Oscar Wao Analysis

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In Junot Diaz’s book The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, the author shows the synergistic bond between love and sex to be fractured in Dominican culture. The effect of Rafael Trujillo’s 31-year dictatorship discouraged softer emotions such as love and pressured the public to behave animalistic in his image. This was accomplished through extended violent and harassing treatment of the Dominican people by Trujillo, and scars Dominican culture to this day. In understanding the impact of such a traumatizing regime, culture can be as a bi-product of governing methods and an opening for new social analysis. As Diaz describes in his book, sexual prowess earns Dominican men higher social status which in turn brings them power and respect, as …show more content…
Oscar’s nerdiness and low self-esteem inhibits his sexual activity through life. When he approaches sexual prospect with romance, his hopes are unmet. For instance, his high school heartthrob, Ana, turned out to have a boyfriend. His terrible fortune led to prolonged depression and lack of purpose. He lay at the bottom of the Dominican social pyramid, and because of this he had to rely on fantasies and life dreams to find meaning. Much of his adult life involved becoming the “Dominican J. R. R. Tolkien” while he supported himself with an unfulfilling substitute teacher position. His society’s view of him destroyed his self-image, and led him down a path devoid of happiness. Although Oscar did find his way to peace, finally having sex with Ybon shortly before his murder, his life was not a story of redemption, but pity. Those close to him were devastated by his death because they knew how far he was from satisfaction. Dominican culture’s heavy pressure on sexual accomplishment removed all vocation from Oscar at an early age, proving how this social norm can debilitate any Dominican that does not

Oscar Wao Analysis

Historical Context of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao: During the ‘70s the United States of America was going through a staggering economic crisis, which in many aspects had to do with the sequence of unscrupulous politicians (Nixon, Spiro T. Agnew, Gerald R. Ford) in power. This crisis reached further out the American borders. Misery was just everywhere you looked. For instance, in 1973 when the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries proclaimed an oil embargo affecting every nation…

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Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao Analysis

femininity, or ideas of gender roles. Two novels that deal with heteronormativity immensely are The Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and The Intuitionist. In Junot Díaz novel about Oscar Wao, it brings life to the meaning of being a masculine Dominican man. In Oscar’s case it deals with gender and his sexual orientation. Yunior describes the idea heteronormativity in comparison to Oscar and states, “Had none of the Higher Powers of your typical Dominican male, couldn’t have pulled a girl if his life depended…

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Analysis Of The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao By Junot Diaz

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz contains many different themes throughout the story. The aspect I am most interested in exploring is the relationship between dictators and writers. Junot Díaz portrays that writers can dictate what they wish their readers to know, just as dictators of a country can divulge or withhold any information they wish to their citizens. Yunior, the narrator, holds the power of telling readers the life stories of the de León-Cabral family. I am also interested…

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The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao Analysis

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, was a very intriguing story. It incorporated numerous themes that certain individuals can relate to realistically. Author Junot Diaz wrote this interpretation from where he was raised. This fiction novel set up the themes of relationships, abuse, sexuality, parenthood and so forth. However, the one theme that stood out to the writer in this novel was the history of a supernatural being. To be more specific, cultural supernaturalism. Cultural supernaturalism introduced…

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The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao Character Analysis

Sometimes our past experience shapes who we are and how we treat others. An example of this Beli from the novel The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz. Beli is that type of person who doesn't take anything from anyone. she has a very strong personality and we can see this by the way she's described. Her parents is style could be described as hard and honest. She has his expectation of how she wants her kids to be and act that is just not realistic. Which resulted on her and her kids having…

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