The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and Portnoys Complaint - Essay Example

?Culture Diaspora: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and Portnoy’s Complaint The Dominican and the Jewish Cultures The Dominican and Jewish cultures may seem to be extremely opposite with one another, yet, they are built on the same level of restrictions and expectations. For one, the Dominican tradition is full of superstitious beliefs towards the unseen and the supernatural. Specifically, the Dominicans believe of the so-called fuku, meaning bad luck or curse. In effect, society brings prejudice to any family seen with this sheer bad luck (Hamilton and Jones 43). In the Jewish tradition, beliefs come in the form of orthodox Jewish law, the “None Other,” and the traditional “boundaries and restrictions” (Gray n. pag). These limitations are being put forth by Jewish families, highlighting guilt as the primary consequence of deviance to these set of “rules.” Aside from supernatural beliefs, internal racism is also prevalent among Dominicans. They condemn fat people as well as dark skin tone. Indeed, the Dominican society is the epitome of the discrimination towards the African Diaspora (Danticat 95). In line with internal racism is misogyny, which is also evident in the Dominican society. More often than not, women were viewed as mere objects of desire, built solely for men’s consummation (Nussbaum n. pag). Perhaps, this discriminating practice originated from the Dominican culture’s stronghold on machismo--the ultimate belief of the Dominican society that man is meant to dominate. Ever since childhood, males are oriented that the essence of a man is to have plenty of hot girlfriends and to have ‘left-and-right’ relationships with women, all at the same time. This shows that the society not only perceives but imposes on men to see a woman as nothing but a means to an end. Thus, it is quite normal to say that the Dominican males are made to be promiscuous. They are indeed attractive, sexually active and violent (Nussbaum n. pag). Meanwhile, the Jewish culture also has impositions on how the individuals in the society should behave. Contrary to the Dominicans who are [as a matter of fact] encouraged to indulge their sexual passions, the accepted image of a rational and moral Jew is one who is restrained, composed, and self-sacrificing amidst his berserk emotional drives (Fromm 225). Unlike the Dominicans, the Jewish life is expected to be upright, honest, and ethical. Jews are, thus, expected to be men with virtues and principles. Whereas the Dominicans seem to be corrupt, violent, and lustful, the Jews are innocent, passive, and virtuous (Fromm 225). Remarkably, the Jewish culture’s ultimate belief is the theological concept of original sin. Thus, it is not surprising that psychoanalysis, “that clinical faith based on a belief in the transferability and negotiability of long-term debts and credits in guilt,” originated from Jewish ideologies (Greenfeld n. pag). Effects of Culture and Tradition on Oscar Wao and Alexander Portnoy Due to society’s pressure, it is not surprising to know that it could have several--more often than not--detrimental effects on a person who is trying to live up with the society’s expectations. This is true for both Oscar Wao and Alexander Portnoy, who had their taste of misery and guilt due to non-conformity of society’s norms. Since their cultures barred them to do things that they wanted, they explored the exact opposite of what was expected of them. In other words, they did not conform--they chose freedom over standard rules. However, doing so did not guarantee Oscar and Portnoy’s happiness and satisfaction. The force of society was so strong that they needed to undergo the painstaking process of shame, guilt, and being different from the majority. For Oscar Wao, discrimination was just an understatement of what he and other members of the family have gone through. The superstitious belief on foku seemed to have never left them. Starting from the generation of Oscar’s parents, their family has already been experiencing several unlucky events. Since then, they were suffering libelous claims from society, telling them that the curse is incurable (Nussbaum n. pag). Moreover, Oscar also suffered discrimination on the personal level. After all, he was ugly, unattractive, and fat. Apparently, his physical features were not acceptable to society, so he resorted to books and desolation. In this state, he created his own ideals of women, fantasizing a romantic relationship instead of the Dominican way of promiscuity. Evidently, the Dominican culture urged Oscar to pursue the opposite direction, to while away from the culture that prevented his self-expression. Meanwhile, Alexander Portnoy was also severely affected by the Jewish culture. He felt victimized by the folly culture that prohibited sexual indulgence. The same culture made him complain of the narrow-minded upbringing of his parents--having to instill the Jewish identity which, according to his observations, had several inconsistencies with practices in America (Gorg 59). He questioned the injustice of life and asked why at one side of the world, the Americans do not have to suffer from guilt while indulging their libidos, while at the other side, Jews need to feel guilt even without sexual engagements (Weiner n. pag). Hence, Portnoy is confronted with the Jewish problem on double identity (Gorg 59). Character Differences of Oscar Wao and Alexander Portnoy The two main protagonists, although following the same path towards real freedom, were very distinct from each other. First off, Oscar was unappealing, pitiful, and was a lowly character. He was an underdog who lacks the courage to desire or commit violence of any nature. He does not do anything astute to alleviate himself so as to receive kindness, love, and friendship (Nussbaum n. pag). Contrary to Oscar’s nature was Alexander Portnoy. According to Fromm, he was the celebration of the libidinous type of Jew, the “lusting Jew,” and the “sexual defile” (225). He was repulsive and vulgar. In one instance, he even knocked off his parents’ feet by boldly claiming his repugnance to the Jewish culture. He does everything he could to commit his desires. Moreover, while Oscar was a victim of the society that believes in bad luck, kufu, Portnoy was a victim of his parents’ upbringing [at least according to his perspective]. He was reared by a mother whom he considers the mother of guilt and a father who is a eunuch insurance agent (Greenfeld n. pag). According to Greenfeld, Portnoy was a victim of his parents’ strict observance of the Jewish societal norms. Further, while Oscar tried to defy laws of the Dominican male by resorting to “holiness,” becoming the “Nice Guy,” and finding a woman to reciprocate his unrequited love, Portnoy exposed his libido jumping from one sexual relationship from one non-Jewish woman to another. Oscar tried to be a Nice Guy; he offered friendships and kindness in exchange of sexual favors and tried to remain faithful to one woman--shifting from one woman after the other. Portnoy, on the other hand, did exactly the opposite of what his parents programmed him to be. Ironicaly, Oscar wants the life Portnoy is living while Portnoy is dying to have the life Oscar has. Indeed, they are both victims of the world’s two distinct societies with two different set of expectations. Unfortunately for both of them, the world could not offer them the best of both worlds; they needed to choose only one option. However, such option would not guarantee them fulfillment either. Character Similarities of Oscar Wao and Alexander Portnoy Oscar Wao and Alexander Portnoy do have a lot of similarities, mostly arising out of the constraints of the society their living in. For one, both responded in the extremely opposite way of society’s expectations. Oscar, while he is living in the Dominican society, chose to pursue his seemingly ‘hopeless romantic’ desires. Portnoy, on the other hand, defied the Jewish society by indulging his libidos. Both characters also seek freedom, using sexuality as the principal way for escape. However, they still needed to do it the hard way; Oscar continued to suffer from his condemnations while Portnoy was confronted with guilt. Eventually in the end, both achieved their new freedom as well as the fulfillment of their goals. Oscar, before his death, was delighted by the little intimacies that he has experienced with his last girlfriend. These little intimacies were the moments beyond his wishful thinking (Nussbaum n, pag). At least, through this, Oscar was able to prove to himself that the choices he made were good enough to satisfy him. On the other hand, Portnoy in the end begun to seek assistance from a certain counselor, letting himself indulge in self-healing and positive thinking. Oscar Wao and Alexader Portnoy--Love Life Oscar’s first heartbreak made him indifferent with his appearance, immersing himself in video games, role-playing, anime, and science fiction. After a while, Oscar started seeing women again. He did several things for his girlfriends including violent tantrums at the dorm (of Rutgers University) and a failed suicide attempt. True to himself, Oscar indeed fulfilled his “Nice Guy” fantasy and never showed that a woman is only a means to an end. Oscar also fell in love with a prostitute, by the name of Ybon. He experienced sufferings because of this attachment. Aside from his emotional struggles caused by Ybon’s departure, he also experienced physical pain because of Ybon’s boyfriend. Later on, Oscar’s love caused his death (Hamilton and Jones 42-43). At this point, he showed that genuine love was his outmost desire. Meanwhile, Portnoy was not able to create long-term relationships. He made masturbation as his first love, forming self-deprecating outlook towards himself. During his adolescent years, he was always guilty. He attempted to enter heterogeneous relationships, labeled his sexual acquaintances with bizarre names. The last was Mary Jane Reed, whom he calls, the Monkey--finally the woman fulfilling his every fantasy. Evidently, Portnoy and Oscar are two extremely different individuals, seeking for a genuine relationship. On their quest to fulfilling these desires, they needed to lose face in their society. However, they chose to remain true to themselves and fortunately, they succeeded. Finally, it is important to note that culture is one single quintessential mold through which a person tries to define himself, a powerful force that determines one’s perspective towards the world. Works Cited Danticat, Edwidge. “Junot Diaz.” BOMB Magazine November 2007: 89+. Print. Fromm, Ken Koltun. Material Culture and Jewish Thought in America. USA: Indiana University Press, 2010. Print. Gray, Richard. A Brief History of American Literature. UK: John Wiley and Sons, 2010. Print. Greenfeld, Josh. “Portnoy’s Complaint.” Rev. of Portnoy’s Complaint, by Phillip Roth. The New York Times. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. Gorg, Claudia. “Portnoy, The American Jew in Israel.” Diss. Johannes Gutenberg University, 1996. Print. Hamilton, Geoff, and Brian Jones. “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.” Encyclopedia of Contemporary Writers and Their Work. 2010. Print. Nussbaum, Abigail. Asking the Wrong Questions. Blogger, 2008. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. Weiner, Eric. ‘Portnoy’s Complains’? Self-Love and Self-Loathing. NPR, 2008. Web. 15 Dec. 2011. Read More