"Edison, New Jersey" Junot Diaz

“Edison, New Jersey”
Junot Diaz

“Most people don’t realize how sophisticated pool tables are. Yes, tables have bolts and staples on the rails but these suckers hold together mostly by gravity and by the precision of their construction. If you treat a good table right it will outlast you. Believe me. Cathedrals are built like that. There are Incan roads in Andes that even today you couldn’t work a knife between two of the cobblestones. The sewers that the Romans built in Bath were so good that they weren’t replaced until the 1950s. That’s the sort of thing I can believe in” (129).

The narrator of this story admires the types of tables that he builds because of their longevity. He takes pride in the fact that, if built right, the tables will last longer than their owners will. This passage is important to my interpretation of this short story because it provides insight into the narrator’s character and personality. The narrator lives a relatively stable life. Meaning, he doesn’t make a lot of money, but he gets by. He doesn’t know how to save money so he constantly finds himself on the edge of financial security and utter instability. His romantic life is also unstable and I did not interpret this story as a romantic love story. His girlfriend left him and has since married another man. The narrator neglects to reveal his feelings about his life because he takes pride in his complacency. Instead, readers see what he approves or disapproves of based on his interactions with his partner, Wayne. He disapproves of the fact that Wayne regularly cheats on his wife. He believes that he can treat women better than Wayne.
Although the narrator appears to be complacent with his life, the reader understands that he is anything but happy. He believes in things that are consistent and don’t change. Delivering and building pool tables is not satisfying work but it is consistent. The narrator makes references to the fact that his work schedule will always remain the same. That is to say, there will always be deliveries to make and disgruntled customers to deal with. The reader also knows that the narrator does not deal with loss or rejection well. When the narrator fears that he may lose his job, he gets drunk. The next day, when he is allowed to return to work, he is hungover. He also talks to his ex-girlfriend on a regular basis because he can’t let her go.
The narrator has such a deep appreciation for ancient structures that are stable to this day. He talks about the beauty in their longevity. Evidenced in the title as well as throughout the story, the narrator craves purpose and stability. Edison, New Jersey, the town that the narrator longs for at the end, is a middle class town with average incomes, average populations, average weather, and average crime rates. Nothing about the town is above or below average. The narrator wants to be there because of its longevity. Edison is consistently average and that’s what the narrator finds remarkable about it.

Edison, New Jersey
Township
Township of Edison

Nickname(s): "Birthplace of the Modern World"
Motto: "Let There Be Light"


Census Bureau map of Edison, New Jersey
Coordinates:  40.503991°N 74.349411°WCoordinates:  40.503991°N 74.349411°W[1][2]
Country
  United States of America
U.S. state
  New Jersey
County
Middlesex
Settled 1651
Incorporated
March 17, 1870 (as Raritan Township)
Renamed November 10, 1954 (as Edison Township)
Named for
Thomas Edison
Government[4]
 • Type Faulkner Act Mayor-Council
 • Mayor
Thomas Lankey (term ends December 31, 2017)
 • Clerk
Cheryl Russomanno (acting)[3]
Area[2]
 • Total 30.638 sq mi (79.351 km2)
 • Land 29.940 sq mi (77.543 km2)
 • Water 0.698 sq mi (1.808 km2)  2.28%
Area rank 88th of 566 in state
4th of 25 in county[2]
Elevation[5]
39 ft (12 m)
Population (2010 Census)[6][7][8]
 • Total 99,967
 • Estimate (2013)[9]
101,450
 • Rank 5th of 566 in state
1st of 25 in county[10]
 • Density 3,339.0/sq mi (1,289.2/km2)
 • Density rank 198th of 566 in state
15th of 25 in county[10]
Time zone
Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)
 • Summer (DST)
Eastern (EDT) (UTC-4)
ZIP codes
08817, 08818, 08820, 08837, 08899[11][12]
Area code(s)
732 and 908[13]
FIPS code
3402320230[14][2][15]
GNIS feature ID
0882166[16][2]
Website www.edisonnj.org

"Cariboo Cafe"

The Cariboo Café

Helena Maria Viramontes

            “And I laugh at his ignorance. How stupid of him to think that I will let them take my Geraldo away just because he waves that gun like a flag. Well, to hell with you, you pieces of shit, do you hear me? Stupid, cruel pigs. To hell with you all, because you can no longer frighten me. I will fight you for my son until I have no hands left to hold a knife. I will fight you all because you’re farted out the devil’s ass, and you’ll not take us with you. I am laughing, howling at their stupidity because they should know by now that I will never let my son go” (79).

            This passage is unique to the story because the reader discovers that this story is so much more than the hardships of immigrant life in America. Not only is it difficult for the immigrants to move to a foreign country in which they cannot read, write, or speak the language, but it is also hard to raise a family in this foreign culture. The narrator of this passage struggles to adjust to her life in America because she can’t read or write. In addition, her son was taken from her. This passage describes the desperate despair that she is forced to endure. She takes these surrogate children as her own because she cannot cope with the loss of her son. Her son, Geraldo, was taken when she sent him down the street for a mango. The guilt that she feels in addition to her maternal instincts compel her to care for these children. Sonya and Macky are alone on the street because Sonya lost her key and their parents haven’t arrived home from work yet. They get lost trying to find their way back to their babysitter’s. When Geraldo’s mother finds them, she takes them in as her own to compensate for the care she could not give to her own son. Despite the missing child reports, the owner of the Cariboo Café neglects to inform the cops that he has seen the children because he views the mother figure as maternal and warm. The owner is also trying to compensate for the loss of his son by taking care of the stragglers and criminals that become the regulars at his café. He hasn’t been able to cope with the fact that his son was killed in Vietnam so he over compensates with others.

            When the police arrive at the café, the narrator’s maternal instincts kick into overdrive as she desperately tries to defend herself and “her children.” She is rude and impulsive. Her anger consumes her and she can no longer think rationally. In the end, the police kill her and she comments that she is going home to her son. She is finally given the opportunity to be home with her son.

Is it possible that her plan was to be killed all alone? When she spoke earlier in the story, she said that she was too weak to take her own life. It would make sense that she sees Sonya and Macky as an opportunity not to provide maternity, but as to finally reunite with her son.

"Seventeen Syllables"

Seventeen Syllables

Hisaye Yamamoto

            “See, Rosie, she said, it was a haiku, a poem in which she must pack all her meaning into seventeen syllables only, which were divided into three lines of five, seven, and five syllables. In the one she had just read, she had tried to capture the charm of a kitten, as well as comment on the superstition that owning a cat of three colors meant good luck” (21).

           

 

            This passage is important because Rosie’s mother is explaining the significance of a haiku poem. Haiku poems are important to the meaning of this story because poets have to purposefully choose their words. They have only seventeen syllables to convey a meaning to a poem. As a result, there is a lot of information that the poets are forced to either neglect or sublimely imply to the reader. The poet must be confident that the reader will understand the subtext. In Mrs. Hayashi’s haiku, she wants the reader to understand both the kitten’s charm and the superstition that multi colored cats are good luck.

            Similarly, Rosie’s mother, Mrs. Hayashi, wants Rosie to look at everything on the surface level for the basic interpretation, and on a deeper level for the deeper meaning. Rosie views everything as it is- “comme il faut.” This phrase literally translates as “like it is necessary” but it is commonly translated as “correct in behavior.” Rosie looks at everything from innocent childhood eyes in a sense. However, her mother teaches Rosie to appreciate the form of the haiku poem. It is important to look at the underlying meaning of things.

When her mother begins writing her poetry, Rosie starts to notice a change in her dad’s behaviors. She never explicitly states why her dad is behaving this way. In a way, this narrative resembles a haiku because the narrator is limited in scope of what she can say. Rosie doesn’t truly understand why her dad is behaving this way. She sees the first outburst at their friends’ house when Mrs. Hayashi is writing poetry with her friends. Her father violently reacts a second time when his wife wins a prize for her writing. Rosie doesn’t understand why her father hates her mother’s writing. At the end of the story, Rosie and the reader realize that the marriage was arranged. Once Rosie learns that her father and mother were arranged to be married years ago, the reader is left to discern deeper understandings. The reader now understands that Rosie’s father doesn’t want his wife to be writing poetry because she will learn to express herself and tell her story. The reader is expected to treat this narrative as a haiku and discern the deeper meaning.

The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World

The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

“They let him go without an anchor so that he could come back if he wished and whenever he wished, and they all held their breath for the fraction of centuries the body took to fall into the abyss. They did not need to look at one another to realize that they were no longer all present, that they would never be. But they also knew that everything would be different from then on, that their houses would have wider doors, higher ceilings, and stronger floors so that Esteban's memory could go everywhere without bumping into beams and so that no one in the future would dare whisper the big boob finally died, too bad, the handsome fool has finally died, because they were going to paint their house fronts gay colors to make Esteban's memory eternal and they were going to break their backs digging for springs among the stones and planting flowers on the cliffs so that in future years at dawn the passengers on great liners would awaken, suffocated by the smell of gardens on the high seas, and the captain would have to come down from the bridge in his dress uniform, with his astrolabe, his pole star, and his row of war medals and, pointing to the promontory of roses on the horizon, he would say in fourteen languages, look there, where the wind is so peaceful now that it's gone to sleep beneath the beds, over there, where the sun's so bright that the sunflowers don't know which way to turn, yes, over there, that's Esteban's village”

           

These last two sentences of the story are essential to the setting of the story. Before this drowned man arrived at this village, it was insignificant. The narrator neglected to describe where this village was, they type of people that lived in it, when this story takes place, what dialect or language they speak, et cetera. Most of the distinguishing factors about the physical setting of the story are left out. The only distinguishing factors about this village are that it is a fishing village that rests on a cliff and the people uphold the traditional binary of male and female roles.

            In order to get a more accurate representation of the physical setting, it is necessary for the reader to explore the people’s communal values. The strong communal values are first displayed when the people immediately establish that the drowned man did not come from their village. There is a sense of intimate understanding in this scene because they only have to look around to see that nobody is missing. The men immediately venture to the neighboring villages to identify this man while the women work to prepare a proper burial for him. Even before discovering his beauty, the people are determined to give this man a proper burial. The men and women dissolve into their binary roles as participants of the community to bury the man they name Esteban.

            At the burial, they mourn his loss because he is the only connection that these people have to the foreign world. They hope that Esteban returns to them again to bring back glory and recognition. Because of Esteban’s loss, the villagers begin to change little things in their community. They build houses with wider dimensions and different paint colors. They dig springs as he would have and plant flowers even though the narrator had indicated that there was not enough land before. They hope that Esteban’s legacy will return some glory and recognition to their otherwise insignificant village.

It isn’t until both the women and the men establish Esteban as the handsomest man in the world that they develop high expectations for him. After their discovery, the women invite new people into the village to witness his beauty. The men hope that future generations from around the world will acknowledge their village as Esteban’s Village because of his beauty.

What does this say about traditional beauty ideals? Beauty ideals are difficult to define because they are subjective to the individual. However, the entire community believes that Esteban is the most beautiful man in the world. Although this community is dependent on high standards of communal living, I think they are one of the most shallow communities because of the value they place on beauty. Is this supposed to be our society?

This may be a reach, but are we living on a cliff? This metaphor could refer to the edge that we like to live on. We don’t have room to build flowers and dig for springs because of the overwhelming housing developments and skyscrapers in the cities. This story could be a direct reflection on society in 1968.

"Saboteur"

“Saboteur”

Ha Jin

           

            “’Hooligan!’ she said in a low voice.

            Mr. Chiu got to his feet and said out loud, ‘Comrade policeman, why did you do this?’ He stretched out his right foot to show the wet sandal.

            ‘Do what?’ the stout man asked huskily, glaring at Mr. Chiu while the young fellow was whistling.

            ‘See, you dumped water on our feet.’

            ‘You’re lying. You wet your shoes yourself.’

            ‘Comrade policeman, your duty is to keep order, but you purposely tortured us common citizens. Why violate the law you are supposed to enforce?’ As Mr. Chiu was speaking, dozens of people began gathering around.” (272).

            My interpretation of this story is that the author is exploring the consequences of speaking out against injustice. Before explaining my interpretation, it is necessary to describe the historical and political context of the setting. This story takes place in a fictional city in China following the Cultural Revolution. This revolution was a movement to restore Communist ideals and Maoist thoughts and to destroy all remnants of capitalist and traditional ideals. As a result of this setting, the police force discriminate against Mr. Chiu for valuing Communist ideals.

            This poster is an advertisement for the Maoist government. Mao Zedong is in the center standing above soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army. The caption reads, “The Chinese People’s Liberation Army is the great school of Mao Zedong thought.”

 (Wikipedia)

            In this first exchange between Mr. Chiu and the policeman, the policeman abuses his authority and tosses tea on Mr. Chiu and his wife. In this situation the police represent those who spoke out against communism—the capitalists. Communist values threaten the police force because under communist reign, they would not have any authority. If the police force were seen as comrades—equal citizens to everybody else—they would have no authority to keep order. The policeman abuses his authority to exert his power over the rest of the citizens when he tosses the tea and blames Mr. Chiu. He knows that it is his word against Mr. Chiu’s and politically, his word has higher value because nobody will speak out against him. At the police station after his arrest, the police neglect his request for medical attention and refuse to listen to his story. Throughout the rest of the story, the rest of the police force shows some prejudice towards Mr. Chiu because of his elevated social status and because of his political status.

            Mr. Chiu is a highly regarded in both social and political spheres. His education and occupation as a philosopher and an educator elevates him above a lot of the population. However, he is a communist. The word ‘comrade’ in this scene is very important. Mr. Chiu uses this word when speaking to the policeman to show that they are equals and that this situation can be easily resolved. Instead, the policeman is only further enraged because he does not see himself as an equal to a scholar from the countryside.

            I’m not sure what to make of the dozen or so people that gather around these two men in the scene. They seem to be curious about the situation and what is happening, yet they do nothing in favor or in contempt of either of the characters. They seem to have a choral element about them but their opinions are never expressed. Which side are they on?