Junot Diaz: “Monstro”

When I started reading “Monstro” by Junot Diaz, I was not quite sure what to expect. I was also wondering the whole time what a short science-fiction story had to do with hyphenated Americans. After the discussion we had today, it seemed more clearer as to what is the main purpose of the story. There are a lot of similarities between this story and Oscar Wao in which both the main characters come from the United States, to Santo Domingo in a time when all of the hardships and decolonization are happening. The main character in “Monstro” seems to also be this awkward young man who doesn’t really feel like he fits in with people of his own heritage. Through it all he attempts to make the best of it along with his friend Alex and his crush, Mysty. Even though the title indicates a “monster” being the main idea of the story, they never really mention the word in the story which made me wonder if it is something more than just the disease. In the end supposedly all of the diseased Haitian people merge together to create this monstrous creature, but knowing Diaz he obviously meant for the monster to signify something even more. In my opinion, maybe the monster is something that was created by the people of the higher class because they ignored the problem throughout the whole time until it became something huge. I see the monster as a meaning that if people see you as a monster and treat you that way, then you will become the monster they see. Just as the higher class people did not bother with the diseased lower class Haitians, they eventually became what they were seen as. Ironically, the higher class people do not realize their mistake until it is much too late.