Aquaboogie By Susan Straight Summary

The novel, “Aquaboogie” by Susan Straight, depicts the art of survival through various short stories by piecing together the adversity that each character faces. Substantially, the aquaboogie is a euphemism for dancing under water, meaning that an individual can still make something out of their strife just as how one may “dance” under water to keep from drowning. Each story within this novel introduces a unique character dealing with their own internal struggle and, in progression, they learn to either overcome or accept the reality that they have no choice but to confront. The characters are also interconnected with the setting and community that they are most familiar with, Rio Seco and other California-based environments, and find their …show more content…
Like Esther and Shawan, Nacho is an aspiring artist but struggles with the reality of his career. He works a normal job as a school janitor, just as how the other two characters take on the responsibilities of a day job to support themselves, but he is characterized as a man who is free-spirited. As he faces the plight of racism from other coworkers, he uses art to survive the harsh conditions by using his creative and free-willed mentality and incorporates art within his normal life. He paints coins onto the floor beneath the soda machines for one coworker that always searches for loose change while thinking to himself, “now mop, old man. After you run your hands all over this dirty floor, up under the machine, after I put your ass on the floor, go on. Take a brush to this shit. Make you thirsty enough you need a soda” (Straight, 18). For his second coworker, he drops red paint on the floor so that it seems as if he needs to mop blood off the floor, and for Cotter, he uses his creativity to paint an entire mural in the bathroom as a last-ditch effort to redeem himself as an artist. Nacho’s actions can be directly translated as using art to survive the conflicts in his life as he uses his artistry to wreak havoc and avenge himself from racism and injustice. He is able to dance underwater long enough to simultaneously avoid the harsh criticisms from other janitors and find meaning and beauty in the dull atmosphere of the university in which he works, transforming his bitterness into a work of art; however, in the end, Nacho accepts the fate of his reality and returns home to Rio Seco. His story continues again in the chapter, Hollow, when his family’s struggles are introduced and intersects with his own. Nacho’s father, Floyd King, is embittered and pessimistic about making art, unlike Nacho who is