The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao Essay - 1697 Words

Meaningless Lives In a relatively recent human history, the first European immigrants inadvertently commenced a state of hybridity between peoples of different racial categories. In addition, the strained and chained dislodgment of millions of indigenous Africans by white hegemony immensely added to the current racial hybridity of the Americas. Junot Diaz’s novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao brilliantly illuminates the struggles of the immigrant as he tries to find a sense of belonging in a new environment whilst carrying a heavy, culturally inherited baggage that is part of an individual identity. In this particular case, Diaz applies the tyrannically darkened past of the Dominican Republic to address essential world issues implicating dictators, and their often invisible victims; superstations, and their often unexamined provenances. In the novel, The Brief Wondrous life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz uses his artistic and cultural lens as both Dominican and American; to subversively paint universal experiences relating to oppression, and superstitious beliefs. To begin with, oppression in various forms is depicted as a principle theme of the book. It is apparent in relationships in between the characters, and also between the foremost antagonist, Rafael Trujillo and the Dominican people. However, if Trujillo is presented as a primary antagonist, it is only fair to wonder whom the protagonist is, and in this essay, it is none other thanShow MoreRelatedThe Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao1111 Words   |  5 PagesIn Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, he is telling the story of a Dominican family but mainly about the son, Oscar de Leon. The book opens with the story of Oscar as a child and him having two girlfriends at the same time. The older people in town see him as a ladies man and encourage him. The boy and the two girls all break up and his life seemed to be on a steady decline since then. He grows up to become a nerdy, fat, and awkward adolescence with few friends and even less interestRead MoreThe Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao2284 Words   |  10 PagesMARY KORANTENG CO MIC SPIRIT IN AMERICA LITERATURE AND CULTURE JANUARY 20, 2012 INSTRUCTOR: MR. WAITHAKA The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz is about a Dominican family who lives in Paterson New Jersey and they have been through many tribulations in life. The theme I chose for my essay is Fuku and Love, in the novel these two themes were mainly the reason why the characters got their self in situationsRead MoreThe Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao1357 Words   |  6 PagesJunot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, set in the late 1900’s, tells a story of Oscar Wao, an overweight Dominican â€Å"ghetto nerd†, his mother and rebellious sister who live together in Paterson, New Jersey. Throughout the novel Diaz incorporates many different stories about each character that show acts of resistance. One of the most prominent stories of resistance in the novel is through Oscar’s mom; Beli, who is prompted by great tragedy, known as the Trujillo curse, to love atomicallyRead MoreAnalysis Of The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao1200 Words   |  5 PagesThe Faceless Man Throughout Junot Diaz’s novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, the Man Without a Face is a recurring character with no evident features. All of his scenes include an event in which he is either a mysterious spectator watching the distress around himself or joins in on the torture. His appearances throughout the story are suggestive of evil or violent incidents that are about to occur. More times than not, the acts are performed by Trujillo s men. Almost consistently, he emergesRead MoreThe Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Essay3706 Words   |  15 Pagesone’s action. The curse even goes back to the time of Belicia’s father Abelard and forward. â€Å"Fukà º follows a family through generations and across oceans into different countries. Abelard a respected doctor with a happy wife and kids had a very good life and a warm home. He was very close with Trujillo’s partner el Jefà © always staying on his good side which was a good thing. Also he kept do dging the topic of his daughters. Worried Abelard couldn’t eat or sleep thinking that someoneRead MoreThe Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao: A Summary2349 Words   |  10 Pages In The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz tells the story of a family of Dominican immigrants, focusing primarily on the life of Oscar de Leà ³n, a descendant of the diaspora that directly experienced the horrors of the Trujillo regime of the mid 20th century. The de Leon family can’t seem to escape the fukà º, the seemingly eternal curse that has afflicted the new world for centuries. In order to tell Oscar’s story, Diaz uses the postmodern narrative to weave a story that is not only emotionallyRead MoreEssay about Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao1835 Words   |  8 PagesJeffrey Fisher Final Paper Eng 102 Professor Peterson Trujillo and the Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is not a happy book. The Author, Junot Diaz, does a great job fooling the reader into believing the story is about the De Leon family, specifically Oscar who is an over weight nerd trying to find the love of his life, but due to a family â€Å"fuku† or curse Oscar is having a lot of trouble doing so. Instead, the story actually portrays the dark historyRead MoreJunot Diazs The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao1940 Words   |  8 PagesLove and Violence The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Diaz covers the issue of Love and Violence thoroughly throughout the book, and shows how anger and love influence the impulsive and reckless decisions the characters made. Searching for Zion, by Emily Raboteau on the other hand shows that love comes in different forms and may be easily misunderstood. Abelard, Belicia, Lola, and Emily show love can be a devastating force if not handled carefully and, could be very dangerous. As othersRead MoreExpectations of Dominican People in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao709 Words   |  3 PagesIn The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, the reader gets a sense of what the expectations are of Dominican men and women. Junot Dà ­az uses Oscar in contrast to the other male characters to present the expectations of the Dominican male. On the other hand, Dà ­az presents the women in the text, especially Belicia, La Inca, Lola, and Jenni, as strong characters in their own rights, but the male ch aracters, with the exception of Oscar, have a desire to display their masculinity to maintain power overRead MoreThe Elections Are Written By Tom Perrotta And The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao877 Words   |  4 Pageswritten by Tom Perrotta and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao was written by Junot Diaz. The two novels had many similarities and differences, but the one that stood out the most to me was the love affairs in both novels. As similar they were, they were completely different as well. The two characters go after someone they know they can’t have but their intentions of the relationship are quite different. The Election and The Brief Wondrous life of Oscar Wao both had typical high school love