1. We were on our way to the colmado for an errand, a beer for my tío, when Rafa stood still and tilted his head, as if listening to a message. (…)
Source: Diaz, Junot “Ysrael.” In: Drown, Riverhead Books 1996.
Available at [🔗].
current affairs
In the last decade or so there has been increased awareness about bullying in schools. In The Spectator article “Generation Snowflake: how we train our kids to be censorious cry-babies,” Claire Fox argues that anti-bullying campaigns have gone too fare and lower the resilience of Millennials who have become “Generation Snowflake”.
links
questions
1. The narrator in the story does not take much initiative throughout the story, but rather follows his brother Rafa. Why do you think Diaz tells the story through the lens of the younger child?
2. What is it that motivates Rafa to remove Ysrael’s mask? Is it curiosity? Boredom? A desire to humiliate Ysrael? Or what other motivations might be driving him?
3. Claire Fox argues that the excessive emphasis on anti-bullying policies have led to an atmosphere that “pathologises normal childish transgressions and tensions.” Do you agree? Has society failed young people by creating a Generation Snowflake? Or do you think we should expand anti-bullying campaigns in schools?