Theme Of Spanish In The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao

In addition to this, Diaz's liberal use of Spanish throughout both texts serves as the primary method of alienation between both society and the protagonists, as well as between the reader and the characters. In “Oscar Wao” this is compounded by the use of “nerd speak”- constant references to comics and science fiction. Even the title of the book: “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” is taken from a line in an issue of the comic “Fantastic Four”: “Of what import are brief, nameless lives...to Galactus.” The reader who is not familiar with the marvel universe would not know that Galactus is the devourer of worlds, and that they, in a sense as readers act as Galactus; consuming Oscar's small world, then moving onto the next book. These again serve to alienate both the characters within the book and readers who are not familiar with the obscure references, solidifying his image as an isolated “loser with a capital L” in the minds of the characters and readers. …show more content…
Spanish is used by Diaz to express anything from the extremities of emotion, to everyday colloquialisms. Furthermore, Spanish is essential to how the characters relate to one another, for example in both texts; the protagonists address their parents as “mami” and “papi”. This is not only a mark of respect for their parents, but also symbolic of how Spanish ties the characters to each other and their roots in the Dominican