American actor, Luke Benward, explains “If you don't stand up to your fears, have bravery, loyalty, and you don't have friends, you'll never win. You'll never feel better about yourself.” Although fears are hard to face, it’s often worth the struggle to stand up to fears. In Junot Diaz’s short story collection, Drown, the main character Yunior and his family from the Dominican Republic, often come face to face with their fears in the United States, but can’t take their stand. In “Negocios,” Yunior’s father immigrates to America and struggles to earn enough money to bring his family over, and ends up cheating on Yunior’s mother. Yunior later connects with this woman. In “Fiesta, 1980,” Yunior faces his harsh cheating father while deliberating …show more content…
In “Drown,” Yunior’s individuality is hurt by Beto’s overwhelming influence on his teenage life. A part of Yunior’s own identity and dreams “drown” as Beto convinces him to steal clothes and books, and even sell drugs. Yunior seems to be a benevolent character who cares for his mother yet remains fearful of his father, making it hard to imagine Yunior starting these actions with the constant threat of his father. Yunior’s reluctance to take these actions appears in “Drown” when Yunior and Beto steal books and get caught by the police. Yunior starts to cry due to the threat of his father. Yunior loses a lot of his courage for the future due to his father and Beto. Yunior believes that he could “see [himself] losing altitude, fading, the earth spread out beneath [him] hard and bright”(Drown, 106) when he thinks about the future. Due to the prominent male figures in Yunior’s life, Yunior struggles to understand his own values and identity. Yunior’s inability to stand up for himself stops Yunior from being able to support his independent identity and dreams. On the other hand, when Ramon immigrated to America in “Negocios,” Ramon is able to succeed due to his dreams for the future. Although Ramon starts his life in America with very little money and poor living conditions, he “[wants] a negocio of his own, that [is] his dream”(Negocios, 190). With this dream in mind, Papi manages to …show more content…
Yunior stays loyal to his mother even after his father leaves her life. His family still struggles economically in the United States, and Yunior does all that he can to provide for the family, including selling drugs and stealing clothes. Although Yunior reluctantly starts these actions, he continues to steal and sell drugs to support his family. Yunior gives this money to his mother so occasionally Yunior and his mother can shop at the mall. Yunior doesn’t complain about the long walk because “[his mother] doesn’t go out much, so when she does it’s a big deal. She dresses up, even puts on makeup. Which is why [he doesn’t] give her lip about taking her to the mall…”(Drown, 96). Yunior wants his mother to be happy, even though they are struggling to stay afloat. Even before Yunior and his family immigrate to the United States, they still have financial troubles. When Ramon goes to the United States, he borrows money from Yunior’s grandfather. Mami tells Papi “You had best remember where this money came from”(Negocios,167). Mami needs Papi to stay loyal to the family so his immigration can benefit the whole family. However, Yunior’s father stops sending money while he lives with Nilda. This allows for the connection that forms between Yunior and his mother, and eventually Yunior and