Analysis Of The Brief And Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao Essay

The Fierce and Fascinating Lives of Lola and Beli It’s no surprise that the majority of the literary criticisms involving Junot Diaz’s The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao point out the long lasting scars of Rafael Trujillo’s regime as they surface throughout the novel. Many authors believe that the real fuku, or curse, that Trujillo cast on the Dominican Republic wasn’t just that of a corrupt government, but of an intense patriarchy that held men to unrealistic standards. For instance, Dixa Ramírez writes in her article in Atlantic Studies, “Not only does Oscar Wao ruminate on the transnational and trans-generational reach of Trujillo’s political terror, but also on the nation’s longer love affair with a swashbuckling masculinity to which Trujillo subscribed” (Ramírez 394). She goes on to say, “Trujillo’s countless (often coerced) mistresses, attention to immaculately pressed and tailored garments, displays of military medals, and sustained self-promotion as the nation’s paterfamilias [father figure] exemplified an unparalleled commitment to the idea of the tiguere [playboy] (Ramírez 395). Needless to say, critics will proceed to discuss how these expectations affected both Oscar and Yunior. “Oscar, who quickly loses his appeal with girls and finds himself unable to get a date, feels himself to be a misfit. He becomes suicidal, internalizing his companions’ definitions of masculinity as virility and questioning his own self-worth when he fails to measure up. Yunior…