Drown, by Junot Diaz is a compilation of fictional stories, all of which however are extremely life like and compelling stories which deal with the concepts of struggle and security as the reader follows a young Dominican American named Yunior and his family. These stories go throughout Yunior’s younger days which took place predominantly in 1980’s New Jersey. The particular short story chapter selected shares its name with the book itself, Drown. The story has many important characters and concepts but a constant factor in the story is struggle, this, accompanied by fear, do a lot in shaping the clay ball that is Yunior’s young pliable life. Diaz’s tail also has another concept that heavily influences this story’s direction, characters, as well as the other concept of struggle. This heavy hitting concept comes in the form of security. The tug of war and yin and yang of these two concepts is a huge part of what makes this story very unique and interesting but also what makes the fictional work so life like and relatable. Yunior’s struggle comes from a number of places, his lack of a present father, being a minority and one that is in economic hardship, lack of employment, being in a poor community and school system, as well as Yunior having to deal with his sexual assault. Yunior’s security and its play in the story are just as important to the plot and just as abundant as any other concept. Security can be seen as a character having a sense of security because of their reliance on another person. Or it could be a lack of security due to unsafe situation. It could maybe center around a particular object or situation or act that has meaning for one character in terms of being secure but not another. These all encompass what the concept of security means to the story and show how Yunior goes up against these problems daily. Without adversity and security and the battling of these demons above there would be no story to tell, there would not be a true ability to accomplish anything or to really grow for Yunior. Fear of the unknown and fear of what is coming as well as the feeling or lack thereof of being secure go hand in hand in making this story have life and truly be about life. As we all know, life sometimes is just not fair, as Yunior experiences time and time again. 

From the onset of the short story the odds seemed to be stacked against Yunior as he appears to be lost. He is sitting alone, no friends, nothing to do but drink, sell dope, steal and watch TV. The very apparent lack of guidance could largely be attributed to the lack of a father or even the lack of a positive older influence. At one point his estranged best friend Beto seemed to occupy this role, however to say that his presence was positive certainly isn’t true. Beto being seen as a father figure by Yunior is shown subliminally through how Yunior describes Betos voice, “…a voice that crackled and made you think of uncles or grandfathers” (Diaz pg. 91). This lack of positivity coming from Beto in his role as a father figure is pretty apparent at some points. For example, a real father figure wouldn’t pull the kid who looks up to him into the situations Beto put Yunior in such as their streak of shoplifting or the constant drinking and smoking. This lack of the correct guidance is a trend when Beto was part of Yunior’s life, this path Beto set Yunior down continued even once Beto moved on and went to college. With a dad present, or just someone who could show Yunior right from wrong, the negative path may have been halted before it got out of control. However, this lack of a father figure not only hurt him in this aspect but another, economically. 

Being a “poor person” just to begin with in America is a hard task, but adding in that he is a first generation Dominican immigrant in America in the 1980’s living with a single mother, the struggle could not get a whole lot worse. The issue with race in the United States is an ongoing issue, in the 80’s though the issues were very bad and the country was very tense. There was also an increase in dislike toward the Hispanics community due to the huge number that fled for the U.S., particularly Cubans, but all Latin American nations were represented in the exodus, including the Dominican Republic. The ability to get a good job for Hispanics was also very limited as shown by Yunior’s Dad, “… a sad guy who calls her and begs for money” and his mom who only has enough for “rent and groceries” (Diaz pg. 94, 101). Both of whom don’t have an American high school education, this lack of high school education in the 1980’s for Hispanic immigrants was a common issue. As shown by a graphic given by the U.S. Census Bureau on page 160, only 41% of Latinos over 25 years old had a high school diploma and only 8% had a college degree. These statistics showed that the Latino community struggled more in this area than any other race. So one could definitely say these were some very poor numbers; this lack of education of adult Hispanics then hurts the younger generation, like Yunior, who then resort to making quick money to help give themselves and their family some cash or in this case parent, stay afloat financially. And the only real way to make some substantial money hustling like Yunior and young people like him is to put schooling and education by the wayside. The educational issues stem beyond the kids and their struggles within the system however. The issues also come from the system itself, from the educators and a lack of support they give their students. When you seeming already have the whole world working against you and your teacher comes out and says, “A few of you are going to make it. The orbiters. But the majority of you are just going to burn out” (Diaz pg. 106), it just makes thing that much harder on Yunior and his peers. Simply because the teacher does not care about the success of the majority of the kids because the teacher already has no faith in their abilities as students. In general, there are not a lot of positives to saying that besides maybe motivating the students prove you wrong. Though, that isn’t the best idea for the excuse in a situation like this when dealing with young students already lacking confidence in their abilities and are already pretty beat down by the system at a young age. 

Self-confidence or struggles with self-esteem can come from many places but very few can be darker and more deviant then sexual assault. Yunior is a victim of sexual assault and this issue is what ended his longtime friendship with Beto, who committed the act on Yunior. The assault also is something that had a profound impact on his confidence and positivity. “As an abused child you developed a sense of low self-worth” (havoca. webpage), coming from the Help for Adult Victims of Child Abuse. This abuse is likely part of the lack of motivation to change his life for the better or to do well in school because he has self-hate and a lack of conviction and confidence to do things. While Beto could move on and act like nothing had happened, it was almost impossible for Yunior as the victim to go and hang out and talk to Beto again like nothing happened. This strategy is what Beto tried to pull off after the first assault at his house and once the second assault occurred Yunior had finally had enough and needed to get out, finally not following Beto’s lead and word. Yunior showing the strength to break free of Beto exemplifies his fortitude and ability to push through some pain, traits that some people, like a recruiter for the United States Military say Yunior may still be lacking.

No money, awful schools, dilapidated area, mostly minorities. This is a large part of Yunior’s struggle, this struggle however affords the Government the perfect opportunity to find young men with nothing else really to do but fight for our country. These people like Yunior who have been through these tough times and already like Yunior have some ability to get through adversity are perfect for the Army. So it is certainly not a coincidence Yunior got approached by a recruiter for the Army. The targeting of Yunior’s population type is shown and laid out by David and Mady Segal in their Population Bulletin on page nine of their study, which studies Americas military population states, “Enlistment is predicted by parents’ education (children of college educated parents are less likely to serve), high school grades (those with higher grades are less likely to serve), college plans (college students are less likely to enlist), race and ethnicity (African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to serve than whites)”. Going down the list it appears Yunior falls on the more likely to serve side every time. So it makes sense why Yunior was approached and why the Government does somewhat take advantage of their situation but at the same time it can really better their lives so saying in general they are taking advantage of people just is not fair, they are serving and protecting our country. The Army recruiter and Yunior’s reaction towards his offer, which is him basically shutting down an opportunity without much thinking about it and just copping out and using an excuse. This excuse being “Sorry. I ain’t army material” (Diaz pg. 100) which is a perfect example of Yunior wanting to stay secure, relatively comfortable and in his element. Marking off just one situation of many involving the next concept of security. 

The relationship and bond between mother and son is one that should be more secure and sacred than almost any other relationship one could have. This special bond is especially exemplified in this case, as this serves as an example of how much two people, particularly Yunior and his mother, can go through life together and rely on each other in a situation. Mother and Yunior are security blankets for the other, each protecting the other one’s weaknesses. Such as when Yunior’s mother was talking on the phone to his father, “I walk in on her and hang up the phone. That’s enough, I say” (Diaz pg. 101). Yunior does this because of him being so protective over his mother because he knows that his father just messes with her head and will make her a wreck for the next few days.  With countless other examples of things like this, it begins to become obvious that Yunior is his moms rock and is the fighter in the relationship. While on the other side of things Yunior’s mother is symbolic of innocence, peace and sensitivity, all characteristics that are very seldom found in a place like where Yunior and his mother were living. These personality traits of Mother are exemplified by things such as her childlike excitement to spend her $50 dollars that Yunior gives her every week.  The peace she brings or really just her passive, secluded, reserved type vibe definitely seems to tone down Yunior and slow his aggression and occasional hostility. In contrast with this loving relationship which unites and strengthens throughout the story, the chronicles of Yunior and Beto play out a lot differently. 

Beto and Yunior previously were best friends and would basically do everything together and shared almost everything. But one reason that had a huge impact on Beto leaving college and helping seal the fate of their friendship, is Beto’s dislike towards the environment and just scene he lived in, while Yunior felt almost the opposite. Beto “hated everything about the neighborhood…” compared to Yunior who felt at home, felt secure within this space which in turn inhibited the lack of moving on Yunior’s part (Diaz pg. 91). The form of security also offered by Beto was one that Yunior took shelter under hard for a while and Yunior takes note of some of these thing Beto would do and uses them to give support to his mother. It was Beto’s confidence and assertiveness and really recklessness that led the two through their shenanigans and eventually to them getting in trouble for the shoplifting. Even after this Beto and Yunior are still best friends and Yunior is still heavily reliant on Beto for guidance and support. However, unfortunately for Yunior in the short term this support provided by Beto in their relationship begins to collapse, starting with Betos personal security blanket, pornography. While the two friends are watching this Beto commits a form of sexual assault on Yunior, this assault shocks and devastates Yunior, while Beto is completely unfazed by the event, both directly after and the next day. Pornography became Beto’s security blanket due to his father, this is because at a very young age Beto and his dad would watch porn together for hours. The reason behind Beto’s actions and his own reaction to these actions can be pointed out by a quote from, “The Journal of Adolecent Heath”, which is a study accompanied by a summery of the data by Debra Braun. It states that, “early exposure to sexually explicit materials can lead to exaggerated beliefs of sexual activity among peers, sexually permissible attitudes, and sexual callousness.” This lack of emotion and just disregard for others fits perfectly for the description of someone who is somewhat disturbed sexually. As well as fitting the description very well for what Beto did to Yunior, particularly the callousness and casual nature of Beto after the incident and his utter lack of remorse or even understanding he did something wrong in the first place. This awful event and the problems that came with got compounded when the opportunity came again for assault and Beto did it again. Completely destroying all trust between the two. Yunior’s biggest role model and biggest form of protection and guidance is the one who assaulted him and completely altered his life. This sexual assault may be one of the very few problems faced by Yunior that money cannot fix all that well, however money can almost always find a way to help. 

There is what actually makes Yunior feel safe and secure and then there is what the outside world perceives security to be, which are two totally different animals. The outside world is represented by the Army recruiter, offering up the opportunity to, “have a house, a gun and a wife” (Diaz pg. 100.) This really isn’t for Yunior but on paper it really should be. The reason I say this is because these things are obtained for the most part by money, excluding the wife but even in that case money still has a large influence a lot of the time. You may not be able to buy happiness but you can definitely buy comfort. This is why money is the ultimate security blanket, money can sooth almost anyone to a certain extent and money is just not something Yunior or his mother have a lot of. Yunior only makes money from selling drugs and considering he is a small time dealer he probably doesn’t make much more then 100 bucks a week, especially back in the 80’s. Combined with his mother’s job as a maid, which in the 80’s is pretty low paying job. In fact, extremely low, as shown to us by Earl Mellor and his work “Weekly Earnings” In 1985, The number comes out to be just under $10,000 a year with $9,256. Not having any money stems from a lot of places mentioned, and is not a very fixable problem for Yunior and his mom. 

Struggling and combating adversity are two very different things, for Yunior struggling has been his whole life. These many obstacles that have been thrown his way are what gives Yunior these tough circumstance, now struggle is something we all do go through, Yunior probably more than most, but it just matters how you deal with it. Whether Yunior lets a particular problem sit and brew while they sit comfortable and secure or they attack it head on. At this point Yunior has done both and is at time in his life where these decisions to be proactive are life changing. Sitting in the struggle and not doing anything about it is where security comes in, at least in the negative manner. If Yunior continues to be content and feel secure about his life in its current state, he won’t grow and he’ll continue on the slowly descending spiral that is his life and the way it seems to be going. This is of course unless Yunior can really get comfortable being uncomfortable, by not letting life sit there and beat you up but to fight back and fight the struggle. This is where security comes with its positive light, in order to fight Yunior needs the motivation of those who love him, who are his security because when he does get knocked down at some point he needs his security to pump him back up and keep going even if there isn’t much to give. Once Yunior can get comfortable with being uncomfortable he has the greatest security of all because if you make all negativity into positivity what can stop you.

Yunior and his fight against negatives of not having a father, lacking money and education, being a minority and being sexually abused, will make him stronger but it’s an ongoing battle, one Yunior continues to fight through the rest of the book as well, not just this chapter. The same goes for being secure, for Yunior, security can be found or lost in another person’s personality, a place, or even object. without making yourself comfortable sometimes how are you supposed to get by day to day in life, but if you don’t make yourself uncomfortable from time to time how do you grow. This balance between the two concepts and their reliance upon each other cannot be understated. Despite the book being fiction, this is the reality for many men and women not only Americans but people all around the world, all struggle, it just comes down to will you fight and push through the issues or succumb to them and continue to be content with mediocrity.   
