No Face

In Diaz’s story “No Face”, we get some insight into the life of Ysrael, whom we met previously in the first story of Diaz’s novel, titled, “Ysrael”. Because of this, we have already been given a brief run through on how Ysrael lives his life. He goes through every day being constantly ridiculed for the disfigurement of his face. Adults call him out in the street, calling him names like “No Face” and making fun of his actions. Kids ambush him and throw stones at him. He is the laughing stock, the butt of every joke, and the target of almost every insult made in the community. After reading “Ysrael”, one can’t help but feel sorry for the kid because there’s nothing he could have done to prevent this kind of ridicule in his life. He was brutally attacked by a pig, an event he still has constant, vivid nightmares over, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He is forced to wear a mask and shield his face from the world.

But, if there is one positive aspect of this tragic story, it’s that Ysrael doesn’t let his situation dampen his mood. In fact, he describes himself as sort of a superhero as he “runs past the water hose and the pasture, and he then he says FLIGHT and jumps up and his shadow knifes over the tops of the trees” (153). In Ysrael’s mind, his life is full of fighting crime as an unbeatable, super strong superhero. He does pull ups in the morning in order to build up his strength for the day and then he takes off, running, picking up coins around town, dodging vomit and piss, and fighting off big bullies who try and test his strength. Even as people around him yell at him and call him “No Face!” (154), he just runs past them, stating that he doesn’t have time for them, for he has a mission: collect enough coins to buy himself a bottle of soda or a johnnycake. Ysrael believes that he embodies this superhero persona, it’s sort of like his alter ego, and even with his disfigured face, he knows that he can put on his mask and become empowered by super strength and courage to face the day. It’s kind of like Batman in a sense because, without the mask, Ysrael is just a regular guy (not rich and famous like Bruce Wayne, but ya’ll get the picture), but when he puts his mask on, he believes that he is hiding his real identity and becomes this strong and powerful hero, a character that gives Ysrael courage to carry on, even if people constantly berate him.

This begs the question if this sort of coping method will work for Ysrael throughout his life. Right now, it’s okay for this little boy to be running around the town, pretending to be a superhero, but as he grows older, it will become a little strange and unconventional. It makes one wonder why this kind of method works for Ysrael. It’s pretty impressive for him to believe he is this superhero figure and is therefore able to tune out all the negativity others bring upon him. I feel like, because he’s been an outsider for basically his entire life, he doesn’t know when to stop. Padre Lou has to teach him to tell people that he isn’t a danger to others because he wants him to be able to communicate and form connections with those on the “inside”. This makes me think about the scene with the girl in the window, where Ysrael and this girl basically converse only with their hands, and the girl asks him if he would like to come inside and watch tv with her, but Ysrael states that would rather stay outside. On one side, Ysrael chooses to stay outside assumably because he knows that he really isn’t allowed inside. Once the cleaning woman notices him, she scolds him away, proving that even if he did come inside, he wouldn’t be welcome. But another part of me believes that, if he were to go inside, he would have to revert to his Ysrael self, a part of him that doesn’t embody as much strength and courage as his superhero alter ego. Ysrael only feels strong with his mask on and in his own heroic world. Bringing him inside to where everyone is just a regular human makes him feel weak and scared. Therefore, even though he knows that it is really hot outside, he tells the girl, while at the same time, trying to convince himself, that he is better off outside.

As a whole, this story made me very conflicted. At one end, I feel bad for Ysrael because it seems like he will never be able to accept his true self until he gets his surgery, and even then he may still try to hide his face from the world. Living life as his true self means stepping down from his superhero platform and not being able to tap into his “super powers” of flight, invincibility, and strength. But, on the other hand, Ysrael seems happy with his life situation. Yea, he gets picked on and beat up on a daily basis, but he’s able to look past that and see himself develop into this superhero character. One that his younger brother can look up to. One that can give him courage, even when times are tough. He’s a quite odd, yet inspiring, character in his unique coping method, but, as Berit mentions, how long this method will do the trick is an unanswerable, yet worrisome, question.