This Is How I Lose Her by Junot Diaz - Coursework Example

This is How I lose Her Diaz in his short story “ This is How I lose Her “ , throws definitive light on the uneven, emotional and roller coaster love life of the young, flirtatious and gullible Yunior. The text begins with Yunior’s constantly negative views about Magda’s friends portray us his hypocritical nature from the very first paragraph of the play. Even though he calls himself an “optimist”, he seems to be restless after his fling with Cassandra and does not refrain himself from referring to her in discriminatory words. In Yunior’s silent thoughts “Me and her on the island”, he hopes to eradicate the betrayal by somehow making up for hurting the girl who according to Yunior, was the “forgiving” soul and there wasn’t anyone worse to have cheated on. If we look at two of these different sides, we’re reminded of how Yunior is after all young and indecisive be it the girls he dated or his feelings towards woman in general. One of the most prominent themes in the story is Yunior’s thoughts and words. The constant divide in what he wants to say and what he actually ends up saying. The particular aspect is seen throughout the nine interlinked short stories. Like when Yunior wraps his arms round Magda from behind, according to him her reaction is like bomb being dropped with little or no warning. He calls her “bitch” for she tells him blatantly how she needs “space” that night at La Romana. Yunior’s gullibility of nature contrast deeply with the way he is reluctant to let go of Magda, someone who he shouldn’t be spending his “loot” on. One cannot ignore the constant and rather overwhelming theme of language in Di work. The grammar, punctuation and use of raw and slang words cross the story bring light to yet another theme in the text- one that of rural and the urban lives. The change of location is brought to the readers mind when Yunior carts her off to Santo Domingo in order to rekindle their love and relationship. The change to ‘super fly’ landscapes compliment Yunior’s efforts to make sure he and Magda were a couple in harmony again. The “shanties” contrast with Yunior’s place with an ever “reliable latrine”, and Yunior’s playboy character engulfs the readers amidst his unrefined language and despite his description of himself as “nigga”. Diaz uses comparison and contrast in his story to great effect as he moves from one scene to another. He colors in our minds on one side the way he sees Magda as a “fucking boca” which being his way of describing things round him. Yet at the same time he describes her excessive talking as a fountain like image of her “sprouting” words from her mouth. The tinge of affection and the constant hope for an good old relationship with her keeps the story from becoming whiny complain from Yunior or other characters. The theme of family again contradicts Yunior’s love life and his way with the opposite gender, one on end is the respect we see Yunior has for his abuelo and on the other is the way he silently curses and detest Magda’s behavior towards his constant reproaches. Another theme prevalent in the story is our feelings of worthlessness that Yunior associates with himself. His face he says looks like “footprint of fresh disaster” and the poor beggarly look on his face stands opposite to how he calls Magda the star all long and how she is approached for marriage just by the mere smile that settles her face every time she is delighted. The account of Yunior’s relationship with Magda ends at rather saddening note, as the image is that of her leaving with her luggage. Yet the story of Nilda begins and ends at different note to that of Yunior’s first account. It portrays to us the fifteen year old Yunior who is constantly attracted to the relationship that his elder brother Rafa shares with his girlfriend, who is one of the quietest of girls Yunior, had ever met. The relationship from Yunior’s view is that of perfection. Although he finds her unlike any other woman in her life, there is little or no detest in his words when he speaks of her. Her reminiscence of him differs from his feel towards Magda and her friends who he called “sorest losers on the planet”. The main idea that I have explored cross this text unmistakably revolves around the ambiguity that revolves round Yunior’s morals, as the transition from “Nilda’ to ‘Alma’ reveals to us yet another betrayal from Yunior and we are reminded of how Magda initially regarded all Dominican men as cheaters. Yunior’s time with Laxmi is only a reminder of how he cannot decide where and with whom his loyalties lie. The question of his morals being not modest is answered several times on its own. The character of Yunior can be compared to Jack Ernest in Oscar Wilde’s play, the important of being Ernest. Jack not only portrays himself s cultured, civilized and respectable member of the society at that time, he hypocritically deceives woman and family equally in the ply. This explains to us how it be Britain or the States or even Africa, all across history and time, there have been numerous men and woman struggling to define their morals despite belonging to respectable families, affluent or not. Yet another character that comes to mind is that of Sergeant troy in Thomas Hardy’s play, “Far from the madding crowd”. Despite the dissimilarly characters in age, gender and society, we observe similar streak of deception and betrayal among men when we discuss the theme in accordance to this particular work of Diaz. As we progress deeper into the characters of Samantha and Ana iris contrast drastically with the previous female characters. The theme of moral woman might equally be missing from the stories put together by Diaz. However what is noticeable Are heartbroken, sensitive, sexually active woman ranging from one age to another. Looking at Ana iris, the characters around her are reminded of a domestic life, one that is full of “housecleaning” and loads of chores. Yunior’s time with Ana iris forces him to recall the dark man his mother “kept” when he was only seven, this being one of the most prominent proofs of the fatherly figure missing in his life. Di keeps his story and characters rolling slowly ling the text, never reveling to little or more to keep the readers captivated. The protagonist tells how n iris did not understand the “English” movie that went out to see for the first and rather their attention was diverted by the “clean rugs” lid out in the theater. Ana iris had “men’ too but never did they stay “long”, tells how love and sex are an ongoing theme that cannot be ignored in the stories. The theme of feminist found in Harold Pinters ply, ‘The Homecoming” is reflected in theses short stories too. The power of womanly beauty and charm and the men so helplessly engulfed round it is seen more than several times when we discuss Yunior cross his life. One such woman is Miss Lora, who he refers to as ‘nothing exciting.” and yet he couldn’t help falling for her. With no apparent physical beauty, nor any unusual features about her stood out to Yunior and the boys in his neighbor, he still couldn’t help himself and stay away. Despite his feelings towards her, we also see his relation with Paloma, with whom he also was physical. According to Yunior, it was her, the first time any girl wanted him. The idea of the missing fatherly figure from Yunior’s life and the similarity between his brother and his father show us another side to the life of Yunior. His mother’s constant dislike is put across in the word “disgust” as she calls all “Dominican men” cheaters. Yunior also reflects back on the treatment of his father towards his mother as he describes him as reckless and unfaithful. In Yunior’s language, both his father and brother were what he called “sucios”. There is a clear tinge of hatred and loathe in Yunior’s words, as he recalls being left in the car while his father ran away to his “girlfriends”. The characteristic of cheater seems to have been genetic; somehow the reader is forced to feel for Yunior. Be it the numerous women that colored Yunior’s life, or the dozen others that he purposely disturbed with his non seriousness all force us to see the human nature through Yunior’s eyes. As Diaz concludes his work, the reader is not lost or doubtful anymore. Isn’t it human nature to always want more and more? There being never enough to satisfy even the richest? These questions and many more erode our minds, and most of them cannot be answered by just analyzing this one piece of modern literature. The themes of poverty, domestic life, betrayal, family and relationships are just some that Diaz has explored through his main character, Yunior. The scent of deprivation, guilt, sadness and feeling of lacking never leaves any of the characters in the stories. The main purpose of this thesis was to write down and explore better how Yunior’s moral loyalties is not the only, but one of the many traits to his character. Unlike the other playboy characters that we often outright condemn, the character of Yunior despite his flaws is n outcry to the world where love is over rated and relationships slowly deteriorating. Diaz closes Yunior’s love life by glimpses from his past, pausing on the future and finally hitting reality with full force. Yunior might have graduated in that June and set out on a writing career, the story does not end here. It revolves in the minds of every reader. What make the character real, memorable and lively are the flaws and mistakes that Yunior never stops to commit, grave or small. Yunior both disappoints and delights us, just like his own life did with him from the early separation of his father, to the death of Ami or the departing of Magda or Alma. But what wins us over is the conscience in Yunior that is ever living and awake. He never denies reality. Works Cited SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Importance of Being Earnest.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2004. Web. 26 Nov. 2013 "Introduction" Drama for Students Vol. 3. Gale Cengage eNotes.com 15 Dec, 2013 Read More