From the very first pages of the novel “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Díaz, the readers are deliberately shown an overview of fuku, a bad curse. It has caused many tragic consequences to Cabrals family; especially to Oscar. He is the main character of the story who is an overweight nerd trying to find the love of his life, but due to a family “fuku” or curse Oscar is having a lot of trouble doing so. In addition, the story actually portrait the darkness time of Cabral's family under the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo’s regime. As Diaz mentions that “anyone who plotted against Trujillo would incur a fuku most powerful, down to the seventh generation and beyond”(3), Oscar’s family always unfortunately face tremendous situations …show more content…
He incidentally gets his final chance to change his life during his last summertime, he meets Ybón Pimentel, a “semi retired puta,” and deeply falls in love with her even though he knows that Ybon is already seeing the captain of the National Police. He considers that his relationship with Ybón is “the start of his real life”. As he “knew he loved her like he’d never loved anyone. Knew what he should be doing-making like a Lola and flying back. Fuck the capitan, Fuck Grundy and Grod. Fuck everybody” (306). This is when Oscar recovers after being beaten almost to death and he was forced to stay in the U.S, he thinks and finds the way to go back to Dominican Republic, to get back to his beloved Ybon. The important point in the history of Cabral/de Leon family is Oscar's decisions after coming back to the US. Unlike the previous generations of his family who would run away from traumatic events in life, Oscar faces them. He resists the cultural forces until the end of his life. Oscar understands that he is not bound by his embodiment of multiple histories and cultures; thus, it results in Oscar strong resistance to the burden of simplistic historical and cultural models. Even though his decision costs him his life, his decision benefits future generations of his family: they are free to be who they are, and they are not bound by predetermined cultural and historical boundaries of their
Being “nerdy” caused many social issues in Oscar’s life, ranging from not being able to find a girl to like him to not having any friends. His method of coping was writing science fiction novels which allowed him to express his feelings in a positive way. Writing helped alleviate his stress and take away the pressures of everyday life. Not having a father figure could have caused more damage than is mentioned in the book and could be the cause of him being so nerdy and antisocial. A major coping mechanism is the idea of the imaginary curse Fuku.
2. This passage from Junot Diaz’s Brief Wondrous life of Oscar Wao is significant because it initiates the growing tension between Oscar and his love for comic books. Oscar is fascinated by the idea of superheroes which developed his interest to write comic books. Oscar only had a wish to have a girlfriend, but the fact that Oscar’s love for comic books and sci-fi animes was not allowing him to have a girlfriend. These comic books and animes in a way distract him from seeing that what is happening in the world which makes him ill-informed about the world.
During the 1930’s, Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina was the dictator of the Dominican Republic. Corrupt Trujillo ruled with an iron fist and maintained control by using the unscrupulous patronage system for appointing people to important offices, discretely murdering political opponents, and enforcing strict censorship laws. Many countries invested into the Dominican Republic without Knowing the horrors that the Regime was causing for the povern stricken people. Junot Diaz was raised in the Dominican Republic’s chaos and a sense of unity has been forced upon him for survival as a result.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao “There was only one way to prevent disaster from coiling around you, only one surefire counterspell that would keep you and your family safe. Not surprisingly, it was a word. A simple word (followed usually by a vigorous crossing of index fingers). Zafa... If the Yanks commit an error in the late innings it 's zafa; if somebody brings shells in from the beach it 's zafa; if you serve a man parcha it 's zafa.
He mixes the two by creating a doubly marginalized character named Oscar; a nerdy Dominican kid who does not fit in with people of his ethnicity nor those outside it. Since he does not fit the stereotypical Dominican man and also is an immigrant, he faces an internal and external struggle of difficulty finding his place in the world. But even as an outsider, Oscar is still able to demonstrate both his Latin
In the Novel “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” in the first few pages we learn about fukú which is, “a curse or a doom of some kind; specifically, the Curse and the Doom of the New World” (1). Throughout the novel we learn that Oscar and his family believe that they have been cursed by fukú, but it is really a concept and a metaphor for the circumstances in which Oscar and his family have found themselves in. The first reasons is because of the Trujillo Dictatorship, and how growing up in the Dominican Republic during this time resulted in the progression of life for the family. The second Reason is that because Beli’s parents were killed, and caused Beli hardship throughout her life. It was a domino effect that was passed down to Oscar,
Throughout Dìaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, readers visualize Oscar’s self-reflection through his physical characteristics. As a young boy, he had confidence and was “a “normal” Dominican boy raised in a “typical” Dominican family, his nascent pimp-liness was encouraged by blood and friends alike” (Díaz 11). However, as he got older, he did not keep his “normal” Dominican appearance of dark skin and “semi-kink hair in a Puerto Rican afro” (Díaz 20). In fact, he began to develop much like the majority of American children today; Oscar began obese.
In Una Noche, three teenagers, Raul, Elio, and Lila, prepare for and eventually make the 90 mile journey from Havana, Cuba to Miami, Florida. The two young men desire to leave Cuba in search of a better life while Lila, Elio 's sister and narrator of the film, joins at the last minute because she does not want to be separated from her twin. Lila is the pragmatic voice of reason amongst the three and is not completely sold on the perfect life that Raul proclaims they will find in Miami. Elio is not as enthusiastic about the American dream and is primarily travelling with Raul to Miami due to his suppressed romantic feelings for the other young man. Una Noche was directed by Lucy Mulloy, a first time director who decided to make the film after
From an alternative perspective, Esteban Trueba’s violence is unneeded to highlight how it plays a central role in the development of the themes. Some believe this because they think it is masculinity that develops the themes, rather than his violence. Although, there are many masculine characters throughout the novel, none are as important to developing the plot as Esteban’s violent machismo factor. In the theme of family, the line “the only [children] that counted were the ones who bore [his] last name, the others might just as well not have been born” (Allende 66), develops the perspective of a machismo man towards genealogy. This is significant for the reader to recognize because genealogy and family are imperative themes throughout the entire novel.
The ‘’Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao’’ is a novel written by Junto Diaz, a Dominican Republic native writer who moved to New Jersey at the age of 6 years old. According to his autobiography, Junto was bone in December 31, 1968, in Santo Domingo the capital city of Dominica. He earned Bachelor of Arts degree from Rutgers University and his Master of Arts from Cornell University. He teaches at MIT in Massachusetts. He has put his own make on the literature by writing servers stories like; Drown, This is how you lose her, and also received the Pulitzer Prize-Winning for his navel, The Brief Wondrous life of Oscar Woa.
From reading these past hundred pages of “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” it becomes clear that there is a connection between love and violence in the lives of the characters’. This is especially evident through the characters faulty actions of love. Whether it’s embracing too much love in a relationship or happening to fall in love the wrong person, the characters are assured a brutal scar on their hearts. These qualities of love and violence are what drives the characters to carry out their lives. Without these two qualities the characters excitement and motive of life slowly dies within
In the eyes of Captain Vidal, this is a sign of disloyalty and ultimately disobedience. As such, Captain Vidal takes the most extreme of measures and ends up shooting the doctors, as doctor Ferreiro both literally and figuratively turns his back on Captain Vidal. Mercedes brother, Pedro, is part of the rebel group hiding in the woods. After a skirmish with Captain Vidal and his soldiers, Pedro is captured and ultimately killed. This is yet another example of the consequences of defying Captain Vidal and the actions that make him
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is an extraordinary tale that takes you into the lives of Oscar Wao and his family members who are burdened with a terrible curse called fuku. The fuku spell began with Oscar’s grandfather, Abelard. Abelard angered the Dominican Republic dictator, Trujillo, after he allegedly made a joke about the dictator that turned into a crime. However, the real reason behind Abelard’s downfall was his refusal to introduce his daughter to Trujillo, who had a sexual appetite for young women.
Cinematography, is the art of making motion pictures, and mise-en-scene, the settings or surroundings of an event or an action, go hand in hand in the film Fruitvale Station. Since this film is based on an actual incident that took place at the Fruitvale Station, where an officer shot and killed Oscar Grant, you know how the situation is going to end, but the cinematography is extraordinary and keeps you engaged the entire time while addressing issues of race, class, and identity in one film. The opening scene of the film is footage of the shooting shot by a passenger on one of the trains at the Fruitvale Station. The actual footage shown does not show how the film ends, with Oscar getting shot, but it leads up to it.
Parents are the biggest influences on a child’s life. In Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits the children are treated differently by their parents, Esteban and Clara. Throughout the novel Allende constantly displays Esteban’s cruel behavior towards his children and Clara’s loving nature towards them, and how both their different personalities affect their children. Esteban has a bad temper, which leads to his children being distraught. Esteban has no respect for his children’s physical