Theme Of Sex In The Brief And Wondrous Life Of Oscar Waw

Although both novels recognize domestic violence to be culturally embedded, Kindred takes a stronger position against structural misogyny because in The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, the tone suggests a more passive viewpoint towards domestic violence.

A reoccurring them in the novel of The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is sex which is viewed as a rite of passage. Sex is extremely apparent in the book which shows the importance it has within the Dominican culture. According to the narrator Yunior, sex is tremendously engrained in the Dominican culture so much that accordingly to legend “No Dominican has died a virgin” (??). Since sex is culturally embedded into their lives, Oscar is considered an outcast compared to the more

Sex in Kindred is far from the fun pleasure of sex in the Dominican world. Due to the culture normality for relationships in the early 19th century, sex is secretive, often violent and has a negative connotation. A clear example of the violent nature of sex in Kindred, is Rufus raping Alice repeatedly and ultimately doing anything to maintain his pleasure of raping her. “I was beginning to realize that he loved that woman- to her misfortune. There was no shame in raping a black woman, but there could be shame in loving one (124 Kindred). Rufus used his status as a powerful white male to obtain Alice, however the relationship between the two of them is extremely violent, it may be love, but only physically. Rufus continues to rape and beat Alice despite her unwillingness because she as a black woman, could not have refused his offer. In addition to the violent domestic relationship between Alice and Rufus, Dana goes through a similar experience as one of the white policemen chases her off into the woods ripping off her clothes. This indicates the negative violent form of sex that was embedded in a black woman’s life in the early 19th

The downfall between both characters are developed through their relationships with the violent men. Dana puts herself in danger by involuntarily rescuing Rufus multiple times, and also by her only way of leaving is by putting herself in harm’s way. After many difficult physical encounters, she acknowledges her position as she is torn between saving Rufus, who in return harms Dana (Citation). As she struggles to maintain a normal state of mind, each time she is summoned back to Rufus’s world, she loses parts of her personality, character, and humanity which then leads her to her ultimate downfall of losing her arm. “I was nowhere near the edge of Weylin land. But just for a while, I wanted to be my own master. Before I forgot what it felt like” (221, Butler). In the Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Beli is full of light, personality and energy as a young woman, however, once her relationship with the Gangster begins to flourish, more harm is done than good. She is gossiped about throughout the community, loses her relationship with La Inca, and becomes pregnant with Gangsters baby. As did Dana, Beli lost much of her personality and love after the harsh violent attacks from Gangsters henchmen. Both of these downfalls are contributed bit by bit by the men involved. The violence shown is the main cause of their emotional and mental