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. One of the only characters that readers view in a real parental role who remains nonviolent is La Inca. Beli grew to be an authoritarian parent, but La Inca never caused her physical harm. After Beli was found with Jack Pujols in the closet, Diaz writes, “In any other family such a thing would have meant the beating of Beli to within an inch of her life, beating her straight into the hospital with no delay, and then once she was better beating her again and putting her back into the hospital, but La Inca was not that kind of parent,” (102). Beli gave La Inca …show more content…
several instances on which other parents would have inflicted physical punishment; however, La Inca, as a parent, focused more on the emotional relationship with her daughter, and wanted the relationship to be founded on respect and love rather than on fear. Also, La Inca felt bad for Beli because of the childhood that she grew up in, which is why she refrained from the violent tendencies. The era in which Beli had grown up was especially bloody and violent while placing a strong emphasis on discipline because of the dictatorship, which affected how she and the multitudes of others parents who grew up under the violent era of Trujillo raised their own children. Although Beli did not have an authoritarian parenting style from La Inca, the family that she was sold to punished her severally, causing severe burns on her back. “The father, who was not her father, splashed a pan of hot oil on her naked back. . . Not only had these savages burned the girl, the proceeded to punish her further by locking her in a chicken coop at night!” (Diaz 255, 257). La Inca did not physically punish Beli, but her adolescence had an important encounter with the violence that Trujillo was directly connected to because she was pregnant with the Gangster’s baby. “They beat her like she was a slave. Like she was a dog. Let me pass over the actual violence and repost instead on the damage inflicted: her clavicle, chicken-boned; he right humerus, a triple fracture (she would never again have much strength in that arm); five ribs, broken; left kidney, bruised; liver, bruised; right lung, collapsed; front teeth, blow out. . . Was there time for a rape of two? I suspect there was, but we shall never know because it’s not something she talked about,” (Diaz 147). Beli was only a teenager when she was beaten, which means that she was not that much older than she was when she had been saved from the other family. In the context of her life, the two violent events were very close to each other. Braza writes, “the parenting practice that most frequently predicts children’s behavioral problems is harsh discipline. . . In a family in which the mother adopts an authoritarian style, the prevailing patterns of behavior are characterized by a high level of perceived hostility, punishment, restrictiveness and intrusiveness” (2015). These violent events of her younger years dominated her memory, which in turn led to a higher inclination to use violence when dealing with the misbehavior of her own children. From a reader’s perspective, the violence that occurs by mothers, fathers, and parental figures in the novel may appear to be ghastly; however, authoritarian style of parenting is more common in families of Latin descent than that of whites, (Steinberg 132). Authoritarian parents are defined by Steinberg as, “Parents who use punitive, absolute, and forceful discipline, and who place a premium on obedience and conformity,” (130). Authoritarian parents utilize a style of parenting that elicits strict control and physical punishments on the children. This style of parenting is clearly evident in the raising of Lola. “She would hit us anywhere, in front of anyone, always free with the chanclas and the correa,” (Diaz 54). Lola mentions, on several occasions, the abuse that Beli had caused her, which are direct examples of the authoritarian parenting style. According to Guilamo-Ramos, in his study, “Mother unanimously stated that supervision and monitoring on their part, and obedience on the part of their adolescents, were instrumental to the well-being of all family members,” (2007). Beli also encouraged the supervision and obedience of her children in order to maintain the well-being of her children. Even as Lola grows older, Beli continues to exert physical dominance over her. “When I reached down to help her she clamped on to me with both hands. That was when I realized she hadn’t been crying at all. She’d been faking! Her smile was like a lion’s. Ya te tengo, she said, jumping triumphantly to her feet. Te tengo,” (Diaz 70). At this point, Beli is sick with cancer and Lola had run off. Lola escapes, but returns because she feels sympathetic for her mother. As she gets nearer, Beli feels the need to physically grab her daughter in order to be in control of her, thus showcasing the physical dominance of the authoritarian parenting style. The dominance of men over women was clearly present during the reign of Trujillo as he took advantage of his role in the government and dominated himself over a multitude of women.
“It’s a well-documented fact that in Trujillo’s DR if you were of a certain class and you put your cute daughter anywhere near El Jefe, within the week she’d be mamando his ripio like an old pro,” and Trujillo “took women away from their husbands on their wedding nights and then would brag publicly about ‘the great honeymoon’ he’d had the night before,” (Diaz 217,
225). The Trujillo reign was laced full with rape culture and the submission of women to men. Although Oscar did not grow up under Trujillo’s reign, he acts in a manner that suggests his dominance over women, even though he did not fit the Dominican male stereotype as a ladies man. Yunior gave Oscar advice to, “Stop hollering at strange girls on the street,” (Diaz 174). It is apparent, from this line, that Oscar felt it was okay to catcall random women. By doing so, Oscar was participating in actions that would have been seen as acceptable in the male-dominated world of Trujillo in the Dominican Republic. Oscar is portrayed as a very emotional character and Diaz writes him to evoke sympathy from the readers; however, his obsession and control over the females he interacts with juxtaposes the emotional and fragile image that is painted. “He went berserk. Called her a whore and attached her walls, tearing down her posters and throwing her books everywhere,” (Diaz 187). Oscar and the punk girl are not in a defined relationship, but he feels as if he has possession of her, and then reacts in an extreme manner when she is with another guy. Oscar’s violent outburst, that resulted in Yunior having to put him into a headlock to calm him down, and his catcalling showcase the dominance that Oscar feels he has over women that has rolled over from Trujillo’s reign in the Dominican Republic to America, even though he is drawn as the victim. Yunior does not catcall women or become outraged towards women; instead, he abuses them by sleeping with a multitude of other girls at the same time without their knowledge. “My girl Suriyan found out I was messing with one of hermanas,” (Diaz 175). Yunior showcases his dominance over these women by not being committed to one girl, and believing it is okay to cheat on the girls he sees. Rather than viewing these women as human beings, he is objectifying them and viewing them as a means for sex that is replaceable. Contrary to Oscar, he is not involved in his relationships emotionally at all, and is just interested in most girls for the sexual aspects—similar to that of Trujillo. The preference of a woman’s body over her mind is extremely present during Trujillo’s reign since he was having sex with a large amount of women on the island—particularly young daughters. Although from the advice that Yunior gives to Oscar sounds acceptable and better than what Oscar is currently doing, neither of these men exemplify acceptable methods when talking to and dealing with women. Due to the abuse that Beli underwent during her childhood and teenage years, there was an imprint of the impact of violence as well as the importance for respect and conformity. These violent experiences carried over into her parenting styles later in America. The objectification of women that occurred during Trujillo’s reign procured over to Oscar and Yunior’s lifestyles, even though they did not grow up in the Dominican Republic. Violent events and actions can negatively affect one, such as Beli, for the rest of his/her life, which affects the later generations as well. Trujillo’s reign, although over in the 1960s, had several violent tendencies carry on because of the lives the Dominicans had to live in order to survive his tyranny.
The rule of Rafael Trujillo directly affected Patricia Mirabal. Patricia grew up as the oldest of four girls, and she was naturally the nicest, simplest of the four girls. She married early and had kids before she turned 20. But as she grew older, her faith was restored. One day she went on a church retreat into the mountains, the same day the first invasion from Trujillo fell. The author described how it seemed as if the Earth was coming down upon the very roof of that retreat house. Explosion after explosion ripped the air. The house shook to its very foundation (Alvarez 161). During that attack, Patricia made eye contact with a young boy who couldn’t be older than her own son in the
WEESR, KHATHERINE. “Tu no Eres Nada de Dominicano”: Unnatural Narration and De-Naturalizing Gender Consruction in Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. “Journal Of Men’s Studies 22, no.2 (Spring2014 2014): 89-104. Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed November 30,
This text exhibits the events of the 1937 Parsley Massacre. Similar to Junot Diaz’s, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, this text refers back to Trujillo’s dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. Trujillo organized a genocide of Haitians who were in D.R. Danticat allows readers to experience this traumatic event through the perspective of Amabelle Desir, the main character.
Throughout the time I spent between the covers of The Prince of Los Cocuyos, I was astounded by Richard Blanco’s dynamic relationship with the novel’s sole “antagonist”: his abuela. It seemed that no matter how many times he was chagrined at her attempts to negotiate the English language, or was forced to repress his very personhood to meet her traditional standards of manhood, she never ceased to be a pillar of support for a young Richard Blanco. But beyond his grandmother, Mr. Blanco made it quite clear that he was surrounded by a pueblo of family and friends throughout his childhood and adolescence, a village that would confound his “becoming” but foster his growth, make him question his identity and yet be intricately connected to it. It
Upon returning to the Dominican Republic after many years, Yolanda decides to take a trip across the island––something her family views as ridiculous. “‘This is not the states’ . . . ‘A woman just doesn’t travel alone in this country.” (9) This quote highlights the sexism inherent in Dominican society. Yolanda’s family is asserting that women are not individuals capable of taking care of themselves. On another hand, Yolanda’s close friendship with Mundín causes tensions as their mothers confront them about crossing gender lines. “My mother disapproved. The outfit would only encourage my playing with Mundín and the boy cousins. It was high time I got over my tomboy phase and started acting like a young lady señorita. ‘But it is for girls,’ . . . ‘boys don’t wear skirts.’” (228) This is an example of how Dominican societal norms and gender roles have impacted the sisters. Yolanda and Mundín were the only boy-girl playmates out of all the García children, yet this was frowned upon by both of their parents as to not impede the seemingly inevitable growth of Yolanda’s femininity, and conversely, Mundín’s masculinity. Moreover, this shows how societally-prescribed gender roles were instilled in Yolanda at a young age. However, this is not the only way in which women’s freedoms are
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
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Juan Rubio was not feeling the same about his wife anymore, Richard and his sisters had to deal with the separation of his parents, and Consuelo no longer wanted to be submissive to her husband. After the move, Consuelo was exposed to a different lifestyle for women and how they handled certain situations in America. Her American friends often questioned her level of importance. Once she married Juan Rubio, Consuelo knew she would become “the anchor” of her husband and the house. Because of this, she is stuck in an internal battle with herself. She wants to be the support system her husband demands while living up to Mexican values, but desires to have the new freedoms American women have. Juan’s infidelity and the downfall of their marriage was the push that helped change Consuelo. Although she did not want to lose the affection of her husband and children, she did not want to fall victim of the stereotypical housewife. Consuelo was not finding joy in merely serving her family but wanted recognition for who she is as a woman. “But all such scenes did not end with laughter, for Richard’s mother was a different person altogether now, and constantly interfered when her husband was in the act of disciplining a child, and these interferences grew until they flared into violent quarrels” (Villarreal 134). At this point, Counselo shows us she has developed a voice of her own. She was acting and saying
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 his essay "Selena’s Good Buy: Texas Mexicans, History, and Selena Meet Transnational Capitalism,” Coronado (2001) argues that Selena embodies displaced desires that need to be situated in their historical content. By looking at how Texans and marketers reacted to Selena’s death, Coronado was able to show us how Selena’s death can be looked at form a psychoanalytic lens. The working class’ obsession with Selena can be seen as a fetish of sorts. A fetish is caused by trauma and can be applied socially to a irritable social construct. In other words, Selena could be a social fetish; the Latinx working class abruptly lost someone who was representing them in mainstream media, leading to the trauma. In this theory, Selena is no longer seen as a person who contributed hugely to the rise of colored people in mainstream media, but as
The main character in “Woman Hollering Creek” is Cleόfilas Enriqueta DeLeόn Hernández, a woman who leaves her home in Mexico to marry a man, Juan Pedro Martinez Sánchez, in Texas. Flowing behind Cleόfilas’ new house in Texas, is a stream named Woman Hollering. Cleόfilas imagines her marriage to be filled with joy and love. To Cleόfilas’ surprise, Juan Pedro is a vile husband that is both physically and verbally abusive. Cisneros brings attention to a recurrent issue within the Chicana community. According to The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, “The majority of abused women, (75%) of Mexican-American women reported spousal abuse”
Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, set in the late 1900’s, tells a 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 great tragedy, known as the Trujillo curse, to love atomically and thus follow a dangerous path. Beli’s family history plays a large role in her choices that eventually compel her into a different life than what her adopted mother, La Inca, had wanted
Rafael Trujillo’s rule over the Dominican Republic is considered one of the bloodiest era’s in history. Responsible for the deaths of over 30,000 people, Trujillo became infamous for his tyrannical reign. The four Mirabal sisters, Patria, Dedé, Minerva, and Maria Teresa, along with friends and family, were activists in the revolution to overthrow Trujillo. Affected by his harsh dictatorship, changes in Maria Teresa’s character are evident in Julia Alvarez’s In the Time of the Butterflies. Although Maria Teresa’s cautiousness and sensitivity remain constant during the revolution of the Trujillo Era, her consideration for others weakens.
Recently in the news paper in the York area an old distance friend of mine Travis Laughman is accused of beating his girlfriends baby Kellen Koller 2. Kellen Koller died at Hershey Medical Center. My first reaction was “I can’t believe this.” “It can’t be him!” I couldn’t come to terms to hear that an old friend of mine was a murder. Many young parents have a hard time with a crying baby. Not be able to get them to stop so frustration sets in. There are many cases where young parents are so overwhelmed and are exhausted and they just click and start to take there anger out of there babies.
de la Cruz, Juana Ines. "Hombres Necios." A Sor Juana Anthology. Ed.Alan S. Trueblood. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UP, 1988.