Junot Diaz Flashcards
Fiesta, 1980: What are some of the troubling traits of toxic masculinity exhibited in this story?
- domestic violence (hitting children/wife)
- infidelity
- oppression/dismissal of women
- quick temper
- lack of empathy/understanding
It is significant that in this story we see these traits being exhibited by a father; we start to see how these habits are passed on from father to son.
Fiesta, 1980: What “happens” in this story?
The narrator’s aunt and uncle have recently immigrated and are having a party to celebrate. The narrator’s family is attending, but the narrator is not allowed to eat either before or at the party because he always throws up in the car. Through the evening at the party and the narrator’s flashbacks we gain insight into their family dynamic.
Who narrates most of these stories?
Yunior
Drown: What is the name of the friend the narrator is avoiding?
Beto
What is the narrator’s brother’s name?
Rafa
Drown: Who does the narrator live with?
His mother
Drown: Who does the narrator live with?
His mother.
This is a good example of looking into how women fit into the masculinity of the barrio. He describes his mother as being so quiet that he often forgets she is there, sometimes even seeming to blend into the wall. We see how women, especially mothers, are caregivers for their children often long into adulthood.
Women are a quiet, repressed presence, almost in the background of the lives of Diaz’s narrators.
Drown: What was one of the narrator’s and Beto’s main pastimes?
Shoplifting
Drown: What is a “pato”?
It’s the Spanish word for homosexual (and a slur)
Drown: Why is the narrator avoiding Beto?
Beto was his very best friend, but is gay; the narrator and Beto twice engaged in sex acts together before Beto left for college.
There is also an undercurrent of inferiority, because Beto went to college and “got out” and the narrator is living a dead beat life.
How to Date…: What happens in this story?
The narrator, Yunior, describes what to do to prepare for and carry out a date. The story is attentive to cultural differences that his romantic interests might have, and offers advice on how to successfully navigate them. No matter their varied background, the goal is the same: action. These encounters don’t often live up to the narrators hopes.
We subtly glimpse the hardships of the narrator’s life (“government cheese”), but also notice that he treats women interchangeably and as objects. He is not interested in their individuality, but only how that individuality might be exploited for sex. He is not interested in anything but a physical relationship with them.
Edison, New Jersey: What is the name of the narrator’s coworker?
Wayne
Edison, New Jersey: What are Wayne and the narrator’s jobs?
Furniture delivery and assembly
Edison, New Jersey: What happens in this story?
We learn a little bit about the narrator’s job and life. Wayne and the narrator have twice tried to deliver a pool table to a house where no one answers. They are finally let in by a maid, with whom the narrator makes a connection. She’s Dominican, like him, and asks for a ride into NYC.
Even though it’s against the rules, the narrator gives it to her, leaving Wayne to finish the table alone. It seems she may not be a “maid” but some kind of mail-order wife. The narrator is discouraged when he learns that she went back to living with her “boss.” That just seems to be the way things go.
Edison, New Jersey: What are Wayne and the narrator trying to deliver in this story?
A Gold Crown pool table; the person keeps not being home for the delivery.
