Fiesta, 1980 by Junot Diaz Free Essay Example, 750 words

In modern times, however, things are not so simple, and many people around the world are coming to terms with coming of age in multicultural spaces that have vastly different expectations of the transition from childhood to adulthood. Beyond simply representing the Americanness that Junior must simultaneously embrace and separate himself from, the name Junior also functions as a reminder of his divided state. Junior is not, in fact, a name, it is two names: to people who speak are primarily English speakers he is Junior, and to his family and others that speak primarily Spanish he is Yunior (76). The author s choice to use this name consistently, beyond simply representing it as an artifact of accent (which he pays little attention to otherwise) is the genius. It tells the reader that Junior/Yunior does not simply have one identity that is represented or interpreted differently depending on his context, but that he actually has two identities the Junior that must deal with the mass ive white, American word around him, and the Yunior that must relate to his family and his original culture. We will write a custom essay sample on Fiesta, 1980 by Junot Diaz or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page Diaz s effort to bridge this gap of understanding in Fiesta, 1980 is quite clever. He uses the mixing of Spanish and English to point to the split identity that anyone growing up in such a situation must develop. Beyond that, however, he uses different spellings of the main character s name, Junior/Yunior, to emphasize this divide.