Analysis: Fuku Or Carless Planning

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Jean dubois
Kuwabara
English 1A
April 29, 2014
Essay #5 first draft
Fuku or Carless Planning
Abelard Luis Cabral is the patriarch of the Cabral family, grandfather of Oscar de León. He is a strong male figure that is respected by his peers and the community of Santo Domingo. An affluent surgeon with a thriving practice in Santo Domingo. He is a product of privilege sailing thorough life with little worries of any kind. He marries a beautiful woman, has two talented children and several mistresses. Abelard is the male archetype that all Dominican males aspire to become. He is well educated and fluent in many languages. One heartfelt, but poorly planned decision creates an all too common crisis for Abelard. This crisis would strip Abelard of his wealth, masculinity, freedom and eventually his life. This poorly planned decision was rooted in the maturation of Abelard’s eldest daughter which would lead to her objectification and possible victimization. Abelard and his family experience serves to encapsulate the brutality of Trujillo’s thirty year reign of terror. Furthermore, Abelard is believed to have been the victim of a Fuku placed on him by Trujillo, after refusing to attend an Independence Day party with his mature daughter. Abelard waits for the inevitable newspaper article condemning him or a letter demanding he meet with Trujillo. Was it really a Fuku or a series of poor decision making while under enormous stress. This Fuku or poor decision making was passed on down the family line, culminating in a Santo Domingo sugarcane field. Abelard is a model of what Oscar would have become if not for the series of unfortunate incidents that plagued the Cabral family.
Abelard was an intelligent, affluent and a gifted su...

... middle of paper ...

.... Trujillo had opposing party members killed and blamed the deaths on the hurricane. These bodies were transported in the trucks of cars. This is what Abelard was referring to in his joke. Was this Trujillo’s Fuku whispering in his ear or just impaired judgment from heavily drinking the past year?
The secret police pick him up and treated him rather nicely. Once they arrive at Fortaleza San Luis thing change dramatically. Yunior insinuates that he will be tortured for the next nine years. They take all his belongings and punch him in the face for asking questions. He is then thrown into a cell as the policeman tells the other prisoner Abelard is a homosexual and communist. The other prisoners take all his cloths and leave him naked and restricted to a small area near the feces covered toilet. This is a further insult to him as a man in Dominican culture.

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