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Latino culture vs American culture

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Children of Latino descent that are born in America are subject to many different social pressures. The main reason for this is that they have a hard time distinguishing what culture to identify more with, their Latino side or their American side. Due to this confusion, most Latino children have a rougher time dealing with social pressures such as peer pressure, family expectations, drugs, sex, alcohol and popularity. Junot Diaz, a Dominican author presents these pressures of Latino adolescent growth in a unique way through the novel Drown.

Doing research on the biography of Diaz, he was born in Villa Juana a barrio in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. His father abandoned his family in the mid 1980’s. Diaz also immigrated from DR to Parlin NJ, and he writes in his novel about how the conflicts between American culture and Dominican culture stem deeper into family expectations. The father is expected to provide for the family, but when Yunior’s family move to America, they find out that Yunior’s father started a new family. The family also expected Yunior to take as many opportunities as he possibly could, but Yunior falls into temptations by being a troublemaker. Diaz sets the tone of this story vividly by showing the readers false, glittered impression that Dominican families have about the American dream. Yunior’s family expected everything to unfold according to their hopes and succeed, but their dreams have been abruptly disturbed as soon as the family contacted unfamiliar territory.

The theme of peer pressure presents itself within the actions of Yunior when Diaz describes in the story how Yunior and Beto steal, break windows, piss on people’s steps and challenge them to come and stop them. Diaz is suggesting here with Yunior’s decisions that Yunior cares more about trying to assimilate with the American culture and gaining acceptance of his friends rather than keeping the family’s values of studying and doing well in school. By showing us Yunior’s bad decisions and behaviors, readers can understand that many Dominican immigrants fall victim to this type of lifestyle where the immigrants subconsciously seek to gain recognition and approval.

August Strindberg, Miss Julie (1888)

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Miss Julie brings forth different perspectives of class from the opposite sides of the spectrum. On one hand, Jean, “dream[s] that [he’s] lying in a dark wood under a tall tree and [he] would climb up–up to the top, where [he] can look far over the fair landscape, where the sun is shining” (page 9). Considering that Jean grew up with seven brothers and sisters and a pig, he does not want to continue living the life of mediocrity. If he had a chance to climb to the very top, he would grasp the opportunity immediately. What Jean does not realize is that he does not take into consideration that the higher he climbs, the harder he will fall. Jean believes that once he reaches the pinnacle of the tree/social class, he will be able to command everyone below with authority. However, with authority comes responsibility and reputation that he must also obey. There is a trade off that Jean must accept to compromise, but he is blinded by his own determination to survive.

On the other hand, Miss Julie looks down from the top of the top of the tree. Miss Julie finds, “[herself] seated at the top of a high pillar and [she] see[s] no possible way to get down. [She] grow[s] dizzy when [she] look[s] down, but down [she] must. But [she’s] not brave enough to throw myself; [she] cannot hold fast and [she] long[s] to fall–but [she doesn’t] fall. And yet [she] can find no rest or peace until [she] shall come down to earth; and if [she] came down to earth [she] would wish [herself] down in the ground” (page 8-9). Miss Julie is unable to handle the pressure of maintaining a noble status because of her degenerate nature. She carelessly commands to dance with Jean, Miss Julie’s servant, several times in front of the public without sensible reason that the public will start to spread gossip and speak low of both Julie and Jean. Despite having the knowledge that Kristin is Jean’s fiancée, Miss Julie’s inferior self-control consumes the outcome of her life. Towards the end of the play, when Miss Julie brings her bird into the kitchen of the Count’s manor house, the significance of her reflection of who she is begins to reveal itself. Just like the bird, Miss Julie soars through the sky looking down upon others. However, she is also restricted by the boundaries that society places upon her, which requires her to behave with loyalty. In this case, the cage represents the physical boundaries that the bird must stay within. In the end, the bird dies an inevitable death, just like Miss Julie.

The interpretations of these characters and the consequences of their actions are apparent in Darwin’s idea of naturalism. As Darwin mentions in his theory of the survival of the fittest, people/characters who are not fit for the role in society and nature are devoured.