The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Daz - Essay Example

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz: A Critical Analysis Junot Diaz did a compelling job in his novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, in which he was able to deliver a fictional story alongside real facts in the history of the Dominican Republic during the reign of the dictator Rafael Trujillo. The story centered on the life and death of Oscar Wao, a Dominican boy who was desperate to give and receive love, which was complicated for him to achieve because of his race and nerd personality considering that he lives in the United States. The life of Oscar’s family and the curse passed on to him from his roots was also featured in the story, adding a lot of unexpected twists and turns of events that began from his grandparents to his mother, and then him. This paper will focus on the analysis of the relation of the historical context of the story as told by the narrator Yunior with the real history of the Dominican Republic under the dictatorship of the cruel Trujillo. Brief Summary and Historical Context The novel is a mixture of modern and historical time of a fictional Dominican family during and after the historical accounts of Trujillo’s regime. The novel has two primary settings—in the US and the Dominican Republic and the story was plotted with a lot of flashbacks, and then back to the present or vice versa. In the first few chapters of the novel, the characters were introduced, starting with the main character Oscar. Oscar is a sci-fi nerd in school, and he hardly has any friends. He has a sister named Lola who loves him and is concerned about him all the time. The story centers in Oscar’s need for love and affection from girls he admires and he continues to fail. He is also being bullied a lot in school by his classmates, and even the other nerds in school do not get along fine with him. This is similar to racism in the Dominican Republic back in the reign of Trujillo where Haitians occupying some parts of the DR were killed mercilessly because they are black (Danticat 10). Going back to Oscar’s time, being a nerd sci-fi writer does not give a positive impression from a lot of girls. He meets a line of girls throughout the story, and he is heartbroken many times. He later meets a friend in the person of Yunior who advises him on what to carry out in order to be noticed by girls. He tries to exercise and change his aura, and soon meets another girl whom he admires so much. He became so in love that when he realised the girl does not love him back, he attempts suicide by jumping off a bridge. This scene is similar to the time when Turillo was assassinated and his son plotted revenge against the perpetrators by capturing, torturing, and killing them. Some of the captives committed suicide out of hopelessness and misery (Ornes, 330). Oscar feels defeated in a love war and wants let go of dear life, but he survives and Lola takes good care of him. He continues living his life at school and girls still ignore him. Lola, on the other hand, rebels against their mother Beli and is sent to the DR under the care of La Inca where the history of the family begun. The curse being talked about in the story is explained in chapter three of the novel where Beli’s (Oscar’s mother) story is highlighted. Beli was also a love addict back in her puberty stage. She was not that attractive, but when she got a bit older, she begun to develop a very voluptuous body that attracted many boys at school. She even got the attention of her long time crush, who eventually became her boyfriend. However, she was not treated with much respect by the boy. She eventually left school and looked for a job. She landed as a waitress in a restaurant where she met a friend who brought her to a nightclub where she enjoyed dancing. She then met a guy, and from then on, her life started to become complicated. When she got pregnant, she learned that the boy was married to a Trujillo. The boy told her to abort the child, but she refused. A few weeks later, she found herself in a cane field beaten to death by the men of that Trujillo woman. She also lost the baby in the process but somehow she managed to survive. La Inca then sent her to America to save her life. The same thing happens to Oscar in the novel. He and his family went to the DR for a vacation. He then meets a woman who will complicate his life and will be the reason for his death. The woman has a boyfriend who is a cop. The irony is seen in this part of the story because the woman cares about Oscar and loves him back, but they are being pulled apart by the cruel cop. As the story progresses, a flashback of the life events of Oscar’s grandparents was narrated. His grandfather was also killed in the hands of the Trujillo followers when he refused to send one of his daughters to Trujillo’s party. He was also tortured to death while two of his daughters died—one committed suicide while the other became ill. Meanwhile, Oscar gets beaten to death by the cop’s men at the same cane field where his mother was tortured. He survived the first time, and ust like his mom, he was sent to the US but went back to the love of his life in the DR. There, he met his end where the cop’s men burned him alive in that cane field. The Dictator Under the leadership of the dictator whom everyone called “The Chief” in his time, many were captured and tortured to death as much or even worse than the experiences of Oscar, his mother, and his grandfather. The Haitians were enslaved, and any person who opposed Trujillo’s orders and rules were also imprisoned and killed. At some time, Trujillo sent his men to areas where the Haitis thrived and ordered them to murder them all by stabbing and beating them mercilessly. In a span of 31 years, Trujillo managed to kill thousands, sexually abused young women, and stole people’s wealth (“The Dominican Dictator,” 3). He also put his family members, friends, and trustees in their respective government positions. Aside from that, he had the support of the US, the Catholic Church, and some wealthy elites in the DR. He enjoyed so much power until some rich people could no longer take his cruel leadership and plotted his assassination. They succeeded killing him on the 30th of May 1961 using some of the ammunitions and weapons provided to them by the CIA. However, his son was able to avenge his father’s death by capturing all the conspirators and killing some of them. The other conspirators committed suicide while some of their innocent family members were also executed. His son was later escorted by the US military and was exiled. Since then, it was utterly difficult for the DR people to recover morally and economically, as well as Haiti whose people were also part of this dreadful history. There was still violence caused by Trujillo’s followers. Even in the modern times, some people have somehow adopted Trujillo’s cruel attitude in the person of police authorities and some government officials. In the story, the cruelty of Trujillo continued haunting some people, like Oscar in the person of the cop who was the original lover of Oscar’s love interest. In the case of racism, there are still so many black people being bullied, abused, and laughed at until today. Analysis The characters of the story somehow resemble the people of DR during the Trujillo regime and also Trujillo himself. Oscar and his mother were resemblances of the suffering of the DR people while those that tortured them resemble Trujillo’s injustice and cruelty. Trujillo relates to the novel because of the obvious fact that the story was plotted in the DR situation under his regime and all the consequences it brought to its people even after his fall. Oscar’s bullies in school represent the racist personality of Trujillo who ordered a series of mass murders of black people or the Haitians in the DR. The rejection and the fear that Oscar felt during his school days as he was being bullied and laughed at in school was no worse than the terror that was felt by the Haitians in the murderous hands of Trujillo’s men. La Inca, on the other hand, is a representation of faith and strength of the DR people in those 31 years of terror in their own homes not being able to speak their minds nor move freely. The Haitians who continued to live their lives humbly and bravely also depict the character of La Inca. The events in the life of Oscar altogether resembled the chaotic cycle of Trujillo’s rule. Oscar’s family is a reminder that although wounds heal in time, scars remains as symbols of the past. In the story, this scar is referred to as the family’s misfortune or curse that has been passed on from generation to generation. In the book, this misfortune is referred to as the fuku, which usually occurs when a talking mongoose and a faceless man appears. Lola and Yunior, who were trying to move on with their lives after the death of Oscar serve as reminders of the DR peoples’ struggles to survive despite all the pain they endured from losing their loved ones because of Trujillo’s brutality. Lola and Yunior became lovers while Oscar was still alive, but they eventually split when Yunior cheated on Lola several times. Yunior represents the betrayal of Trujillo towards his wife since he continued to sexually abuse younger women. In addition, Yunior also represents a friend who is capable of both supporting and betraying a friend. He supported Oscar in almost everything. During their younger years, he helped Oscar lose weight and groom in order to be noticed by girls. He also helped him recover from the suicide attempt. Throughout the years, he also helped Oscar when he needed company or even money. However, he later betrayed Oscar by cheating on Lola, Oscar’s sister. Similarly, the US supported Trujillo during his rule because they can easily penetrate the DR for economic and business reasons. However, they somehow betrayed him in a sense when the CIA secretly provided weapons to the conspirators of Trujillo’s assassination, but made it appear as if they were neutral and had nothing to do with it. There are so many events in the novel that resembled those of the historical accounts of the Trujillo regime; hence, Junot Diaz did a good job merging fiction and facts in his book. There are two things, however, that confuse some readers; the presence of a faceless man and the talking mongoose in the story. Oscar’s mother saw the faceless man during the time Trujillo’s men took her to the cane field where she was beaten. Oscar also saw a faceless man in his dreams and while on his way to the cane field. Both of them were able to hear the talking mongoose giving them advice and consoling them while they were in pain. Perhaps, the faceless man refers to the fear of people to face death while the talking mongoose represents the faith of the DR people that there is a spiritual being that helps them stand up from their falls and encourage them to continue living their lives. One more thing that is striking to the readers is the resemblance of a book with blank pages. That book used to appear in Oscar’s dreams. Later in the story, it appeared in Yunior’s dreams which were the reason why Yunior sort of became the writer and narrator of Oscar’s story. Perhaps it represents the yet unwritten future of the Dominican Republic wherein the children of today can start writing to make their country a better place to live in. It can be the book of the future where every Dominican can hope to have a good leader to give them a better life. Conclusion Junot Diaz’s book, which is The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, may not be the best book that was ever written, but it has so much meaning and resemblances that reenact the emotions of the DR people during the time they were conquered with terror under the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo. Those 31 years of living in pain and fear have somehow been summed up to one fictional book that brings a lot of realisations in life. The novel was, in general, compelling and mysterious at some parts, but it is clear that its historical context is patterned to that of Trujillo’s regime in the 1930’s to 1960’s based on the characters of the novel and the stories they shared. Works cited Danticat, Edwidge. The Farming of Bones. Soho Press, 1998. Print. Ornes, German E. Trujillo: Little Caesar of the Caribbean. NY: Thomas Nelson and Sons,1958. Print. “The Dominican Dictator”. Before We Were Free. 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