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Junot Diaz is a Dominican American author who writes about experiences in the Dominican Republic. He was born in the DR but moved to New Jersey at six years old. He got his MFA at Cornell University. He now works at MIT teaching creative writing and is an editor at Boston Review.

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Drown (1996) - a story collection about Dominican immigrants trying to achieve the American Dream
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (2007) - a book about a boy in the Dominican Republic during the time of Rafael Trujillo
This is How You Lose Her (2012)-
a short story collection about relationships

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The family lives in the Northeast US (northern New Jersey) and they are attending a party in the Bronx. They are originally from the Dominican Republic but immigrated to the United States prior to the beginning of the story.

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The story is told in first person by Yunior, the main character of the story who narrates the party that he and his dysfunctional family attend as well as provides additional information throughout the short story
for context and reader's understanding.

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- Yunior describes his dysfunctional family and father
- Yunior and his family go to a fiesta after a stressful car ride.
- The narrator refers to the time Papi brought him to the Puerto Rican woman's house, and Papi doesn't let him eat.
- Yunior goes back to the fiesta, and the whole family gets into the car to go home.
- The author alludes to the idea that Yunior is going to tell his mother about what his father has been up to with the Puerto Rican woman.

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- Yunior vomits from the start, only in his father's lime-green van.
- He notes he "never had trouble with cars before-that van was like my curse".
- Yunior also meets his father's mistress in this van, this most likely leads to the series of emotions Yunior expresses in this car.
- The plot is set up in a series of unfortunate events, where Yunior ends up suffering a great deal from his father's actions.
- The author established this structure from the beginning of the story.

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Tía - Mami's sister and their relationship is supposed to stand in stark contrast to Mami and Papi's relationship. Tía gives Mami the love and support she deserves, and helps her when she needs it most. She is the relief from Papi's abuse (proven by Mami's sudden ease in her presence, or when she snuck out food for Yunior to eat when Papi wouldn't let him). She is Mami's rock to an extent.
Puerto Rican Woman - A lady that Papi is having somewhat of an affair with, and is one of the main sources of conflict in the story. Aside from Papi's abuse, she also inflicts a lot of tension among Yunior's family members since it is unspoken that they all kind of know about the affair. Yunior and his brother Rafa have met her before.

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Yunior - is the narrator of the story who is describing his family's relationships and the time they went to a fiesta. He is the oldest son of the family and gets car sick very easily.
Papi - is Yunior's dad. He is very abusive both mentally and physically. He brings his family down and is having an affair with the puerto rican woman.
Mami - is Yunior's mom. She accepts her husband's relationship with woman because it is best for her family in a way. She tries to ignore her husband's abuse towards their children.
Rafa - Yunior's brother who is also aware of the father's relationship with the Puerto Rican woman but doesn't say anything to anyone about what he knows. He is a stereotypical young boy, teasing his brother, talking to girls, and spending time with his family.

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Happy Mexican Traditional Music: MEXICAN PARTY - Mariachi, Guitar, Trumpet

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Since eating together is a sign of coming together in communion and very intentional in literature, I think the dinner highlighted how dysfunctional the father has made their family and the disconnect he has created as it becomes very obvious when Papi refuses to let Yunior eat, which makes everyone extremely uncomfortable and confused.

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Masculinity
- Yunior often compares himself to the other men in the story, his brother and father.
-Father sees Yunior as less of a man because he throws up on car rides.
Gender Roles
- Husband thinks he can cheat on wife without any problems
- Wife knows but doesn't say anything

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p.6 - "The two of them went upstairs and I was too scared of what was happening to poke around."

Yunior doesn't eat the food because he is sick to his stomach about what else is going on around him. He is scared of what will happen if he does what his father has told him not to do.

p.10 - "In the darkness, I saw that Papi had a hand on Mami's knee and that the two of them were quiet and still. They weren't slumped back or anything; they were both wide awake, bolted into their seats. I couldn't see either of their faces and no matter how hard I tried I could not imagine their expressions. Neither of them moved."

This sets the tone for their car ride home; the reader can tell that its not going to be pleasant from the beginning of this passage, considering how uncomfortable this is to read.

p.10 - "Every now and then the van was filled with the bright rush of somebody else's headlights. Finally I said, Mami, and they both looked back, already knowing what was happening."

We saw a connection between the headlights and the idea of shining a light on new knowledge/something that hasn't been talked about or brought to light before. This is when the author eludes to Yunior telling his mother all about the affair.

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Food is a symbol in this short story as a psychological way to express his relationship with his father. Everytime he got into their car he became car sick and throwing up showing his toxic relationship. In a way vomiting was a way for Yunior to show his feelings in certain situations.

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Throughout the entire story, Yunior's father spends his time trying to prevent Yunior from "throwing up on the car ride." He doesn't let Yunior eat anything, but lets him see all the food laying on all the tables. This is a metaphor for Papi's secret. He lets Yunior see the "food" (he and the Puerto Rican woman being together), and finally, by the end of the story, Yunior can no longer hold it in. It makes him sick. He "throws up," AKA tells his mother about what his father has been up to with the Puerto Rican woman.