Junot Díaz

In his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz tells a story of a young Dominican male named Oscar de Léon who grows up in New Jersey. He’s given the name, Oscar Wao, by one of the narrators in the novel; more so out of love rather than hate. He’s from a family of immigrants who seem to have been cursed by this curse called the “fukú”. This curse is possibly the cause of every bad encounter Oscar has in his life. Oscar deals with many internal conflicts as well as external…

Oscar back is what he believes is the fukú. The fukú is a curse put on a family for many, many generations. Oscar believes his lack of success in the love department is due to the fukú placed on his family. Thought out Junot Díaz’s novel, “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao”, Díaz, allows the reader to follow the lives of people involved…

Masculinity in Things Fall Apart and How to Date a Browngirl In both Junot Diaz’s How to Date a Browngirl and Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, there is a large focus on the importance of masculinity in both societies as well as the contribution of masculinity to one's identity. In Things Fall Apart there is a clear blatant division among the roles of women and men which is an idea that Okonkwo stands by firmly. In Junot Diaz’s How to Date a Browngirl… he is trying to prove to himself that he…

There is no such thing as a happy ending. The first and simplest reason being there is no such thing as an ending, as Junot Diaz reminds us with The Watchmen’s Dr. Manhattan’s wise words in The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, “In the end? Nothing ends, Adrian. Nothing ever ends (Moore).” The second reason being happiness is not a destination no matter how badly we wish it was. Happiness will always be fleeting, and suffering will always feel like home. The third reason is that stories of…

have pulled a girl if his life depended on it. Couldn't play sports for shit, or dominoes, was beyond uncoordinated, threw a ball like a girl. Had no knack for music or business or dance, no hustle, no rap, no G. And most damning of all: no looks” (Diaz, 19). These characteristics constrain Oscar to an inferior class than the rest of society – a group he goes his entire life trying to escape. Yunior, on the other hand, is affected by these gender norms in that he feels the need to constantly…

Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie,” Junot Díaz tries to inform the reader about how to date different girls who don't come from the same background. The title of the story gives the impression that it's an instruction guide but further into the reading the story it's the complete opposite. Díaz tells about a teenage boy living in an urban area and his struggles, trying to hide his cultural upbringing to “white girls” and “halfies” to have a chance with them. Díaz tells the reader about his…

There a couple of key aspects you should keep in mind when reading fiction to interpret the full meaning of the work. One of these elements is the internal and external journeys that are present in most stories. An external journey is something a character does that can be observed, such as a boy throws a tantrum when he gets mad, and an internal journey is what a person thinks and feels inside that is difficult to notice just by looking at the person, such as a teenager who is bitter over the…

academic text “in which there is a separation between the content and the historical data that inform it,” but the footnotes in this novel instead provide an insight into the Dominican History that non-Hispanic readers may not have access to. Yunoir, and Díaz by extent, create a collapse “between [the] historiographical and fictional registers by inextricably blending the two” (Mahler 120). The footnotes are not written in the normal disjointed way…

Having an intense feeling of deep affection towards a partner, defines love. Though, that love will soon become nothing but memories. This Is How You lose Her by Junot Diaz and The Lovers Dictionary by David Levithan are both novels where the narrator has a love and hate relationship with their partner. Yunior and Leviathans narrator in the novels, agree and disagree with their perspective in relationships. Both agree relationships do hit tough times, with the narrators putting in the most…

whether you see it in books, tv shows, movies, and telenovelas. Junot Díaz’s book, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, tends to show us how a man is suppose to act to show masculinity and how women are suppose to act to it. Díaz portrays this in characters such as Yunior, Oscar, The Gangster, Lola, Belicia, and Ana. These characters portray their roles in gender of how they are suppose to be. In the book the some of the female characters Díaz introduces us to is Lola, Belicia, and Ana. They…