The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Marginalization in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Time and time again people see how marginalization of a group can create psychological and emotional problems such as anxiety, fear, and depression. In The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz explores these specific issues through the brief life of Oscar de Leon and his family. The repeated marginalization of Oscar and his his family causes him to express self-doubt and depression, eventually becoming and more isolated, displaying how the effects of marginalization can affect one person. Oscar from the start, even in the Dominican Republic, was marginalized. Dominican men have a reputation of being masculine, being able to charm…

In Junot Diaz’s book, The Brief Wondrous life of Oscar Wao is a story about a guy named Oscar Wao and his adventures. One of the major theme is supernatural or superstition, Fuku Americanus. Yunior the narrator, introduces the book with this curse. So many of the characters have troubles upon the Fuku in the Dominican Republic due to the dictator, Trujilllo. Even though he was assassinated, his spirit lurks and he represents the curse. The Fuku curse has a great impact on the main character,…

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 show femininity by having to embrace some female like stereotypes. An example…

In The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Diaz describes the coming of age story of Oscar, the struggle of Oscar’s family that has gone on for generations, and the Dominican diaspora. In doing so, Diaz argues that the Dominican Diaspora and other Diasporas face immense struggles in the United States. Such struggle can be described by transnationalism, which “considers the processes by which immigrants forge and sustain multistranded social relations that link together their societies of…

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…

In Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, the author illustrates a society of internalized prejudice and racism. His representation of this society is symbolized by the relationship between Belí and her daughter Lola; a mother- daughter relationship of control and resentment that creates a microcosm of the societal pressures and values of the Dominican Republic. On pages 208-209 of Oscar Wao, Lola narrates her life experiences: her conflicts with her mother, her discontent with her…

In a real sense, language plays a major role in the world society as it not only express one’s identity but also constructs the identities. Language refers to a common body of words and system that is used by people of the same community or nation. Conversely, identity refers to a person or group’s beliefs, personality or expression that makes them. However, there is a significant intersection between one’s language and identity as it will be discussed in the essay. In other words, it will…

have loved at all.”(Alfred Lord Tennyson). These are words Oscar Wao unknowingly lived by. As teenagers and frankly as humans, many people focus on finding a person to love and in return be loved. This same idea applies to a Mister Oscar Wao. He desperately wants to find love. Desperately meaning he fell in love with every girl he saw. The only thing holding 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…

this quote 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…

in every human to look for a soul mate, a partner, an other half. In The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, love leads to the tragedies each plot encounters. While The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao focuses on a fat Dominican teenager named Oscar trying to find love, The Great Gatsby focuses on a new rich man trying to alter an environment to make it exactly like it was years ago and gain back a love he thought belonged to him; this man…