Writers use narration for different purposes, achieving them through various techniques. Junot Diaz is a Dominican-American writer who, in his story “The Dreamer,” tries to illustrate the role model of striving for your dream and efforts to achieve it. However, the author uses various artistic techniques to achieve his goal, which, in combination, allow him to involve the reader and relate to the character emotionally. Although Diaz does not directly state the message, he uses powerful text patterns such as to cause and effect, personal tone, connotative language, and pathos to convey it.
The short story tells about the life of the author’s mother, who has suffered a lot to achieve her dream. The main character is a poor girl from a third-world country who “was destined never to get off the mountain or out of the campo” (Kennedy et al. 84). Like other children at the time, she was expected to work on the farm until she died or got married, but she took a hard path because she dreamed of becoming a nurse in the capital. She was only seven years old and had no chance to get an education because her mother would not let her go to school, as it was against traditions.
The author also describes Trujillo, the Dominican dictator of the time. He passed a law that all children under the age of fifteen must go to school; otherwise, their parents would be imprisoned for one year (Kennedy et al. 85). Therefore, the girl decided to drink some stagnant water to get sick to avoid working on the farm and get a chance to take her complaint to the school. Eventually, she was able to get an education but could not become a nurse due to inability to master a foreign language in the United States.
Diaz skillfully uses cause and effect text patterns to make his words more understandable to the readers. The author indicates that Trujillo “passed a mandatory-education act stipulating that all Dominican children under the age of fifteen had to be in school and not stuck out in the fields” (Kennedy et al. 85). The strategy helps to recognize why the girl got a chance to get an education. Using this tool, the author leads the reader from the cause to the result to better understand the connection between the events of the story. The author also states that his mother “never did become a nurse” (Kennedy et al. 86). Further, Diaz explains that after immigrating to the United States, his mother was unable to learn English despite her hard efforts. The example clearly illustrates another successful use of cause and effect text patterns, as the reader can understand the connection between the failure to become a nurse and its reasoning. The author also skillfully combines the tool with other techniques to increase the involvement of the reader in the narration.
The use of personal tone and connotative language helps Diaz to make his words more powerful and engaging. Since the story is related to the author’s life, he tries to involve the reader by expressing a personal opinion and describing essential details, which helps him add an emotional component. For example, the author states his mother’s vision as “ironwill rarely speak figures that haunt” (Kennedy et al. 84). By entering a personal comment, the author intends to establish the tone of the story to be clear for the reader. He explains his admiration for his mother and also emphasizes that her life was not easy. Therefore, the reader can better understand the essence of the story. Diaz indicates the mother’s influence and role in the son’s life by mentioning that he became both a reader and a writer as those practices “she encouraged as much as possible” (Kennedy et al. 86). Thus, by revealing the opinion and attitude, the author explains his emotional connection to the story. However, Diaz uses another tool to engage the reader in the narration.
The author appeals to emotion by reflecting on moments from his mother’s life, evoking sympathy and compassion for the main character. He states that if the field hands were ill or hurt, “she was the one who cared for them” (Kennedy et al. 84). Through the line, Diaz emphasizes how caring and kind is the 7-year-old girl although she grew up in a harsh land so that the reader could emotionally relate to her. Knowing such a fact about the character makes the reader impressed and empathizing with the girl in any unpleasant events which happen to her. Diaz also describes the episode when a 7-year-old girl bravely drinks from stagnant water (Kennedy et al. 85). The reader’s emotions are deeply involved in the narration, depicting the girl’s struggle and striving to achieve her dream. Thus, Diaz uses pathos to emotionally connect the reader with the character evoking compassion and empathy.
Diaz skillfully combines powerful text patterns such as cause and effect, personal tone, connotative language, and pathos to build his encouraging narration. All used techniques help him connect himself and the reader to the story establishing an emotional bond between the reader and the girl’s story. He conveys the main message by reflecting on his mother’s life in an extremely artistic way. Junot Diaz presents the character of the narration as the role model in his life. He tries to be strong and overcome obstacles like his mother, who is the dreamer. Although the girl’s dream did not come true, the author invites every reader to use a girl’s image in challenging life moments. She is a model of aspiration and effort which can be followed.
Work Cited
Kennedy, X. J. et al. The Brief Bedford Reader (13th ed.). Bedford/ St. Martin’s, 2017.