Shams 1

Tarique Shams
Daniel Hogan
Writing 2
17 March 2014
Drown Response 4
This round of Drown readings were the last. There are two final short stories, the first one
is No Face and the second one is Negocios. The first short story, No Face is about Ysreal.
Ysreal is the guy who got his face eaten off by a pig when he was little and has to wear a mask to
conceal it from other people who tease and bully him because of it. No Face is a continuation
of Ysreals everyday life. In the story Ysreal lives a life of running away from all his problems.
When the local kids try to beat him up, he runs away. When his father gets up, he runs away. I
find it interesting that the father does not want to see Ysreal, as seen when his mother tells him
that he should go before his father comes outside. Ysreal also states that he is invincible because
he is running. He can run without ever stumbling or falling. He is strongest when he is running.
The second short story, Negocios, is about Yuniors father. It tells the story of how his father left
and his fathers life in the North America. Yuniors fathers name is Ramon. I think it is weird
that, when Ramon is planning to go away and leave his family, everybody knows about it.
Ramon keeps telling his wife that he is leaving, hoping that she will beg him to stay, but she does
not. Ramon works hard in the U.S., having many jobs. Ramon pulls himself up the ladder and is
scammed multiple times, one example being of the woman whom he paid eight hundred dollars.
Ramon eventually becomes a citizen by marrying a woman named Nilda, who has a decent life.
Ramon leaves her and she is devastated and hurt. Ramon also had three to four children with her,
which makes it bad that he left. Ramon does everything he can to achieve upward mobility on
Shams 2

the financial ladder so he can eventually bring his family over. Ramon eventually obtains his
own house and brings his family to the U.S. at the end of the story. I also think it is really
interesting that the short story Negocios is told by Yunior, or Ramons son from the
Dominican Republic. I only realized this at the very end of the story when Yunior talks to Nilda.