Nilda by Junot Diaz Analysis Essay

Whether it is based on appearance or personality, everyone has a different definition of what being a man means to them. Manliness is usually defined by physicalities relating to masculinity and manhood is defined by one’s personal traits. Nilda, by Junot Diaz, is a short story based on two young men and a woman growing up in a working class neighborhood in New Jersey. The short story focuses on the young men and their lives and interactions with the young woman, Nilda. This story is narrated by Yunior who is the younger brother of Rafa, Nilda’s boyfriend and he is the prime witness of all the happenings in their relationship. These situations from their relationship are crucial because we get a better understanding of each young man’s character. Throughout the story we experience different stages and types of manliness that develop within Yunior and Rafa. We are exposed to how manliness is expressed by different characters through the literary element of characterization. The story of Nilda, by Junot Diaz, portrays the way manhood and manliness is represented differently between Rafa and Yunior.

Yunior was a young man that showed certain aspects of manhood from an early age through his actions and characteristics. Yunior was fourteen years old at the time when Nilda and Rafa began dating and he was present for most of their relationship. He seemed to be the average insecure teenage boy when it came to being a “man”. Yunior would feel inadequate compared to Rafa when it came to looks because he did not feel as handsome. He describes Rafa to be a toned and muscular man who “had the face bones of a saint.”(30). Since Rafa was seen as a strong, good-looking man, one can assume that Yunior did not typically feel up to par. The differences between Rafa and Yunior’s physical appearances may have dwindled Yunior’s self worth relating to manhood. Yunior did not feel as manly as he should’ve because as a teenager he did not understand that looks aren’t as important as one would believe. He states “I had an IQ that would have broken you in two but I would have traded it in for a halfway decent face in a second.”(31). He felt as if Rafa had everyone rapt because he was pretty and although Yunior was intelligent, he would’ve preferred to be better looking. As time went on, Yunior was still struggling with his insecurity. He claimed “Girls were starting to take notice of me; I wasn ’t good looking but I listened and had boxing muscles in my arms.”(37). Yunior acknowledges that he has a good personality and that he had certain features which made him feel more manly; however, he is still not fully secure with his appearance.  Although Yunior wasn’t a huge fan of his facial features and manliness in those aspects, he was always respectful which was a highlight of his manhood. Yunior’s actions expressed those of a true man all those times when he showed that he cared for Nilda even when Rafa was absent. For example, Rafa had once ordered Nilda to go do something and Yunior told her she didn’t have to do what was asked. Yunior always respected Nilda and refrained from expressing any disrespect to the people around him. Yunior may have lacked in “manly” features such as looks, but he always depicted manhood through his personality.  

Rafa was completely different from Yunior in many aspects, especially in the way he was considered a man. Based on the way Yunior and everyone else viewed Rafa, he was considered a man mostly because of the way he looked. “Rafa was still boxing then and he was cut up like crazy, the muscles in his chest and abdomen so striated they looked like something out of a Frazetta drawing”(33). Rafa seemed to look like a man compared to others but physical appearance is all he excelled in when it came to manliness. When it came to having respect for the women around him, Rafa was disrespectful but that is how he claimed his manhood. “You a guest here, he said. You should be earning your fucking keep” is how Rafa spoke to Nilda because she wouldn’t take orders from him at first. Nilda was Rafa’s girlfriend but she barely received any form of respect from him and she wasn’t necessarily the only girl he had around.  Rafa also lacked respect when speaking to his own mother most of the time. When asking her for food he states “You got something for me to eat, vieja?”(31). Vieja is Spanish slang for “old woman” and this statement made by Rafa expresses his absence of respect for his mother. Rafa was a disrespectful womanizer but was still viewed as a man because of his manliness when it came to physical appearances. Rafa almost always seemed to have manliness but wasn’t outstanding with his manhood because of his characteristics. 

This short story by Junot Diaz depicts the idea of manhood and the different perceptions of manliness through characterization. Yunior can be characterized as a respectful young man that is caring especially towards Nilda. Whereas Rafa, is disrespectful, rude, and overall only had regards for himself. One night, Nilda told Rafa all about her future aspirations and he didn’t say anything to her. Rafa could’ve been characterized as selfish at that moment because he disregarded everything that Nilda said even if she had just poured her heart out to him. However, Yunior was present and although he didn’t say anything, he thought “She couldn't see me or she would have known that I thought she was beautiful”(38). This moment showed the true distinction between the two characters of Rafa and Yunior because they were both men with completely different mindsets. Rafa passed away before the end of the story, but he never had the chance to mature into true manhood. He tended to be stagnant under the customs of manliness because he was handsome and muscular. Yunior, however, grew throughout the story in both categories because he did seem to become “manlier” and he stayed true to his manhood.  Characterization is an important literary element utilized by Diaz because it helps the reader to fully understand why Rafa and Yunior can both be considered men under different standards. This literary element was shown throughout the entirety of the short story because without it the reader would not comprehend why Rafa and Yunior cannot fall under the same categories of what it means to be a man. 

Junot Diaz mainly utilizes the character of Nilda to portray the different manly characteristics of the two young men, Rafa and Yunior because of their different behaviors towards her. Manliness is typically viewed as the physical appearances of men such as muscular or handsome. Manhood, on the other hand, is believed to be the characteristics that make up a man’s personality. Diaz exemplifies these two categories for the reader by elaborating on different experiences regarding Nilda, Yunior, and Rafa. The short story of Nilda gives the reader a new perspective when comparing men who are nothing alike through the characters of Rafa and Yunior.