According to James Baldwin, language connects one to or divorces one from society (454). It causes the desire to be accepted by both the private world and the public world. However, acceptance cannot be achieved when both private identity and public identity are displayed at the same time. The previous statement results in complete isolation by neither displaying one’s private identity nor conforming to public identity. Another consequence of that statement is ultimate conformity by suppressing one’s private identity and true self. In the case of the protagonist in “Londonstani” by Gautam Malkani and Oscar in “A Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Díaz, their language—verbal and behavioral—reveals their isolation and conformity within their communities.
Oscar de León, the protagonist in “A Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao”, is isolated from his community because of his behavior that he neither proudly displays nor changes to meet society’s wants. Oscar comes from a very influential Dominican family. In his community, Dominican men are typically smooth talking, naturally social, and “woman-crazy” men. They rarely encounter a problem having to do with women or fitting in. Oscar, however, does not fit the generalization for Dominican men. He is more intellectually active than physically or sexually active. He stays in his room watching “Doctor who”—his favorite science fiction show— and writing journal entries as opposed to chasing girls. He does not suppress his actions and neither does he change them. In his community, such behavior constitutes him as an anomaly to Dominican behavior and isolates him from those who follow the typical Dominican standard.
Oscar further shows his isolation through his be...
... middle of paper ...
...goes to say that each language will very well have their own public identity which will be considered a private identity to anyone who does not speak the language. When choosing to have private identity, one must realize that the public will rarely accept it. Thus, one must be willing to accept the cost of choosing such a lifestyle—isolation. Likewise, when choosing public identity, one must give up who they truly are in order to fully conform to what the public expects. As seen through the lives of Oscar and Jas, private identity and public identity will never coexist.
Works Cited
Díaz, Junot. "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao." Rotten English: a literary anthology. By Dohra Ahmad. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2007.
Malkani, Gautam. Londonstani. Rotten English: a literary anthology. By Dohra Ahmad New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2007.
Díaz, Junot, 1968-. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. New York: Riverhead Books, 2007. Print.
The relationships between mothers and daughters is a topic that authors often call upon to tell a story. It is an important part of every culture, which makes the topic relatable to any reader who picks the book up. Junot Diaz understood the universality of mother/daughter relationships and incorporated it in his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Although the book is mainly about Oscar, an overweight Dominican boy from New Jersey and his quest for love, the book also spends a lot of time exploring the relationships between Oscar’s sister Lola and their mother Beli and Beli’s relationship with her mother figure La Inca. Junot Diaz does not write mother/daughter relationships in an honest way and focuses on the conflict in the relationships
In 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 interest from girls. This phase persists throughout his life and he never develops out of the nerdy boy he was as a child. The Dominican Republic was a hostile and poor place during the time of the novel. The dictator Trujillo controls the lives of the people in the country. This influenced the de Leon family’s present and future. Diaz develops the story by using the superstition, the cane field, and male dominance of the Dominican men
Love 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 make. 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, can be very dangerous. As others commonly have, Oscar confuses passion or lust with love, which in many ways can be critical when conveyed in violence.
There are two forms of languages; public and private. The "private" language only spoken with family and close intimate relationships. The "public" language used in society, work, and school. Both of these help form two identities, that help us connect and communicate with one another. In the essay “Mother Tongue” by Amy Tan and also in the article “Speech Communities” by Paul Roberts ,we will see how both private and public language demonstrate how we view, and grow from each language.
Junot Diaz’s novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is focused on the hyper-masculine culture of the Dominican, and many argue that his portrayal of the slew of women in the novel is misogynistic because they are often silenced by the plot and kept out of the narration (Matsui). However, Diaz crafts strong women, and it is society that views them as objects. The novel recognizes the masculine lens of the culture while still examining the lives of resilient women. In this way, the novel showcases a feminist stance and critiques the misogynist culture it is set in by showcasing the strength and depth of these women that help to shape the narrative while acknowledging that it is the limits society places on them because of their sexuality
In The Brief Wondrous life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz tells the story of Oscar Wao and his Dominican Family. The Dominican Republic(DR) in the 1930 to 1961 was run by Rafael Trujillo, a powerful dictator. Trujillos rule was considered one of the bloodiest eras in the Americas. His rule of the country was completely corrupt. Trujillos people would kill anyone with a foot out of line; his government had no rules. The country was run and dominated by men. The dictatorship created misogynistic, power hungry, violent licentious men. The setting of Trujillo dictatorship was destructive to the men in the Dominican Republic and encourage masculine dominated attitudes.
In the essay Public and Private language, Richard Rodriguez conveys how the English language changed his life and his relationships with others especially his family.
When reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, written by Junot Diaz, the constant element of violence and its impact on the characters is impossible to overlook. As Diaz writes, he explains that a portion of the novel takes place in the Dominican Republic under Rafael Trujillo’s dictatorship, and how the violence that is seen in the other parts of the novel, which take place at a different time, can be viewed as a lingering effect of the mass amount of violence that procured during his reign. Although majority of the novel takes place in America and many years after Trujillo’s dictatorship, the effects of violence that were orchestrated throughout his reign continued to affect those of Dominican descent, which is depicted through the mother-daughter relationship of Beli and Lola and the sexual assertiveness of the male characters, such as Oscar and Yunior.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao focuses on gender and the role gender has on the characters lives. The characters of this book are also one way or another impacted by the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. The major themes of this book were topics we have focused in class. The themes of machismo and the effects of Rafael Trujillo affected the latino population even in the United States.
Language is truly part of our identity: our languages shape who we are. That is why we always have to be tolerant and comprehensive with others’ accents, typical phrases, or grammatical errors. Writers that really make an impact when referring to language and identity are Gloria Anzaldua and Amy Tan, with their readings “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” and “Mother Tongue” respectively. These two writers, with completely different backgrounds, shared their views about how language and identity are intertwined.
Jokinen, Anniina. "Luminarium: Anthology of English Literature." Luminarium: Anthology of English Literature. N.p., 1996. Web. 9 Nov. 2013. http://www.luminarium.org/
In the essay “Mother Tongue” Amy Tan, the author, gives a different, a more upbeat outlook on the various forms of English that immigrants speak as they adapt to the American culture. Using simple language to develop her argument, she casually communicates to the audience rather than informing which helps the audience understand what is being presented at ease. Her mother plays an important role in her outlook of language, because she helps her realize that language not only allows one to be a part of a culture but create one’s identity in society. Amy Tan shares her real life stories about cultural racism and the struggle to survive in America as an immigrant without showing any emotions, which is a wonderful epiphany for the audience in realizing
Resistance Throughout The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, set in the late 1900’s, tells the story of Oscar Wao, an overweight Dominican “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 a great tragedy, known as the Trujillo curse, to love atomically and thus follow a dangerous path.
Hannan, J. (2008, March-April). The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. World Literature Today, pp. 65-66.