is evident that she was working so hard for the family because she returned with “…her hands…heavy with calluses” (page 84).