- Culture, Community, & Nation: Writers Who Talk the Talk
- Introduction
- The story in the wondrous life of Oscar Wao is set both in the United States and in the Dominican Republic. The narrative mainly relates to the character experience of being in both places. In addition the narrative also tries to relate to the various character personal experiences with regard to dictator Trujillo’s regime where it tries to explore the oppression and the violence experience people went through. Trujillo Molina was one of the dictator who ruled Dominican Republic from 1930-1961. During this period Trujillo is thought to have taken a complete control of the military where he only appointed his relatives and friends to hold important offices in the government. In this story the narrator begins by describing fuku among the Americans, which is basically a curse of doom. This is curse is believed to have been brought over in the island of Antilles when the Europeans came and have ever stayed in that place ever since. The story therefore revolves around the life of a young man Oscar de leaon who was a victim of fuku. In order to counter the effect of fuku the narrator explains that Oscar had to develop the concept of zafa. In addition the story also raises issues of how Oscar was obsessed with science fiction, falling in love as well as the curse that was in their family generation. In this case novel helps in raising some of the issues the contemporary Americans experience and tries to explore the various ways in which the human beings risk it all in the name of love.
- Analysis of the novel it is evident that it is more than just a story trying to describe the journey of Oscar into adulthood. This is because the novel tries to explore the history of the Dominican Republic through telling the curse that was present in the Oscars family for over three generation. The book therefore tries to explore the quest Oscar had for love and sex and most importantly his desire to find somewhere he feels at home. In relation to this the use of the characters Lora and Belicia helps in raising the issue that the immigrants face. Through this story the narrator exposes the various ways in which fuku is manifested in the new world and how it has managed to travel within the family of Dominican Republic to New Jersey.
- The theme of love as described in the story is mainly portrayed as destructive force when it is handled without proper care. In relation to this the author also tries to point out that lust in some cases can be confused with passionate love and hence destructive when expressed in violence. In order to demonstrate this author uses the story of Cabral de leon family, which suffers from the curse, related to the violent love. In this case Abelard who was the grandfather of Oscar was a wealth man and at the same time intelligent. In most cases he tried to avoid confrontation with the Trujillo through refraining from discussing any issue related to politics. The author also illustrates that the Abelard love his daughter made him suffer a tragic death in prison. This Abelard love for her daughter is an example of how the violent danger that can be associated with love. In the Oscars journeys of trying to search for the romantic love he finds himself trapped in the idea of lets-be- friend vortexes, which in turn make him to act violently towards others. In the story the Oscar act of violence is first seen on his first date with his first love Ann. While dating Ann, Oscar realizes that she had a boyfriend named Manny who she dated secretly. Having been madly in love with Ann he takes his uncle pistol and explores the option of trying to kill Manny.
- Various violent behaviors of love and lust in the life is also seen in the Oscars second love with Jenny. In this case therefore it is evident that the Oscar has a direct connection to the violence. This theme of love ranges from the domestic love to various extreme violence situations where he ends up loving the wrong person. Other characters in the story that experience violence due to loving a wrong person include Beli who in this case experience violence after loving a gangster. In addition Lora a character in the novel also experiences some aspects of love and violence. This is because she is unable to separate herself from her mother’s violence behaviors and love. In this case therefore love in the story is mainly demonstrated as strong emotions, which in most cases are countered, by the human anger and the spirit of trying to explore the options of revenge. Using the theme of love and violence the author manages to raise the issues that love is more powerful. However the author indicates that both concepts serves as the major driving force that influence the character of people. This is because both anger and love influence the various rash decisions that the people in make in their lives. In this case the story therefore helps to illustrate what happens when one is not loved. In addition this concept helps in explaining the need for love and passion in our lives. Most importantly the story with regard to love helps in illustrating how hard it is for one to realize the real meaning of happiness in live.
- Moreover analysis of the novel it is evident that it also presents the role of family in the life of an individual. This is because Yunior who is one of the characters in the story even though lives in America still has a strong connection to his home country. In relation to this the narrator presents an argument using certain character such as Oscar that an individual in most cases get involved with the various political process in that country. In this case Oscar becomes member of Policia Nacional hence becoming involved in the state affairs. It is therefore possible to argue that in addition to presenting the role of love in the lives of the character the political control also influences the lives of an individual. Most of the characters in the story suffer from low self-esteem which is brought about by the feeling that they are ugly or worthiness in the society. The main characters also lose job to people of inferior positions due to their ethnic background. In addition Oscar also suffers because he does not fit in either United States or in his country of origin (Amend, 2010).
- With regard to culture the author presents the concept that the sex is seen as one of the key ingredient among the Dominican males. Most of the Dominican males are demonstrated as having power, charm and physical attractiveness. Failure of Oscar to have the physical masculine character is one of the root causes of problem. This is because he lacks the ability to fight for his love. This makes Oscar unable to reach his goal of falling in love with a girl. On the other hand this culture value of masculinity-favored characters such as Yunior who is muscular and sexual is always able to sleep with many girls (Piette & Rawlinson, 2012. Moreover failure of Oscar to accept some of the advice of from his peer on how to attract women also contributed to some of the problems he was facing. In this case the author manages to presents a strong argument on the influence of the peers in the society. Diaz in his book also uses the various references to science fiction and comic books. In relation to this he also references the popular TV shows and actors that lived in the Oscars period. This reference is important since it helps to illustrate the effect of these shows have the on the life of an individual. In this case character in the novel such as the Yunior has already started to integrate some of these cultures in their lives.
- Junot Diaz in this book is recognized as a writer who addresses major issues concerning the society whereby similar issues have also been addressed by other senior writers in their work. The novel also implicates the history of years which is comprised in other collections including films and discloses the ancient Dominican curses as well as the police raids which took place in Santo Domingo. Diaz in this case expresses certain issues including love. He describes the story resembles a hand of love out to the community since love in this case is mostly mentioned in the story he narrates. The social torture that the main character addressed by Diaz, Oscar, passes is an implication of what Yunior and other men in Wao who are seen to have such fierce and womanizing posture (Kevane, 2003). In the novel as addressed by Diaz, deviation from the defined machista stance leads or results to brutality. Moreover, the novel written by Diaz also explain how machismo becomes a problem to the men who conform and as well as those who do not. As the story continues, Oscar’s imagination is seen to slide towards bitterness, also depression, while Yunior is seen to prove that he is a real hombre in the entire Wao surrounding and heads to an absolute isolation (Kevane, 2003). The most significant aspect of Diaz’s course is that it seems fixed and this explains the point where his brilliances shine. Life is absolutely complicating as Diaz puts it across and on the other hand metamorphosis can be seen painful and it is only during the time that problems become ruinous and people will reach for a try which is more honest as Diaz brings it out in his story.
- Historical context in the story is mainly presented through the mention of Trujillo’s dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. This historical reference is made through the illustrations provided in the footnotes. According to the footnote provided in the book the Trujillo was a known dictator who changed all the names of the landmark so that everybody could honor him. Trujillo also committed mass genocide against the Haitians community. Another historical reference in the story is demonstrated in the choice of the character name Oscar. In this case the choice of this character name is one of the best choices since it helps to bring out the memory of other famous people who were called Oscar who included Peter Carey Oscar. In addition the language used in the book also to some extent plays an important role in providing some historical aspect. This is because the language used in this case is magical realism, which mainly involves the use of the realistic together with some aspect of fantasy. Duaz manages to use this genre in order to bring the mix of the United States pop culture into the story that is Dominican and helps in bringing the Diasporas aspect in the story. In this case the magical realism was mainly used in the 1940s by the Latin authors. Use of the realism therefore helps to illustrate historical context in which this book was written. In addition the language used in the essay help in depicting the languages that was used in people growing up in the 70s and 80s.
- Diaz mention of fuku, which is believed to have destroyed the Oscars family, can also be seen as one of the plight of the Dominican in general (Amend, 2010). This island in the novel is mainly portrayed as historically cursed with its inhabitants the descendant of the slaves. In addition most of the inhabitants of the island are demonstrated as the victims of the Trujillo and the immigrants who were joining the ranks of the urban American poor. Oscar mother also believes in a man with no face who in most cases is the devil (Amend, 2010). Lora on her side regards bad luck as realistic and one of the components of life. With such illustration Diaz manages to illustrate some of the historical problems that the people of Dominican Republic faced.
- Conclusion
- From the above it is evident that the analysis of the story presented in the novel can help in illustrating the horrific history of the Dominican Republic. In this case Oscar who is the main character in the novel wants someone to love. However, his weight and lack of strong masculine structure cannot allow him to get woman in his life. With the use of character such as Oscar and Abelard the author manages to bring out the issue that the love can have an influence on the character of a person. In relation to this the author also manages to explain what might happen when one is not able to find the right person to love. The historical context in which Diaz tells his story is presented mainly through the mention of the Trujillo dictatorship regime. Use of the magic realism also helps in providing some of the historical context within which the story was written. This is because the writers mainly used the magic realism in the 1940s. Most importantly the language used in the story also help to explain the historical context of the story.
- Reference
- Amend, A. (2010). Hispanic-American writers. New York: Chelsea House.
- Piette, A., & Rawlinson, M. (2012). The Edinburgh companion to twentieth-century British and American war literature. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
- Kevane, B. A. (2003). Latino literature in America. Westport, Conn. [u.a.: Greenwood Press.
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