How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie by Junot Diaz - Book Report/Review Example

Discussing dating in terms of the racial aspect can be a very taboo subject. When Diaz used the Second Person, the whole issue became humorous. Men could relate to each type of girl, while women could laugh at the stereotypes for each race. If First Person would have been used, the narrator would have sounded more judgmental and depressing. Third Person point of view would have made the audience more sympathetic to the women. The man would have seemed to be racist. The Second Person point of view gave a satire that made the whole story funny and interesting.

Diaz’s use of the Second Person made his narrator’s experience of dating different types of ethnic girls relatable. An example of this would be how far each type of woman would handle the bully. “If the girl’s an outsider she will hiss now and say, What a fucking asshole. A homegirl would have been yelling back at him the whole time unless she was shy” (Diaz). Most girls from outside of a poor neighborhood are cautious when on the wrong side of the tracks. Girls from the same neighborhood are not intimidated by bullies.

The use of outsiders or homegirls and not identifying the race makes this statement relatable to both outsiders and homegirls. Everyone can identify with being an outsider and belonging. The Second Person point of view makes this whole story relatable. The Second Person also makes this story very humorous. When the narrator is talking about ‘Halfies’ and how their parents met, the topic is heavy. The next sentence makes the whole topic of light. Diaz explains “Your brother once heard that one and said, Man, sounds like a whole lot of Uncle Tomming to me.

” The term ‘Uncle Tomming’ is used in reference to Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Uncle Tom was deferential to white people. This statement is what a black brother would have said. In the Second Person this statement is funny, but in another point of view would have seemed racist. If the two examples above were written in the first point of view, the whole story would have had a different tone. The first example of how the girl would have handled the bully would have written like this: ‘The outsider hissed and said What a fucking asshole.

My homegirl yelled until Howie turned away. Both responses make me feel uncomfortable.’ A first-person situation makes the narrator seem a little less manly for his response. The second example could be written in the First Person like this: ‘My brother once heard that one and said, Man, sounds like a whole lot of Uncle Tomming to me.’ This could be taken as racist. The narrator’s brother is saying that interracial couples only married due to a social trend that was due to differential treatment of blacks toward whites.

A different point of view makes the story more racially charged. A Third Person point of view would have been too analytical for this story. Both the narrator and girls points of view would be explained through an omniscient perspective. This perspective would explain the narrator’s background of being from the Dominican Republic, each girl’s background, and the dating relationship. The whole tone would take on a politically correct tone concerning the whole process. Once again the above examples could be used.

The bully incident would explain the points of view of the bully, narrator, and girl. The bully’s behavior would be explained. Maybe he was an abused child, learning disabled, or has some other factor that would make him a sympathetic character. The girls would also have their actions explained through mitigating factors. In the end, the narrator would look worse than the other two. However, the narrator’s behavior would also be explained. The second example would also be explained in more detail.

The assumption of ‘Uncle Tomming’ would turn out to be false when both of the ‘Halfie’s’ parents were really in love. The reason the girl would justify the relationship in another manner would turn out to be due to the narrator’s skin color. A Third Person point of view would be too politically correct for this story. Without the Second Person's point of view “How to Date a Brown girl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie” would not be as light or humorous.

The whole tone of the story would have been different with a First or Third Person point of view. The First-Person point of view would have been more racist.