Junot Díaz

In Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao we get a greater glimpse into the politics of phenotypes and authenticity in Dominican culture. More specifically in its relationship to blackness. In Irene Lopez, a Puerto Rican clinical psychologist’s essay, Puerto Rican Phenotype: Understanding Its Historical Underpinnings and Psychological Associations, she posits that, “Puerto Ricans who consider being “Indian” more beautiful, or more authentic, than being Black and, thus, often prefer to…

The kind of love the women try to exemplify in Caramelo is Mexican love. Mexican love to them is all about loyalty and looking the part of a good wife in the public eye. The way Cisneros describes it is as follows: “she suffered the way only Mexican women can suffer, because she loved the way Mexicans love” (185). This quote is about Narciso and Soledad, and Soledad is suffering because she is staying with Narciso even though she is suspicious he has been cheating, which we, the readers know he…

The formation of social constructions through the dismal synthesis of race and color is defined by the ever-changing social hierarchy and the fixed behavior performed by distinct races. Because the notion of race acts upon a color continuum, there are set categories that are built from the complete subjection of blacks upwards to the dominance of whites. Within this continuum lie definite subcategories of ‘black’ and ‘white’. The paradox of the permanent yet ephemeral idea of race and color is…

forced to assimilate to American culture. Mona’s friends, Barbara Gugelstein, helps her navigate through American culture; however, Mona’s parents help her hold on to her own culture. On the other hand, Ramón de las Casas, or Papi, in Negocios, by Junot Díaz, comes to America by himself, struggling to look for a stable home and job, having no one to look up to. Ramón and Mona have different situations in the United States as Mona is a first-generation American while Ramón has just finished…

The theme of gender roles has a major effect on the way a book is written. This theme is shared with the two books “The Complete Persepolis” by Marjane Satrapi and “The Brief, Wondrous life of Oscar Wao” by Junot Díaz. The first difference the reader can see is that, although sharing the same theme, have a very different view on what it means to be masculine or feminine, due to different cultural lifestyles. Secondly, the characters of the stories must then change the way they grew up or believe…

by Professor X (short for Xavier, who is the leader of the Marvel’s group of mutants known as the X-Men) from the movie X2: X-Men United, Charles Xavier is referencing the struggle between the mutant race and the majority of society. Oscar Wao, in Junot Diaz’s novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, is often times compared to the mutants in Stan…

Guarantee of Function Not Included Inspiring fearful sentiments instead of respectful actions and behavior, results in the obscure complications between parents and their children, leaving lugubrious feelings as heritage. Junot Diaz’s “Fiesta 1980,” Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome, and Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl” are exemplary texts to display the resentment the people from them had toward their parents from early stages of their lives. These literary pieces also remark negative incidents children…

In America everyone wants to succeed, but it's not possible for everyone not even half to succeed in this competitive and harsh country. In stories like "The Pura Principle" by Junot Diaz, "Little Things are Big" by Jesus Colon and poem such as "Immigrants in our own land" by Jimmy Baca it show the negativity of succeeding on the United States. America and the struggle to succeed make people worse because all the struggle lead people to lose their cultural values, personal principles and even…

Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao vividly articulates the roles of sex and gender relating to the Cabral-de León family and their plight within a context of Dominican culture promoting machismo and sexism. Led by Yunior, a man centered around womanizing and also of close relation to the family, the narration entails a lively description of the accounts of the Cabral-de León family while demonstrating the effects that machismo has on society. The novel mainly circles around the…

Through the perspective of sexism in the book, “Beginning Theory” by Peter Barry, Junot Diaz tries to interpret in his two stories, “The Sun, Moon and Stars,” and, “Alma” that the reason men cheat on women in relationships is because men believe women are their personal toys, so they can do whatever they want, but they need to understand…