Zoewang

1

3

Indications That Diaz’s Family Was Poor

“The Money” is an essay which describes the life of Junior Diaz when he was 12 years old. There is a shred of strong evidence from the essay that Diaz’s family was poor. In the first paragraph, he begins by describing the economic situation of his family. His mother did not have a job which could have satisfied all the basic needs of Diaz and his family. Diaz illustrates that “she did not have a regular job outside of caring for us five kids. ’’His father did not have a paying and permanent job since he kept losing the forklift occupation. Diaz has also indicated that their family did not have access to luxuries. The author of the essay illustrated that in their diet, they did not have any sodas, snacks, and healthy food to sustain their lives. Diaz has also indicated that they lived in a very small apartment. Since all the Dominicans had to send money home to sustain their parents, his mother had to struggle to raise all the required funds. She would have nearly died if she failed to send money home.

Even though Diaz’s mother sent money, she sent a small amount of about three hundred thousand dollars. Besides, she did not have any choice while earning a living. Diaz illustrates that she would crimp the loot of whatever came her way. Another sign which indicates that Diaz came from a low-income family was their place of dwelling. He and siblings all knew where the money was kept: Diaz explains further that “our apartment wasn’t huge-but we all also knew that to touch it would have meant violence approaching death". The words from Diaz clearly indicates that they lived in a small cheap apartment. His family was also left devastated when thieves broke into their house and stole their money (Ostman, 36). The desperation portrayed by Diaz was a clear indication that they were poor.

The Distinction Between The Forbidden Money and The Money in The Purse

The money in the forbidden stash was saved from being sent to Diaz's grandparents. On the other hand, the money in the purse was utilized for family shopping. In the forbidden stash, Diaz’s mother was saving the money to be sent back to her parents, who dwelled in Santo Domingo. The family used the money in the purse for basic needs. The distinction of the money found in the forbidden stash does make some sense. It also provided the reader with some knowledge of the importance of the two type’s money. Besides, the difference also highlights the possible consequences which would have occurred in case any of Diaz and his siblings who touched the money. The money is of great significance to Diaz’s mom. This is because it took her some time to gather it all.

Despite the family economic condition as well as the condition of the struggling state, the doctrine stated that it was a must for the money to be sent home back to the parents. The manner on which his mother reacted to the robbery also communicated something. Diaz mentioned that “no one took the robbery as hard as my mom, though. My father, for his part, shrugged it off, wasn’t his money or his parents after all". This indicates that his mother valued the money in the forbidden stash. She laid all the blame to her children instead of the robbers (McCracken, 11). The distinctions seemed to be consequential, and this drove Diaz to find a way to get the money back to his mother.

Works Cited

McCracken (2016). PARATEXTS AND PERFORMANCE IN THE NOVELS of Junot Díaz and Sandra Cisneros. Springer.

Ostman (2016). THE FICTION OF JUNIOR DIAZ. Reframing the lens. Row man & Littlefield.