Wow! What a shocking short story! It does make me question so much about the narrator.
Right on the first paragraph the narrator give us a hint that his best friend Beto is a homosexual. It was there that I started questioning myself, is this a story about prejudice against homosexual? I guess my answer was yes until the end of the story when we’ve learnt that the narrator had a sexual encounter with Beto.
The entire story the narrator makes us curious to understand why he is avoiding his friend Beto. My first guess was that he was mad and ashamed of his friend when he figured out he was gay. However, it turned out that the narrator himself was confused about his sexuality. He turned his fear into angriness against Beto, who cause this confusion in his mind. By avoiding his friend he would also be avoiding this new world he wasn’t prepared to face and was absolutely ashamed of. A good example about this fear is when they were having their second intercourse and they heard a noise. He said, “He was laughing, but I was saying, Fuck this, and getting my clothes on” (1248). His reaction on that moment tell us that he was scared that anyone would know what they have done, he didn’t wanted to get caught. He didn’t wanted anyone to know. Not only the fear of his community to know about it, but also the fear of his father knowing. In The narrator explains throughout the story that he doesn’t have a good relationship with his father and he is even afraid to get hit by him, as we notice on page 1245 when he says, “I don’t know about you, but my pops hits like a motherfucker”.
After reading the entire story, I started to wonder why the narrator chose this title, since nobody literally drowned from the swimming pool. I believe that the title is related to the narrator situation, like he was drowning in fear. Or maybe it is related to their social and economic situation. We learned in the story that he was a drug dealer and was helping his mom financially. His dad was living in Florida and eventually showed up or called asking for money. Therefore, drowning here, is more like a feeling of not have an option to change his life. The narrator doesn’t see a different future for himself, as we see exemplified on page 1242 when he says, “I wasn’t like him. I had one year to go in high school, no promises elsewhere”. The narrator doesn’t have any ambitions, being completely different from Beto.
Another important thing to question about this narration, is why he didn’t want to read the book his friend gave to him. Why did he throw away the gift without reading it? I would say that he was trying to get over this situation and forget about everything that happened between them. To read the book would be like he was opening a door that would never be closed again.
I really like the way you interpret the story. I think it was very interesting that you brought up the title about the book. Yes, I agree with the fact that the book was named in this way because the main character is drown into the social conditions that he is in. I think the main character is not simply drown into the conditions of poverty but he is unwilling to hop out from that circumstances. He refused to go to a better place like army and college like Beto did. He is lacking motivation like you said. He is much like Bartleby who has little to none hope in his life. Also, you brought up the homosexuality. I really think that this is to express how the poverty could drive people so lonely and deprive people’s interest in life so that people have to get homosexual friends or watching porn videos. In my opinion, the author is trying to depict the conditions that may change people’s sexual interests.
To answer the question of “why [Yunior] didn’t want to read the book his friend gave him”, I think it’s because the book was given by his friend Beto. Since he feels angry at him and shameful of what he had done with him. He does not want to encounter with anythings that related to Beto. And, that is why he keep avoiding to meet Beto when he came back home. Those sexual experiences makes him feel abnormal from the community.
In regards to the title of the book, I must say that “Drown” can be because of all the situations that surrounds the protagonist as it’s drowning him to an immovable physical state. From selling drugs, having no father, no high school degree, and confusion/denial of his sexual orientation these issues can emotionally drown someone and drain all their energy giving them no motivation to succeed. This can explain for the narrator’s inability to move beyond his neighborhood and to tackle something extremely challenging and out of his comfort zone such as the army. I think that Beto is a vital figure in the narrator’s life. Beto is that shining light who demonstrates that anything is possible if you believe in yourself and work hard. It’s so easy to blame poverty for a lack of education and prosperity and use it as a way to get down. I think the narrator is scared of what is out there and uses that emotion to take his frustration and uncertainty out against Beto.
I was also intrigued on the reason the author chose that name for the tittle, with your analysis I understood it better. I think he meant drown as a metaphor to something deeper the narrator is going to. He was confuse on his identity and his feeling after what he experiences with Beto. When he realized that his friend was actually leaving for college I think he felt sad and mad at him because he was the one that causes him to be in that stage of his life. He felt like he was left behind and that his friend didn’t care about him and that the reason he trow the gift he gave him in the trash.
Your post really helped me grasp a better understanding for the story. Also, your interpretation of the reason why he throws out the book that Beto gives him, seems to be the correct one. After today’s discussion in class, I realized that Beto was the one who was actually drowning him and the book was another reason as to why he was drowning.
Great interpretation! You gave me a different idea of what the story is shaped, focused on his sexuality and afraid of being judge in society. Since Beto was Yunior’s role model, Yunior built a certain attachment to him. When Yunior found out that his best friend is homosexual, he wanted to experience what it is like. I guess he wanted to be homosexual, but afraid of to publish his preferences. Once Beto came back, he did not want to have the idea of even see him and so he did with the book by throwing it away. Yunior did not want to have anything from him even though he kept mentioning their childhood scenes Beto and Yunior shared, to show that remembering the past, he is submerging and affects his living conditions.