In addition to the struggles faced in the Dominican Republic, Beli faces similar conflicts when she moved to the United States. She met a man on the plane who eventually became her husband. Beli had two children with this man, Oscar and Lola, but then left alone by him and living in poverty, she never loved another again. The relationships that Beli had during her adolescence, as well as her young adult life, proved to be toxic. Jack Pujols used Beli for sex and played her to the point where she believed they would be together forever. After Jack, the same scenario plays out with the Gangster. She is once again teased with the promise of marriage when she becomes pregnant, but that dream becomes shattered when the Gangster 's thugs nearly kill
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Unlike Beli though, Oscar never seemed to be able to find the love that he desired. Throughout his adolescence, Oscar proved to be nothing but a giant nerd. Largely uncomfortable with himself, Oscar stayed inside, playing video games or reading comic books to pass the time. The comic books and video games also served as a break from the fantasy loves that Oscar played out in his head. The escape proved to be ineffective as his fantasies fed into his games while he pretended to be a superhero saving his loves. Described as a nerd, Oscar remains different from the other nerds who, "hadn 't cared about girls," as he was, ". . . still the the passionate enamorao who fell in love easily and deeply. He had secret loves all over town, the kind of . . . girls who wouldn 't have said boo to a loser like him. . ." (Díaz 23). Due to the fantasies of being with women who would never even think of a guy like Oscar, he remained deeply stuck inside his own mind, which did not allow him to approach women in real life. Feeling despair all throughout his adolescence, Oscar became hopeless about ever finding …show more content…
Driving the passed out Ybón back to her house, police stopped Oscar in Ybón 's car. Oscar was being followed by the captain and his men, and when they stopped Oscar, Ybón woke up and explained that she wanted a kiss. For the first time in his life, a woman had granted Oscar a kiss. The captain watched the scene unfold, and orders two other officers to take Oscar to the sugar cane fields. Here, like Beli many years prior, the thugs beat Oscar until near death. Oscar knew from what Ybón had told him about the captain that he was a dangerous, jealous man, but his love for Ybón blinded him. His burning desire to find love nearly cost him his life. Nevertheless, Oscar made escaped the cane field barely alive, following the same scenario of his mother 's near death experience in the same cane fields. After the experience, Beli forced Oscar to return to home in the United States. Despite almost being beaten to death, the first thing that Oscar told Yunior was, "I kissed a girl, Yunior. I finally kissed a girl" (Díaz 305). Although nearly being killed for having that one kiss with Ybón, nothing else mattered to Oscar but the fact that he did in fact kiss
Unlike Beli though, Oscar never seemed to be able to find the love that he desired. Throughout his adolescence, Oscar proved to be nothing but a giant nerd. Largely uncomfortable with himself, Oscar stayed inside, playing video games or reading comic books to pass the time. The comic books and video games also served as a break from the fantasy loves that Oscar played out in his head. The escape proved to be ineffective as his fantasies fed into his games while he pretended to be a superhero saving his loves. Described as a nerd, Oscar remains different from the other nerds who, "hadn 't cared about girls," as he was, ". . . still the the passionate enamorao who fell in love easily and deeply. He had secret loves all over town, the kind of . . . girls who wouldn 't have said boo to a loser like him. . ." (Díaz 23). Due to the fantasies of being with women who would never even think of a guy like Oscar, he remained deeply stuck inside his own mind, which did not allow him to approach women in real life. Feeling despair all throughout his adolescence, Oscar became hopeless about ever finding …show more content…
Driving the passed out Ybón back to her house, police stopped Oscar in Ybón 's car. Oscar was being followed by the captain and his men, and when they stopped Oscar, Ybón woke up and explained that she wanted a kiss. For the first time in his life, a woman had granted Oscar a kiss. The captain watched the scene unfold, and orders two other officers to take Oscar to the sugar cane fields. Here, like Beli many years prior, the thugs beat Oscar until near death. Oscar knew from what Ybón had told him about the captain that he was a dangerous, jealous man, but his love for Ybón blinded him. His burning desire to find love nearly cost him his life. Nevertheless, Oscar made escaped the cane field barely alive, following the same scenario of his mother 's near death experience in the same cane fields. After the experience, Beli forced Oscar to return to home in the United States. Despite almost being beaten to death, the first thing that Oscar told Yunior was, "I kissed a girl, Yunior. I finally kissed a girl" (Díaz 305). Although nearly being killed for having that one kiss with Ybón, nothing else mattered to Oscar but the fact that he did in fact kiss