Oscar Wao Themes

“Men are not indispensable. But Trujillo is irreplaceable. For Trujillo is not a man. His is…a cosmic force…Those who try to compare him to his ordinary contemporaries are mistaken. He belongs to…the category of those born to a special destiny“(5,204).The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a dictatorial novel that demonstrates the effects of the famous dictator, Trujillo. Readers enter into the frightening life of a Dominican family through the darkest areas of a country under dictatorial control of Trujillo. Our narrator even blames John F. Kennedy's assassination on Trujillo. The latter was raping women such as his comrades' wives and their daughters and this sense of violent is considered a masculine definition throughout the novel ; while

it works as a person under a dictatorship to comply to the norms applied, it does not work for Oscar de Leon, who is one of the main characters of the story not under a dictatorship, yet still has to comply to the presence or even absence of the dictator. Oscar de Leon is a 245 pounds young guy, has no ear for music, can hardly dance, loves comic books and fantasy novels. As Yunior (the author) says: Dude wore his nerdiness like a Jedi wore his light saber or a Lensman her lens. Couldn't have passed for Normal if he'd wanted to. (2,21) There is a struggle between the American Identity and the Dominican identity that is personified in Oscar life. Oscar believes that ”fuku” which is a curse passing down through several generations for his family.
Fuku hovers over the entire novel.

Oscar blames fuku for his inability to find true love; although at the end the letter shows us how fuku was overtaken by the power of love. The famous fuku was brought over to the islands of Antilles when the Europeans came, and has stayed ever since. The only known way to counteract a fukú is to use the term “zafa” to ward off the curse. A zafa is something like a good luck charm or a powerful counterspell against evil. Characters lives are overflowing with injustices, violence and love. Sex, masculinity, female sexuality are major themes in the story. Some examples of fuku in the story of the family of Oscar are his struggles to lose his virginity, to lose weight, constant fighting between Beli and Lola(mother and daughter), Beli's bad luck with guy and dating, and Oscar and Beli being near death…One perfect example of the zafa is the mongoose which saves Oscar twice and Beli once; it acts as a sort of guardian angel. "This time Oscar didnt cry when they drove him back to the cane fields. Zafa would be here soon, and the cane had grown well and thick and in places you could hear the stalks clacking against each other like triffids and you could hear kriyol voices lost in the night" (8,320).This quote demonstrates us that now he believed that the mongoose being the zafa will save him with the help of Cliggs, the

taxidriver.
Beli is a strict mother that raises her children Oscar and Beli through the same steely way that she was raised and expects the same from them. She has passed through several hard tests throughout her life, battling cancer and working two jobs. She was so strict that Beli quitted her at a young age. Then, she is raised by La Inca which is their abuela(grandmother) but in reality is their great-aunt. The latter wanted Lola to study hard in school but Lola rules at DE LEON restaurant. She snaps at Lola but doesn’t beat her and prays for her with perfect conviction. The relationship between Yunior and Lola is pure love but Yunior's repeated infidelity, and his inability to accept that doesn’t make their relationship work. As per the author who identifies himself in the fourth paragraph in order to build tension, a typical Dominican man is somebody having multiple sexual partners and is violent toward those partners. He's also tangled up with the main characters although being a stranger.Oscar, on the other side is completely lost in Ybon and willing to do anything for her, even getting himself killed. Ybon is a prostitute who find it difficult to accept Oscar's love, and she does minimum but at the same time, she is attracted to love and adoration that he offers. Even that he got what he wanted, it's this love that leads to his death. Oscar shows the kind of faithfulness to Ybon that Yunior is not able to offer Lola. DR Abelard has a mistress, is very wealthy and brilliant man who never wanted trouble and for a long while, goes along with Trujillo's wishes till Trujillo goes after his own daughter.
In this novel, there is the aspect of past and present as both Belicia and Lola childhood are explained.

Both are portrayed as sexually desirable in the novel; their sexuality is a form of power for them. For Belicia, the power is emphasized by her immense breasts. She realized she could control men with her sexuality. Lola’s legs and hips are the source of her power. :She can reportedly stop traffic when she wears shorts: Lola recognizes her power and uses it for seeking to escape. Love, being the driving force throughout the novel and violence are two big themes. Oscar relishes the beauty of love despite all of the violence. He experiences it when he loves Ybón, and Abelard experiences it when he protects his daughter. Lola has a different experience of love and violence. One example when her mother fakes and cry and then says to Lola "Ya te tengo [I have you now]"(2,70).This action shows cunningest from Belicia and emotions from Lola. The method of parenting can also be considered as both good and bad. If Belicia didn’t treat her daughter like that, she could have become a lazy, good for nothing woman but the steely way that she was brought up made her become more than a man. La Inca repeatedly reminds Beli of her illustrious family history: "Remember, your father was a doctor, a doctor, and your mother was a nurse, a nurse". Faith also plays a great part in the novel; the way that she prays for Lola is worth mentioning in chapter (3,152).The implantation of Spanish

language help the readers connect more with the characters, it keeps the story more realistic and keeps the story original.
The novel, The Brief Wondrous LIfe of Oscar Wao, written by Junot Diaz, plays around the character's beliefs of the idea that their lives are completely controlled by the Fuku curse. Oscar is the character that undergoes the most number of conflicts of Fuku and Zafa. The characters believe Trujillo is the stem of the curse; however, without the curse, all events would be different. For example, if Oscar had died when he tried to commit suicide, he would never lose his virginity. Despite all of the suffering, Díaz confirms that love won over hatred via the letter. Oscar finally gained the "little intimacies" of life. Overall, the characters allow Fuku to control their lives, but as long as Fuku is present, so is Zafa ( mongoose who La Inca describes as God).