The Power of Innocence

Looking back on my own childhood, it is evident the power that innocence plays in creating a safe, somewhat distorted reality of what the world is to you.  Growing up with a loving and stable family, I was blessed and able to truly be a child without worrying about external pressures like food, shelter, or money, which I took for granted.  However, as I grew up I could see that I was truly blessed - not everyone is as lucky as I was.  I attribute my naive attitude to the innocence I had at the time.  My parents and other family members raised me in a protected world, where exposure to these tougher lifestyles was not prevalent.  

While reading Drown by Junot Diaz, it was clear that Yunior's level of innocence was significantly different than mine.  In the beginning, Yunior did exhibit signs of childhood innocence.  For example, in "Ysrael" Yunior asked Ysrael where his kite was from, and Ysrael responded that it was what his father had gotten it for him in New York.  Yunior, excited by the similarity he had just discovered, exclaimed, "No shit! Our father's there too!" (Diaz 16).  However, his innocence became apparent due to Rafa's sullen reaction; Yunior recalled this by stating, "I looked at Rafa, who, for an instant, frowned.  Our father only sent us letters and an occasional shirt or pair of jeans at Christmas" (Diaz 16).  Yunior's does not fully understand the significance of his father’s absence, but Rafa, an older and less innocent family member, recognizes that their father’s absence in New York signifies so much more.  He also demonstrates this again further in “Ysrael” when discussing Ysrael’s treatment plans.  After Yunior insisted that they would fix Ysrael’s face, “a muscle fluttered between [Rafa’s] jawbone and his ear” (Diaz 19).  Rafa then told Yunior they would not be doing anything to help him and that it was an accepted truth.  Because Rafa fully understood what it meant to have an absentee father, he relinquished the habit of holding onto false hold, signifying his maturity.  However, Yunior and Ysrael’s innocent attitudes prove that life’s complexities have yet to be made apparent to them although they have been brought up in adverse conditions.

One aspect I believe is key to shaping their innocence is not only the influence of their role models but also the influence of those who are not their role models.  In particular, his father’s inappropriate, unfaithful behavior forces Yunior’s innocence to deteriorate exponentially faster than if he had had a positive, respectable father figure.  His father’s chauvinism in regard to male superiority defines his sons’ perceptions of the purpose of women.  In seeing his father’s affair and hearing him become exasperated that “a man his age has to masturbate when he had a wife” (Diaz 179), Yunior develops not only a less innocent perspective on acceptable behavior but he also begins to develop a lackluster sense of morality.  Overall, innocence is a powerful tool and its deterioration can be attributed to the negative influences within one’s environment.