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Response Paper

11/16/2011

Boyfriend

In the story, “Boyfriend”, Junot Diaz talks about a boy named Yunior who lives in his apartment house and he overhears the couple below him fighting. At first his eavesdropping was accidental, but then he starts continually listening in on them, mostly because it reminds him of his ex-girlfriend Loretta. The story is extremely short so there is not too much room for plot. The language is incredibly colloquial and punchy, as if the guy is talking to himself. Another thing I noticed about the story was the break-up between the Boyfriend and Girlfriend downstairs was so transparent to the listener above, it becomes a vehicle for him to work through his own heart break.

Yunior compared Girlfriend with his ex-girlfriend Loretta.   He kept thinking of Lorettas physicue, even though he swored he wouldn’t.   Every time Yunior saw a pretty Latina women with a nice body, he would imagine Loretta coming back to him.   He was bothered that Loretta left him and is now dating an Italian guy.   Yunior found himself feeling cold hearted.   He would hear the arguments from the floor below between Girlfriend and Boyfriend but it didn’t really phased him.   In fact, he said “it would have broken my heart if it hadn’t been so damn familiar.   I guess I’d gotten numb to that sort of thing.   I had heart-leather like walruses got blubber.”   He wasn’t moved by the emotions Girlfriend was going through, or he didn’t want to open a wound that he ignored.   My gut feeling is that he didn’t want to open that wound up because he brings up Loretta again.