Audaciously frank and bitterly sincere, Junot Diaz's "Drown" forges a sense of communal culture that drives the development of many of the work's major themes, chief among them maintenance of the historically accepted implications of masculinity. While topics such as dissecting the infamous coming of age narrative or examining the futility of the “American Dream” may appear more easily accessible or simple to understand, this central, cultural, and intellectual complex of machismo proves to be the true agent driving both these ideas and countless others explored by Diaz through his protagonist, Yunior. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The male insecurities experienced by Yunior can be anticipated already in the first lines of "Drown", with the dismissal of his former friend Beto based on his homosexuality. However, this refusal is complex, as Yunior recounts, My mother tells me at Beto's house, wait for him to say something, but I keep watching TV. Only when he's in bed do I put on my jacket and walk around the neighborhood to see. Now he's a patootie but two years ago we were friends and he entered the apartment without knocking, his heavy voice woke my mother from the Spanish of her room and picked me up from the basement, a voice that croaked and made me think of uncles or grandparents (Diaz 91). Here, while Yunior's contempt for Beto is evident, his simultaneous reminiscence of times spent with his friend reveals much more on the topic of masculinity. Rather than simply stating that he and Beto were no longer on good terms, Yunior takes care to highlight Beto's homosexuality with the Spanish term "pato," a subtle act of desperation performed to distance himself from the cultural taboo that such orientation entails. . However, even in these opening lines of “Drown,” Yunior begins to expose his genuine feelings on the topic of masculinity. Emphasizing Beto's dominance, his "heavy voice" that woke his mother and pulled him up from the basement, "a voice that croaked and made you think of uncles and grandparents," it becomes clear that Yunior is intrigued, if not obsessed , gives the notion of machismo. By relating Beto to an uncle or grandfather figure, the respect and admiration that Yunior has, or had, for his friend's masculinity and confidence can be seen quite clearly. In contrast, Yunior's decision to wait for his mother to fall asleep before visiting Beto further reveals his desire to hide any relationship with a man who may be criticized in terms of masculinity, an effort that ironically reveals the fragility of his same sexual confidence. . Commenting on their past adventures together, Yunior explains: Then we were enraged, crazy in the way we stole, broke windows, pissed on people's steps and then dared them to come out and stop us (Diaz 92). Emphasizing recklessness and abandonment. in multiple instances, Yunior attempts to show his and Beto's facade of masculinity, as well as the bravado it culturally implies. Yet in the end it is Yunior who shows the more sensitive nature between him and Beto, as after being caught shoplifting, remember, I started crying. Beto didn't say a word, his face tense and gray, his hand clasping mine, the bones of our fingers pressing together (Diaz 99). While Beto, the patho, remains stoic in the face of the accusation, Yunior begins to cry, losing the stereotypical attributes of machismo. This irony, along with the powerful image of Yunior and Beto's hands clasping together, further complicates the already multifaceted nature of Yunior's sexuality, placingquestioning his "male" identity. In a scene that encapsulates the masculine sentiment of this Dominican-American enclave in New Jersey, Yunior's friend Alex, referring to a gay man,... simply sticks his head out the window. Fuck you! he shouts and then sits back down, laughing. This is original, I say (Diaz 103). Beyond simply highlighting the cruel attitude towards those with stereotypically deviant sexuality, this incident also shows that Yunior is not completely spiteful or even apathetic towards homosexuals, he almost seems to come to their defense when they are abused. by Alex. Thus, through a multitude of subtle but clear allusions, Yunior's latently complex and delicate masculinity is revealed to be infinitely more fragile than he tries to make it appear. In this case study of masculinity, arguably the most powerful formative influence on Yunior, both sexually and emotionally, is his mother. The masculine burden that Yunior feels obligated to bear respect to his mother can be traced back to their abandonment by his father, as described by what happens during his parents' conversation: He's talking to my father, something he knows that I disapprove. Now she's in Florida, a sad guy calling her and asking for money. He swears that if she moves there he will leave the woman he lives with. These are lies, I told her, but she still calls him. His words weave inside her, disturbing her sleep for days (Diaz 100). Embittered by his father's abandonment, Yunior loses all respect for the man, calling him a 'sad boy' and a liar. More significant than his personal attitude toward his father, however, is Yunior's concern about the effects of his father's words on his mother. The vivid images of his father's destructive effects on his mother are a detail that relates Yunior's compassion and sensitivity, as well as his exceptional quality of loyalty. When his father leaves, Yunior feels obligated to contribute to the family income and take care of his mother, two typically masculine qualities. Even going so far as to entertain his mother, Yunior reflects, on Saturdays she asks me to take her to the mall. As a son, I feel I owe him this... Before going out he drags us around the apartment to make sure the windows are closed... Putting his hand on the lock is not enough, he wants to hear it slam (Diaz 96). Yunior's bond with his mother is only strengthened by his father's departure, and the symbolic closing of the windows that occurs both here and at the end of the play symbolizes his devotion and his mother's insecurity. Just as he wants to hear the locks rattling to make sure they are secure, Yunior's mother makes sure to restrain and restrain her son. Stepping in to fill the void left by his father at such a young age is a responsibility that has advanced Yunior's notion of masculinity at an alarming time in his life, while simultaneously corrupting his view of acceptance in an attempt to preserve the qualities what he believes in. to support his mother. This internal struggle of personal identity, this division between the "masculine" and the opposite, explodes when Yunior recounts: My mother felt something was wrong and was nagging me about it, but I told her to leave me the fuck alone, and my Dad, who was home visiting, got up from the couch to slap me. Mostly I stayed in the basement, terrified of becoming abnormal, a damned idiot, but he was my best friend and that mattered to me more than anything then (Diaz 104). After Beto's first sexual advance, Yunior's carefully designed façade of masculinity seems to crumble around him, subsequently triggered by his mother. When the.