Does love come at a cost? What is the price of love? One of the themes in the novel “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” is love, and so the storyline of this book raises these and other questions. Love is a rather complex emotion, and both real and fictional people can enjoy it and suffer through it. This novel is no different, and it explores all realms of this emotion and the impact that it has. Because the narrative is set in the Dominican Republic, this also demonstrates how devotion and passion is in this country. In this novel, love is not present without violence and this shapes many of the characters and their lives.
Often, the cost of love may be higher than the rewards. The main character, Oscar experiences this multiple times
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throughout this novel. Ana, the first person that he falls in love with, breaks his heart. He meets her at a SAT prep class, and everyone points to the fact that she is the perfect girl for him. They develop a close friendship, and both of them are able to open up to the other which is a first for both. Oscar soon learns, however, that Ana’s previous boyfriend was abusive towards her. This is one of the first major incidents in the book where love and violence begin to connect. Ana’s boyfriend, Manny, returns from the army and was not happy that Oscar was hanging out with his ex-girlfriend. Then they begin to date again which drives Oscar crazy because not only is he is love with Ana, but Manny is also beating her up again. Here is where the cost of love reaches too high for Oscar, and he plans to shoot Manny. However, his sister, Lola, manages to talk him out of it. The final scene of this love and violence circle occurs when Oscar tells Ana that he is in love with her, and she brushes him off telling him that she already has a boyfriend. It is ironic that Ana follows the love that comes with violence when she could have love that is truer. Furthermore, Oscar gets run over because he is not the typical powerful Dominican male. He loves but the cost of this love for him is very high, as he has to suffer being rejected as well as see someone he cares very deeply for get hurt mentally and physically. Were the rewards higher than the costs? In addition, love may require sacrifice, especially when connected to violence.
Later on in this novel, Oscar meets another woman who greatly impacts his life. Her name is Ybon, and she is a middle-aged prostitute. Yet again, Oscar becomes friends with her and he opens himself up to her. Surprisingly she does the same as Oscar notes that she does not open up very often or to very many. They become very close, almost to the point that they are dating, and Oscar finds himself in love with her. But then, she reveals that she has a boyfriend, who is a police captain, referred to as the Capitan. Warning signs show up to Oscar, but he pays no attention to them because he is so in love. Violence shows up soon after when the Capitan’s cronies beat Oscar to within an inch to his life. He is unconscious for three days after this, but once he awakens he immediately thinks of Ybon. After he recovers, he travels back to Santa Domingo to try to find her. He succeeds and then learns that the Capitan has been beating Ybon and has threatened to kill her if she has any contact with Oscar again. Following his nature, Oscar does not give up on his love and follows Ybon around. She desperately tries to get him to go away, but she appears to be at least partly in love with him also. However, the Capitan catches sight of him and sends his thugs after Oscar one last time. This time they give him a beating that takes his life. So Oscar finds love, but it ultimately ends with it taking his life …show more content…
because of the violence. He is blindly following his love without paying attention to the consequences, and this is where he gets tripped up. If he had kept a level head and kept watch to what was happening, he would probably not have died. This shows how when love takes over someone, they may not care about anything else, letting violence or abuse occur. The interconnection of love and violence in this novel shows a theme for Dominican masculinity.
Except for Oscar, every male from the Dominican Republic in this novel do not give love without being abusive. In addition, males were not considered men unless they had slept with at least one woman. The more women that they conquered the more manly they were considered. This is shown when Oscar’s uncle, upon finding out that Oscar had a girl friend, was “thrilled that he no longer had a pajaro for a nephew” and pronounced that Oscar was “finally a man” (Diaz 287). He was under the assumption that Oscar had slept with Ybon even though he really had not. Oscar faces difficulties because he has not had sex with multiple girls so his fellow countrymen do not consider him to be a true Dominican. Building upon this principle, the Dominican men have the pressure to conquer many women so this leads to many of them being abusive and taking advantage of the women. This is a very accepted form of Dominican masculinity, so love and violence are very often tied
together. In conclusion, this novel presents many themes and shows several truths about the Dominican way of life. Oscar’s life illustrates the connection between love and violence, and how they can affect one’s life. He is hurt and ultimately ends up dead due to the aggression that accompanies his love. These women that he love also end up abused as a result of their loving someone. This tie between these two extremes connects to the ideal of Dominican masculinity. One can learn from this novel that love may not be what it appears to be, and that by following the crowd, one can end up doing the wrong thing. Love is a powerful force, and if used incorrectly can be a devastating weapon.
Junot Diaz's Drown, a compilation of short stories, exemplifies how the high standard of masculinity within the Latino community can have a detrimental effect on males. These stories are told in the first person by a narrator called Yunior. The different stories are told against the background of The Dominican Republic and the United States. The narrator highlights the different challenges that he faces throughout his childhood and into his young adult life. During this period, he struggles to find his identity which is expected by every Latino. In the Dominican Republic, a man’s manhood is closely tied to his identity, and Yunior is no exception. While in the process of finding his identity, Yunior is challenged with abuse, poverty and the lure of drugs, which leads to his addiction and his becoming violent .…
Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao it shows us the Daily life of a Dominican American family and the wonderful ability of people to persevere and fight for a happy life. Oscar is an overweight guy who is trying to find the love of his life, and from a young age is hard for him to find love. Without growing with a father figure, he lacks a lot of those basic “Don Juan” skills that every Dominican guy has. Oscar’s biggest fear is that he will die a virgin. After trying to commit suicide two times Oscar moves to the Dominican Republic and falls in love with Ybon. After seeing each other several times Ybon’s
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
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 The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao family is a strong aspect that influences the characters decisions and actions. Oscar is the main character who majority of the book follows through his short life. His sister is Lola, who parts of the book also follow in order to gain access into their family story. Beli is his mother, who is a feared and respected woman in their community. The narrator and boyfriend of Lola is Yunior. He meets Oscar in college and lives with him. La Inca is Beli’s mother, she adopted Beli at the age of nine and raised her as her own. The Gangster is a man Beli meets and falls in love with at an early age. He causes trouble in her life from her family and his own family that he never said he had.
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.
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
At the beginning of the story, the protagonist, Cleofilas, had an illusion that all romances are like the ones she has seen on television. However, she soon realizes that her relationship with Juan Pedro was nothing like what she had dreamed it would be. Cisneros wants to emphasize the idea that when men bring home the primary source of income in the family, they feel they have power over their wives. Cisneros uses Juan Pedro in the story to portray this idea. For instance, Cleofilas often tells herself that if she had any brains in her, she would realize that Juan Pedro wakes up before the rooster to earn his living to pay for the food in her belly and a roof over her head (Cisneros, 1991, p.249). Cisneros wants to make a point that when men feel that they have power over their wives, women begin to feel a sense of low self-worth.
Without the force of love, conflict would cease to exist in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Love specifically seems to be the foundation for misfortune to occur because of how obsessed characters become with reaching for what they cannot have. Unfortunately, love or even lust at times seems to drive the plot and lead to action, most of which are disastrous. It all began with Abelard when he tried to save his daughter Jacquelyn from the wrath of Trujillo and ended up dying anyway. The theme of calamity continues nearly fifteen years later when Belicia throws away family and friends over a man. The man she loved, The Gangster, turned out to be married into the almighty Trujillo family and well, that doesn’t end so well for Beli since she
Yunior struggles with personal acceptance, due to his father not completely accepting him. Papi struggles with being the head of a lower class family. Both of their personal conflicts with themselves and their conflicts with each other set the theme of “Fiesta, 1980.” Junot Diaz depicted a scenario a plethora of individuals know all too well. Both Yunior and Papi love each other, both have strange ways of showing it. The conflict of Man vs. man within this story shows that no matter the age, an internal struggle can greatly affect the people around you.
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
Love is powerful and could change a person’s personality. In “The Book of Unknown Americans”, the author Christina Hernriquez tells us the definition of love. It is a book combined with different stories but each story is connected to others. It talks about the immigrants that moved to America with lots of hope, but didn’t end up with a happy ending. The story is about love, hope and guilt and different kinds of emotional feeling. In the book, Mayor has an internal change because of Maribel, and the power of love. He wants to be a strong man who can protect Maribel. He used to be someone who couldn’t defend himself and he changed because of Maribel.
The physical abuse between Ana and her boyfriend, Manny, enforce the acceptance of physical violence and misogyny in the Dominican world. As an outcast to the Dominican culture, Oscar stands up for Ana which emphasizes the normalcy of abusive relationships. However, as Oscar stands up for Ana he starts to become violent, which enforces the Dominican machismo. Even though Oscar has good intentions against the violence and misogyny, he embodies his Dominican culture by acting violently, which implies the culturally embedded machismo cycle of misogyny and violence. Another violent male character is the Gangster, who by his name creates a violent opinion of him. His relationship with Beli incites his Another act of male violence is developed through the relationship between the Gangster and Beli. First off, the character is named Gangster which automatically creates a violent appeal towards him. Gangster worked for Trujillo, the Dominican dictator, and eventually caused violent harm to Beli, despite their relationship. This further develops the machismo violence in the Dominican culture. The Dominican men and the white slave owners are fulfilling their societal norms, which suggest that the view of men in these cultures are as violent, powerful
The Lais of Marie de France is a compilation of short stories that delineate situations where love is just. Love is presented as a complex emotion and is portrayed as positive, while at other times, it is portrayed as negative. The author varies on whether or not love is favorable as is expressed by the outcomes of the characters in the story, such as lovers dying or being banished from the city. To demonstrate, the author weaves stories that exhibit binaries of love. Two distinct types of love are described: selfish and selfless. Love is selfish when a person leaves their current partner for another due to covetous reasons. Contrarily, selfless love occurs when a lover leaves to be in a superior relationship. The stark contrast between the types of love can be analyzed to derive a universal truth about love.
The two ends of this spectrum of love is accurately depicted by Antonio and Orsino. Love is a crucial part of one’s daily life and the way in which one expresses his/her love -whether it be sincere or for self-gain-, really contributes to how and if one will receive love in return.