The Sun, The Moon, The Stars, And Christ

An essay on The Sun, The Moon, The Stars, by Junot Díaz.

In the beginning of most Catholic children’s lives, the Bible serves as a guide.  However, this Holy Scripture’s knowledge is not limited to religious followers; it also steers readers to question the sector of the mind pertaining to beliefs.  Beliefs, although varying among different humans, are the overarching principles to how a particular individual wants to live – what a particular individual wants to be and/or feel responsible for.  Once reading a portion of the Bible, an individual is opened to a world where Biblical information, symbolism, and anecdotes can effect and depict daily life.  In the short story, “The Sun, The Moon, The Stars,” by Junot Díaz, religious allusions are used to symbolically question the borders of responsibility, and lack there of, that the protagonist, Yunior, upkeeps.  These aspects of the Catholic Faith are alluded to in the story through the names of the main characters, Yunior and Magda, through their linguistically symbolic relationships to light, and through Yunior’s final experience on the island.  These instances bolster Díaz’s correlation between religion and its effect on the subconscious.  “The Sun, The Moon, The Stars” is an archetypal story in which Biblical history mythically repeats itself in an alternative fashion. 

In “The Sun, The Moon, The Stars,” it is not until later in the story that the protagonist’s name is mentioned.  The reason for this delay in identification, on Díaz’s part, is due to the author’s pity for the self deprecating, emotionally confused, character he created.  Throughout the story, it becomes evident that Yunior is self-conscious.  He defends a façade and combats his environments by using overly confident language that questions the validity of both his description of certain situations, and his own supposed self-assurance.  He cockily rambles, as seen on page two, when Yunior says, “Let me confess: I love coming home to the guys in Blazers trying to push little cups of Brugal into my hands.” (Díaz 2)  This sentence is the beginning of a paragraph that continues with Yunior describing in much detail, all about the Dominican Republic – a description, he could have told to get the reader’s sympathy and empathy.  Díaz also uses Yunior’s description to satirically show how “cool and awesome” Yunior is for knowing all of this.  The reader is unsure of whether or not these descriptions of the Dominican Republic are even accurate, however the reader will “have to take [his] word for it.” (Díaz 2)  It is with this deceptive language that Díaz creates for the reader, prompting questions pertaining to the validity of Yunior’s stories and responsibility.  The reader is made to feel unsure and uneasy about Yunior.  Thus, when Díaz finally introduces the name of his character of confusion, it is done so in a delayed, strategized, and merciful manner.  Yunior is introduced by his ex-girlfriend, Magda, as follows: “I’m bored Yu-nior.” (Díaz 2)  The name is said across two lines, thus needing a hyphen.  Not only did Díaz wait to identify his creation, but he also did so in the most fragile manner.  Yunior’s name possesses importance – it is the key to his confidence, as any name is.  Names hold value; and Díaz tried to protect the value of a character he was harshly exposing. 

The delay of the naming, in relation to the Christian Bible, could be seen as a symbolic christening or baptism conducted by Magda on her then boyfriend.  It appears to be no coincidence that later in the paragraph Yunior “drank fifteen bottles of water.” (Díaz 2)  When christenings occur, they are accomplished in order to give a member of the Christian Church a name that reveals a significant characteristic or trait.  Yunior’s name is directly Biblically symbolic.  In “Spanglish” (the linguistic mix of Yunior’s languages of literacy and identity) Yunior means Junior.  Junior is a name used to differentiate a son from a father who is called the same name as his breath and life giver.  In the Christian Bible, Jesus and God share this identification situation. Jesus is the translated English form of the same name in Greek, Iēsous.  Iēsous stems from the Hebrew name for Jesus, Yeshua; and, Yeshua is one of the many Hebrew names for God.  God and Jesus, from a linguistic perspective, have the same name.

Jesus and Yunior are sons and juniors.  Díaz uses this symbolic comparison to further exhibit Yunior’s personality and struggle with responsibility.  The Biblical foil, assumes a delicate, overarching, religious power that presents himself as a continuously supported allusion.  The sheer dichotomy between Yunior and his sins, and Jesus and his death for the sins of others, complicate the interaction between Yunior and his environment and the repetitive nature of life and history.  By using this foil, Díaz representatively illustrated a humane, troubled side to a revered Biblical character through another character who was indeed troubled.  Additionally, Díaz demonstrated the strange way history can repeat itself.  For although Jesus and Yunior battled differing adversities, their overall seeking of good was evident.  Yunior, even though quite troubled, tried to become a better person throughout the story.  This was demonstrated during his “revelation” in the cave.  Yunior’s subconscious was affected by his religion.  Díaz modernized his work by depicting Yunior as a Dominican Christian.  Overall, Díaz was able to show the effect of religion on an individual by implementing a religious and linguistic allusion on the individual he was showcasing. 

In addition to Yunior’s name representing Biblical and linguistic significance, the naming of Yunior’s girlfriend, Magda, is symbolic.  Unlike Yunior, Magda’s introduction was immediate.  At the beginning of the story, Yunior quickly introduced his ex-girlfriend and her disappointment for him when he said, “Magdalena disagrees.  She considers me a typical Dominican man: a sucio, an asshole.”  (Díaz 1)  Without name related analysis, the introduction of Magdalena, or rather Magda, her nickname, is significant due to its involvement with the Spanish language.  Magda’s description of Yunior as “a sucio” shows the importance of the shared, otro idioma.  Magda shapes Yunior’s life – by having her be involved and understand the same language Yunior speaks, Díaz was able to show the intense bond Magda and Yunior had that was not simply sexual and romantic.  Additionally, Díaz exhibited the augmentation of “Spanglish” phrases in Latin culture.  Instead of illustrating Magda and Yunior as perfect Spanish speakers, Díaz showed the two using Spanish nouns with English articles, thus symbolizing their imperfections.   These imperfections demonstrate the effects of subconscious misunderstandings and symbolically exhibit Yunior’s lack of responsibility. 

This exhibition of humanly imperfect behavior is vital to Díaz’s comparison of the characters in “The Sun, The Moon, The Stars” and their religious others.  Similar to Yunior’s foil-like relationship with Jesus, Magda carries a Biblically alluding connection.  Magdalena’s name stems from Magdalene, meaning “maiden.”  Most individuals who gift their children the name, or some variant of it, do so in tribute to the second most prominent, and often thought, important female in the New Testament, Mary Magdalene.  Magdalene was a follower of Jesus; she attended his crucifixion, and witnessed his Resurrection.  She was not a lover, but rather a friendly follower.  Supposedly, Jesus cast out seven demons from Magdalene who had been associated with the crime of adultery and other specific sexual sins.  In his story, Díaz mirrored the complex relationship that Magdalene and Jesus shared by using Magda and Yunior.  Unlike the Biblical pair, Magda and Yunior did indeed take part in a romantic relationship, which included premarital sex – a sin.  This is ironic in reference to the overarching Biblical allusion because of the type of demons Magdalene hosted. Magda and Magdalene’s comparison is fueled by sex.  Díaz used this sinful foil to complicate the confident, female character he created whose mission was to test and batter his other male creation who lacked responsibility and such confidence. Through the comparisons of Biblical persons and ordinary people, the usage of sacred allusions and linguistic symbols furthered the tension of sexual and romantic hardship by reinforcing a tale as old as time.  Díaz created another foil, furthering his exhibition of an archetypal story of Biblical proportions.

The story of The Fall, also known as the story of Adam and Eve, is arguably the most well-known and discussed narratives in the Bible.  The experiences of the Bible’s first two humans are filled with light and darkness.  This variation of light is symbolized in “The Sun, The Moon, The Stars.”  Light, in the short story, plays a central role in the governance of Yunior’s borders of responsibility.  Yunior is severely affected by actual light, its absence, and its metaphorical attributes.  Every action Yunior decides to make occurs in some form of light or darkness, however, in the story, certain forms of light are associated with certain actions.  During the daylight hours, when the sun traveled high in the sky, Yunior’s actions and behaviors, especially pertaining to his relationship with Magda, exposed themselves in a more clear and evident fashion than at night.  For example, once back on the island and under the sun, Yunior’s true emotions were shown.  Yunior expressed himself in the paragraph that begins with “The sun is blazing and the blue of the ocean is an overload on the brain.” (Díaz 3)  In the story, the sun shined and its beams of light broke and tore down the façade that Yunior had so desperately tried to construct; however, all the work of the sun was soon forgotten.  At night, Yunior relapsed.  His actions and emotions became muddled – hidden beneath the blanket of black.  Yunior would “loiter around” (Díaz 6) and notice dark aspects about potential lovers, such as the “dark stubbled spot in her armpit.” (Díaz 6)  During the time reigned by the moon and the stars, Yunior’s borders of responsibility vanished and his relationship with Magda crumbled.  Life experienced an archetypal alteration after the presence of the moon and the stars.

This alteration can be analyzed through a linguistic and religious lens.    In relation to Yunior’s native language, Spanish, light produces symbolic waves.  In Spanish, the sun is “el sol.”  The moon is “la luna;” and the stars are “las estrellas.”  Light as an overall concept is translated to “la luz.”  All of these words, except for the sun, are feminine.  The gendered heavenly bodies represented certain characters in the story.  The sun represented the masculine Yunior.  The moon symbolized the feminine Magda; and the stars signified the other possible lovers of Yunior.  This characterization of heavenly bodies presented itself in the short story at the differing times of light during the day and night.  Díaz related these linguistic characterizations with the moods of certain time periods of light to symbolically illustrate the archetypal adversities Yunior faced because of his lack of responsibility.  Yunior and his lovers, like the sun, the moon, and the stars, entered a light induced cycle – however, their cyclical relationship was problematic.  This cycle is shown in The Fall. 

Díaz refers to The Fall in the final moments of his story.  The last scene on the island, like the story of Adam and Eve, is mythical and mystical.  Like the Bible’s first story, the setting is mysterious and historically significant.  In the story, the cave rested at “the birthplace of the Tainos.” (Díaz 6)  Like Adam and Eve, Yunior was faced with temptation.  The darkness around him, enticed his soul to commit sin.  Díaz used this religious allusion to transport his self-deprecating character to a world where the author’s mercy shined onto the environment like “a darkness obliterator.”  (Díaz 6)  This symbolism in the situation, on Díaz’s part, is further intensified by the overarching allusion to Jesus.  At the end of the story, Yunior is literally lowered into a vertical cave by a Vice President and his henchman.  He is then raised out, overcome with emotion, and enlightened.  Before Jesus ascended to Heaven, he descended to Hell.  This hyperbolic allusion deepened Yunior’s sin and lack of responsibility through the comparison to the immortal and angelic foil.  Díaz simultaneously and satirically showed mercy to his main character while exhibiting the archetypal story of falling. 

Overall, “The Sun, The Moon, The Stars” is an archetypal story that contains Biblical allusions and synergetic properties.  Díaz compared Christian and Latin culture by amalgamating various anecdotal references from numerous sources.  This exhibited Yunior’s self deprecating nature and lack of responsibility while maintaining the dignity of the plot.  The short story decreed a global cry of vindication by incorporating religious and linguistic attributes in order to define a mysterious, ethical beginning to a mortal human.

- J. A. Kind