Mirror, Mirror on the Wall I Am My Father After All
How do we become who we are? One of the oldest arguments in the history of psychology is the nature vs nurture debate. This augment remains a mystery because it remains very difficult to distinguish whether a person’s development comes from his or her DNA or life experiences and environment. Junot Diaz expresses the idea that the people around us sculpt our identity in his novel Drown. While fathers are traditionally role models for their sons, Yunior ironically loses control over his life when influenced by his father. Junot Diaz conveys Yunior’s lack of individuality through the similarities between him and his father, for Yunior eventually becomes his father through the roles of abusive lover, caring husband, and greedy employee.
After growing up with an abusive…show more content… In Drown Yunior’s father is absent from many of the stories. Yunior describes this absence when he admits, “I lived without a father for the first nine years of my life” (Aguantando, pg. 69). His father’s absence creates a missing male role model in Yunior’s life. His father’s abandonment places pressure on Yunior and forces him to fill the role of “man of the house”. Even though this duty constantly reminds Yunior that he is fatherless, he accepts the responsibility of a husband and cares for his mother. Yunior describes his commitment to his mother when he checks the window locks for her, “we never open windows but I go through the routine any way” (Drown, pg. 96). This routine illustrates Yunior’s desire to care for his mother, for he knows the windows remain locked but checks them anyway. Normally one’s father would care for one’s mother; however, Yunior accepts the role of caring husband after his father abandons his family. Unlike his father Yunior cares for his mother; however, he shares his father’s unattractive character flaw of
