Dominance of the Dominican manhood

Over the course of reading Drown, I was intrigued by the scenes between Yunior and his Abuelo and the way in which their exchanges could have shaped Yunior’s future views. In Aguantando, Abuelo is the main caregiver of Yunior as Yunior’s father is away and his mother is working. Abelo doesn’t take much direct interest in Yunior, even though Yunior himself says Abuelo invented the rat trap solely because “he just liked having something to do, a job of some kind.” (Aguantando page 72). The reality is that Abuelo had a very important and formative job in raising Yunior and Rafa but his lack of interest seems to show his belief in the masculine role men should have in society is not that of child rearing.

         Abuelo’s need for a job also reflexes on Yunior in later chapters. In Edison, New Jersey, Yunior talks about working in a pool table shop and as a delivery person, but he also talks about “since I’m no good at cleaning or selling slot machine, I slouch behind the front register and steal.” (Edison, New Jersey pg. 125). It seems to be an interesting fit for someone who is good and capable of stealing to bother with having a job at all. It seems the job is more or less a means of Yunior feeling as though he is self-sufficient even if the majority of his funds are coming in dishonestly.  Yunior wants to appear to be something of worth to society even if deep down he knows he’s unimportant in the wide scope of the world just as Abuelo wanted the island to know he was still important. The only difference is that Abuelo wanted to actually be important while Yunior just wanted to appear that way.

         Yunior also learns about sticking up for himself early in life from Abuelo.  For starters Abuelo disregards his daughter’s decision to put Yunior in timeout in the first place, inadvertently showing Yunior, he as a Dominican man, is able to overrule the decisions of the women around him. Secondly upon releasing Yunior, Abelo tells him “You better learn, muchacho, or you’ll be kneeling the rest of your life.” (Aguantando pg, 78). Though Abuelo probably meant the statement to mean that Yunior needs to shape up, the statement also resonates as meaning that Yunior needs to not be so naïve to the world around him and must stick up for himself at all costs. Yunior seems to harden to the world over the course of various disappointments. He never commits to people, love or professions in later chapters almost as showmanship of dominant assertion. Abuelo’s lessons are shown in Yunior’s concern in himself. He wants all things that look important, like a job or women, or make him feel important, like the procession of money, and is willing to have gain these assets in the dominance he learned at an early age.