Homecoming, with Turtle

Many people from all parts of the world migrate to America in search of a better life. Junot Diaz was one of those people. Junot and his family moved from the Dominican Republic when he was only six years old. I can only imagine how difficult it must be; having to pack your essential belongings and relocating to an unfamiliar area, leaving everything else behind. When Diaz and his family settled in America, the challenge had only just begun. Junot left his friends behind and was given no choice but to make new ones. Diaz was accustomed to speaking Spanish in the Dominican Republic, but now he had to learn the English language. To make it all worse, Junot had family troubles. He was burdened emotionally and financially due to his father’s abandonment and his brother’s battle against Leukemia.
After years spent in America, Diaz returned to the Dominican Republic in an attempt to reconnect with his roots. Diaz was disheartened to discover that he was unfamiliar with his native land. His ability to speak Spanish was poor and he was not able to knowledgably use public transportation to travel from one location to another. Also, there was no one available to guide him through his trip since all of his relatives came to the United States at that time. In the reading, Diaz says “ Traveling the third-world is challenging enough…..a boyfriend who is worried that he no longer “fits in” at “home” that every little incident and interaction is sifted for rejection”. I can definitely recognize the great disappointment he must have felt; the sense of belonging he so badly wanted and yet, could not attain.
I commend Diaz for using his past experiences in his writing. I like how he made his essay “Homecoming, with Turtle” not too lengthy and not too short. It was long enough to provide his readers the information needed to be able to comprehend his story and short enough to prevent them from becoming weary and losing interest. I also liked how he uses Spanish dialect in “Homecoming, with the Turtle”. To help his non-Spanish speaking readers understand the story, Diaz translated the Spanish vocabulary at the bottom of each page. His use of both formal and informal writing brought more practicality to his essay and gave me a greater connection to the story.