Later at the Bar

Later at the Bar, by Rebecca Barry, is a short story collection whose structure resembles its own setting, a bar. The stories interconnect and mingle with one another, just like the characters in the book do at Lucy’s Tavern. Both the stories and characters build a relationship with one another, forming a community, or even a family. However, this familial relationship forms mainly to satisfy the need to not feel alone. In the tavern everyone knows everyone and they are at least sociable to one another, or even friends in some cases. But during the daytime “the rules were different,” (56) and that person who seemed friendly or open in the tavern would “pass...without speaking” (56). The tavern was a place where people went to escape the loneliness they experienced in their everyday lives. This loneliness stems from broken relationships, as in Harlin and his many ex-wives, alcoholism, as in Cyrus and how his drinking ruined his relationship with his ex-wife not once, but twice, and the atmosphere of the town. The small town in upstate New York was plagued with not only cold, depressing winters during which the residents would “crave warm sun and longer days” (57), but also a feeling of unconnectedness to the world. Lucy’s Tavern is where people would go to find this connectedness. However, the feeling of loneliness seems to permeate throughout the book and the town. For example, on page 152, Elizabeth, whose ex-husband left her for another man, is so lonely that she prays for one of her students to “Please…kiss me…I need to kiss someone” (152). This sense of hopelessness plays a major role in the book. This theme is present as early as the opening chapter, where the owner of Lucy’s Tavern, Lucy, kills herself by sitting out in the cold all night. The description of her body the next morning, “stiff blue and dead, her face titled upwards…as if she was waiting for something wonderful to happen,” (7) also serves to foreshadow the fact that perhaps this loneliness is only escapable through death. 

The Dew Breaker

The Dew Breaker, by Edwidge Danticat, is a short story compilation in the form of a jigsaw puzzle; meaning the reading has to be pieced together by the reader in order to comprehend the author’s message. The book’s protagonist is the Dew Breaker, a man who lived much of his life torturing people as part of the Tonton Macoute. His story however is not told all in one “chapter” of the book, instead his actions and the effects those actions had on the lives of others is explored throughout the book. It is through these “puzzle pieces” that the story of the Dew Breaker comes into focus. By exploring his actions as well as the ramifications of those actions, Danticat is able to bring to light the nature of human cruelty, forgiveness, and redemption. She shows that despite being subjected to suffering and pain the human spirit can endure and even prosper. This can be seen in the story of Beatrice, the bridal seamstress and victim of the Dew Breaker. After she refused his advance he proceeded to whip her feet until the soles of her feet were nothing but bloody sores. She not only walked home on these bare, bloody feet, but went on to make new life for herself years later in New York City. Although the torture she experienced may not be as brutal as that experienced by other characters the message still gets through to the reader. The book also sends a message of redemption and forgiveness, in contrast to its cruel and malicious content. This can be seen in the description of the Dew Breaker himself, who always hides the long scar on his face, ashamed of his past. His wife is also an interesting character to analyze. She is an extremely devout woman, who essentially lives in the church. This can be attributed to the fact that she fears for the outcome of her husband’s soul or because she feels guilty being married to such a cruel and malevolent man. Either way she sees her religion as a source of redemption, a way to atone for things done in the past. However, I believe her character is meant to show that if you get too wrapped up in the search for redemption it can be just as detrimental to your life as the actual sin you committed. Danticat makes one last point about the nature of human life through the character Ka, the daughter of the Dew Breaker. She, unlike her father who destroyed lives for a living, is an artist who creates, molds, and perfects sculptures instead. This opposing relationship of destruction vs. creation is Danticat’s way of reminding the reader that there has to be, and that there always is, a balance in life.

Drown

Drown, by Junot Diaz, is a collection of semi-autobiographical short stories that explores the experience of Yunior, the Dominican narrator, as he and his family try to start a new life in the United States. Both the setting and time period of the book are not directly stated in most of the stories and often times they jump vastly between each story. However, in the end the stories all connect and support the author’s intent: to give insight into the lives of immigrants and to show how their passion and culture play a role in their immersion into American society.

The range of emotions experienced in the book is wonderful and terrible at the same time. Diaz uses short, graphic, blunt, and even Hemingway-esque sentences to allow the reader to experience the raw emotion of the events in the book. He combines this with a more refined and elaborate sentence structure, and in tandem they serve to keep the reader interested and on edge. This sentence structure helps the reader experience the emotions of the characters, for example on page 52 Yunior states about Aurora and him; “We hurt each other too well to let it drop. She breaks everything I own, yells at me like it might change something, tries to slam doors on my fingers.” And despite these hateful actions, “She picks off my glasses and kisses the parts of my face that never get touched, the skin under the glass and frame.” Through his sentence structure Diaz can communicate emotions that otherwise would not be as easily accessed. On occasion Diaz uses Spanish in his writing, using the Spanish word instead of the English one, to show how the characters have to skirt the line between the two cultures they are immersed in. This also gives the characters a unique voice and helps show changes in their personality. For example, in the first chapter of the book Yunior uses words such as “campesino” (8), “ponchera” (9), and “colmado” (19) simply to describe his environment, whereas later in the book , when he is older and involved with the wrong crowd he uses derogatory words such as “coño” (62) and “pato” (55). By the end of the book he has a job building and delivering pool tables and by then his use of Spanish is few and far between, perhaps signifying his complete immersion into American society. Diaz uses the story order and structure to reveal certain characters and events when he wishes, revisiting some aspects which he failed to describe in complete detail. Yunior’s father, Ramon, is painted to be an abusive father and unfaithful husband in the beginning of the book but by the end we learn of the hardship he had to go through to bring his family to the United States, which redeems his other character flaws.

The sentence structure, language, and order of the stories in Drown all play into Diaz’s overall intent.