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Summaries of Stories in Junot Diaz's 'Drown'

1561 Words7 Pages

The Many Themes and Binaries of Drown by Junot Diaz: My Take In Drown by Junot Diaz are many themes and many binaries that Diaz uses to convey a certain message. The message being the harsh reality immigrants go through and the lives of Latinos in U.S. specifically in the East Coast. Particularly in the two short stories that I am choosing are “Edison, New Jersey” and “Negocios”. These two have very similar themes, but for both of them what really stood out was the theme of money. Both of these main characters of the stories are driven by their hunger for money. They would do anything to have the taste of the good life. Papi, specifically, in “Negocios” does not care who he hurts all he really cares about at then end of the day is himself. …show more content…

Which ties into the whole money theme like to Papi the American Dream is to have a lot of money and to be successful for none other than himself. Symbolically Nilda, Papi 's other wife, represents the American Dream. She lets Papi stay at her home rent free and in a lot of ways lets Papi live as comfortably as possible. Nilda’s home is paradise, “A week later he was back at her house, grating coconuts and talking in English” (185) this quote demonstrates the fact that Papi can just come back to Nilda and everything will be okay. When someone thinks of America they think of freedom and that is what Nilda gives Papi, freedom to do what he wants. Additionally, an instance that happened in “Edison, New Jersey” also reminded me the way people look at the US. “I open my eyes and see that Wayne is still waiting. Edison, I say, pressing my thumb down. Edison, New Jersey” (140). This quote is showing the character literally opening his eyes which when you open your eyes you typically see the light. Thomas Edison was known for his invention of the lightbulb which is literally light. As I mentioned before, the city represents a new hope and the US is seen that way for many

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