Pulitzer-Winner Junot Diaz's Brilliant American Metaphor

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Congratulations to Junot Diaz for winning both National Book Critics Circle award and the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his debut novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

I read Diaz's first book, Drown, a celebrated collection of short stories, and it knocked me over. He's a profoundly talented writer. It took Junot Diaz 11 years to write his first novel, which I can't wait to read.

At the end of an interview last week with Newsweek, Diaz offered an incredibly incisive metaphor (if you're not a George W. Bush fan) when asked about the current immigration debate in America. The whole interview is worth reading, but the text below really strikes a chord:

"...we're in the fifth year of the most expensive war in human history. We're devouring an entire generation of our young people, both directly in the war or with the long-term consequences, and yet the country wants to get obsessed with immigration. Like this is the exact right time to have this conversation? I wonder if we're not trying to distract ourselves. You know, I love that image from Moby Dick, because we're like the ship. We're the Pequod. We're this nation on this ship, and we're on this insane quest being directed by a madman. But what's really interesting is that Captain Ahab wasn't taking his foreign workers and making them walk the plank. He understood the value of diversity through his dream. We're even crazier than Ahab. We're chasing this white whale called terrorism, but our captain is saying, "You know what, I don't think some of us really belong here. They should walk the plank." I never thought there would be a day where the United States would be crazier than its metaphor, the Pequod. But we're there. We're there. Ahab is now a moderate."

Comments

[clr2]

So according to you and Diaz we shouldn't concentrate on anything except the war? Where would that lead us? There is no "immigration" debate. We have a problem with ILLEGAL ALIENS. We spend BILLIONS on people who don't belong here. We should be using these BILLIONS on our own citizens. We need to emforce our laws. Deport all ILLEGAL ALIENS, heavily fine those who hire ILLEGALS, and return to the original intent of the 14th amendment and do away with anchor babies.

[LivingStardust]

Illegals are just that. Mexicans and South Americans ARE FOREIGN NATIONALS AND ARE REQUIRED BY LAW TO FOLLOW PROCESS TO IMMIGRATE. If you don't follow the rules, you should be shipped back to your country of origin. End of story. So quit with the racist arguments of "La Raza". That's all bullshit. If my Irish clan members from across the Atlantic wanted in, they would have to follow the rules and so should La Raza. I don't CARE if they are your family, they CAME HERE ILLEGALLY. Help them do it the RIGHT WAY or shut the Hell up.

[mamacat]

And yet, we live in a nation in which Bush was elected, twice. What does that say about us? Is it fair to blame Bush for everything that is wrong with the nation, when we elected him?
I think this argument also applies to the Germans who elected Hitler. It is unfair to give the German people a pass, and to put all the blame for the evils of the Nazis on Hitler, when the German people elected him.

[LivingStardust]

That is why there are "Good Germans" and "Bad Germans" just like there will be "Good Americans" and "Bad Americans" when this is over with. Neocons and Bushies, get ready to be the villains in movies for the next 50 years, just like your heroes, the Nazis. Enjoy your legacy, you unconstitutional fascist criminals!

[pcornholio]

You must be kidding. Diaz's first line is patently false , and proposed American immigration policies are not remotely similar to Ahab forcing the crew he recruited to walk the plank - more like requiring would-be sailors to request permission before coming aboard, a policy even the Love Boat would embrace.

This post makes a mystery of Diaz's reputation, but confirm's Brown's.

[hopeless277]

But if Bush had done all the bad things that people say he's done, he'd be impeached, right? Right?