Tanure
Joao Pedro Malta-Tanure
Professor Melissa Martinez
Freshman Writing Seminar: Voice, Variety and Vernacular
November 4 2019
Essay #3: Close Analysis on Drown
Drown is a semi-autobiographical short story collection written by Dominican-American
author Junot Diaz. Within the collection of stories, the fifth chapter— also titled Drown— is a
narrative that describes themes of alienation and puzzling sexual experiences. The coming-oflife story is told through the eyes of Yunior, a drug dealer on the cusp of adulthood that is living
in New Jersey with his mother, whom he affectionately refers to as “Mami.”
The premise of the chapter deals with Yunior’s childhood best friend Beto, and his
return to the city; exploring their transition from childhood invincibility and teenage mischief to
the world of adulthood. Diaz expertly constructs the rhetoric of the text to make a slow-burning
emotional impact on the readers through Yunior’s tribulations as he grows up: the complex
descriptive scenes throughout Yunior’s coming-of-age story demonstrate conflicting themes of
intimacy and masculinity that ultimately brings an allegorical battle between the past and
present to light.
Even in the present, Diaz constantly uses flashbacks to effectively portray Yunior’s
childhood masculinity. At one point, Yunior begins fondly remembering how he spent his
summers with Beto by going to the pool: “as soon as night settled Beto and I headed down to
the community center and sprang the fence into the pool” (Diaz 92). Diaz expresses Yunior’s
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feeling of invincibility and joy, indicating innocence as he describes them “wrestling” and
“farting” around in a child-like fashion. In another instance, when Yunior is at the mall with his
mother, he warmly remembers that he and Beto used to shoplift: “Me and Beto used to steal
like mad from these places, two, three hundred dollars of shit in an outing” (Diaz 96). The
author emphasizes the childhood feeling of invincibility and power, using slang and
colloquialism to provoke a sense of comfortability felt by Yunior by recounting this childhood
“practice”. Furthermore, Yunior recalls that when he knew a word that Beto didn’t, Beto would
respond physically and emotionally towards him, as in the quote, “Tell me. He hated when I
knew something he didn’t. He put his hands on my shoulders and pushed me under” (Diaz 94).
Yunior doesn’t show any signs of anger towards Beto’s act, expressing admiration for this
behavior. Diaz imposes the idea that Beto is a model of masculinity and physical strength for
Yunior. Yunior’s childhood was replete of events that involved the feeling of invincibility,
happiness, masculinity, and strength, which emphasizes the contrast between his different
phases of life. Another idea expressed by these events is the lack of responsibility– back then,
he had the freedom from moral familial obligations, while in the present, for example, he finds
time to watch TV with his mother during nights.
Another way Diaz uses flashbacks is by vividly expressing Yunior’s emotional
complications during his teenage years. The theme of sexuality is constantly approached by the
author during this chapter, and as the reader reads through it, they understand how Yunior’s
culture view homosexuality in particular. At the beginning of the chapter, when Mami tells
Yunior that Beto is home from college, Yunior goes to see if Beto is home. However, when
Yunior starts to describe their relationship, he uses codeswitching in the word “pato”, which
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translates to “faggot”, “He’s a pato now but two years ago we were friends and he would walk
into the apartment without knocking…” (Diaz 91). In this quote, the author uses codeswitching
to emphasize how his family, from the Dominican Republic (where Spanish is the first
language), viewed homosexuality. While Yunior was describing Alex’s violence towards gay
men, he abruptly recollects a strenuous memory – his first sexual encounter with Beto. The two
boys were at Beto’s apartment watching one of Beto’s father’s porn videos, “when he reached
into my shorts. What the fuck are you doing? I asked, but he didn’t stop. His hand was dry. I
kept my eyes on the television, too scared to watch. I came right away, smearing the plastic
sofa covers” (Diaz 104). Diaz suddenly interrupted Alex’s homophobic violence event by
introducing an opposite event that occurred between Yunior and Beto, emphasizing Yunior’s
confusion about masculinity and homosexuality. The fact that they usually watched
pornographic material together creates an established comfort with shared individual sexuality
in their relationship. Another flashback, later on, is when Yunior is troubled with the reality of
Beto going to college. He remembers when his high school teacher made his class observe a
space shuttle launch. The teacher used an analogy, comparing each student to the shuttle,
explaining that only a few would have the emotional power to ascend, while the rest would
burn out, “I could already see myself losing altitude, fading, the earth spread out beneath me,
hard and bright” (Diaz 106). Diaz uses this analogy to foreshadow Yunior’s future as an adult:
lack of ambition, responsibilities, and confusion, causing his rocket to fall back to the ground. In
contrast to his powerful and invincible childhood, during his teenage years, Yunior was
surrounded by discouragement, confusion and sexual uncertainties.
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During the present, Yunior described the development of the issues that were present
during his teenage years, with some additions on the way. A new problem that surged was the
increase in responsibility, as he dropped out of high school and had to provide sufficient income
due to his financial situation with his mother. Yunior had to find a quick and simple way to
produce income, therefore he started to deal drugs: “I don’t give up her lip about taking her to
the mall even though I usually make a fortune on Saturdays, selling to those kids going down to
Belmar or out to Spruce Run” (Diaz 96). Diaz shows how confused and non-ambitious Yunior is
by doing an illegal and simple “task”, however, he emphasizes the increase in responsibility by
pointing out that Yunior follows moral familial obligations, such as spending time with his
mother instead of making more profit. Another interesting section in the short story is when his
mother always asks him to lock all the windows of the house before sleeping or leaving the
house, “I let her sleep until the end of the movie and when I wake her she shakes her head,
grimacing. You better check those windows, she says” (Diaz 107). Diaz emphasizes the pertinent
increase in Yunior’s general responsibilities. When comparing Yunior’s adult nightlife to his
past, it is clear that he doesn’t have the same freedom that he used to have, such as going to a
bar with his friends or the pool with Beto. When Yunior returns to the same pool he used to go
with Beto during their childhood and teenage years, he finds himself surrounded by siblings of
his former classmates. He uses long dives as a technique to escape reality; to hear “whispers”
(Diaz 92) hidden beneath the uproar of noises on the surface. Diaz uses this metaphor to
portray the idea that Yunior perceives a deep dive as a refuge, where he can escape from the
stressing issues in his life. This metaphor emphasizes the idea that Yunior is discouraged,
confused and worn out. Yunior’s adulthood is the development of his teenage years’ issues,
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highlighting, even more, the conflict between his childhood feelings and his other periods of
life. Another idea that is perceived by the reader is the contrast between him and Beto – while
Beto is in college and with a hopeful future ahead, Yunior is lost in confusion, dealing drugs and
drowned by his responsibilities.
Ultimately, it is possible to assimilate Beto as Yunior’s past, both positive during his
childhood and negative during his teenage years, and Mami as his present, through his new
responsibilities. It’s undeniable that Yunior admires Beto for his progress after high school and
misses his childhood feeling of invincibility and power. However, in the same way that Beto was
not there when Yunior visited him after his mother said he was in the city, Beto was eradicated
from Yunior’s life, which now contains an overwhelming amount of responsibilities. The end of
the chapter illustrates that a quiet and simple night watching movies with his mother, having to
lock the house before going to sleep.
To conclude, Yunior’s struggles while growing up leaves a lasting, and emotional
impression on the readers. The conflicting themes of intimacy and masculinity that ties in the
battle between the past and present, are represented by both Beto and Mami respectively. As
Yunior stumbles through life and becomes an adult— he still admires and reminisces about
Beto, and to an extent, his past life. However, his lust ultimately culminates to nothing more
than just a distant memory as he tends to his mother, where his present responsibilities lie. Just
as the title of the chapter suggests, Yunior is drowning— his concealed feelings and inner
conflicts are submerged, as he listens to whispers of the past.
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Works Cited
Diaz, Junot. Drown. Riverhead Books, 1996.
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