The Evolution of Yunior

            Throughout all three of Junot Diaz’s novels, Yunior, a character who is presumably loosely based on Diaz’s own life, is presented in numerous ways. Although the books are not a typical trilogy, the overlapping plot lines allow the reader to trace the evolution of Yunior throughout the various stories.

             In Drown, Yunior initially come across as an innocent child who spends most of his time chasing after his older brother Rafa (Ysreal). As the book progresses, it becomes clear that an impressionable Yunior has fallen prey to the only male role models he has in his life, Rafa and his Papi. Papi is a harsh disciplinarian who glorifies the act of cheating and abandoning one’s responsibilities. Even at a young age Yunior was aware that Papi, “had been with that Puerto Rican woman he was seeing and wanted to wash of the evidence quick”(Fiesta, 1980). While Rafa is perhaps a slightly more positive influence, he often resorts to violence as a method of communication and has not escaped the infidelity gene (Ysreal). It’s no surprise that Yunior sheds his previous innocence and takes on the role of a drug dealer who sees women as objects (Aurora).

              The Yunior we see in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is similar to the Yunior of Drown in terms of his view of women. As Yunior narrates the tale of Oscar, an overweight Dominican nerd, he tends to emphasize the fact that Oscar is not having sex. It is obvious that sex is high on Yunior’s list of priorities and in his mind a relationship is not valid unless sex is involved. Yunior’s tendency towards infidelity also carries over into Oscar Wao as he cheats on Lola (Chapter 7). However, the Yunior is Oscar Wao redeems himself in ways that the Yunior of Drown does not. His relationship with Oscar is endearing, and the act of narrating Oscar’s story demonstrates his understanding of the importance of a “brief, wondrous” life. Yunior’s emotional maturation is even more evident in how reacts to the demise of his relationship with Lola. His longing to express the words that he could never actually say to Lola is heartbreakingly poignant (Chapter 8).

              The Yunior that is presented in This Is How You Lose Her is the most emotionally complex version of all three novels. Following the lead of both Drown and Oscar Wao, Yunior begins his journey as a cheater whose only focus is fixing the relationships he has broken (The Sun, The Moon, The Stars). Yunior’s concentration on “fixing things” causes him to completely miss the fact that a truly remorseful person would not be so quick to brush off the damage he has done. The Yunior at the end of the novel has yet again let infidelity run rampant. However, this Yunior can’t seem to escape the pain he has caused and in the end, he is alone. However this aloneness is not as defeating as it appears. As readers we tend to want a whole ending, one in which perhaps Yunior is married. Be that as it may, I think that the evolution Yunior undergoes, from the emotionally immature drug dealer of Drown to a man that for the first time in his life is capable of real relationship, is as whole as it gets.