Oscar Wao Essay

Fukú? What is this really? Stories passed along in families to scare children? Maybe it is an excuse to have when something horrible happens. Is it possible it really is a curse passed down through generations from caused by the act of an individual? Who is to say? In the book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junto Díaz, the main character Oscar De León’s family really believes the family is under a major Fukú. First off to explaining what Fukú is, according to Díaz, it is a curse or a doom of some kind. Now to focusing on how the Fukú effects Oscar himself looking at different aspects of the character. Firstly it is best to describe Oscar’s appearance to get a better idea of the character. Oscar never was a small man, and over the years of his life he tried a few times to fix it, but never could stay with it. In college his roommate Yunior tried to help him with working out but Oscar couldn’t stick to it (176-178). He did get in slightly better shape after his suicide attempt right before he graduated from college. All in all though he was always just a large nerdy guy. Right away it can be seen Oscar feels this body image he has is part of his curse adding to
It was here in college was Oscar’s lowest point, Jenni Muñoz. At first Jenni was another girl Oscar hit it off well with, thought it was his chance to finally be with a woman, until one day he walks in on her and another guy. Oscar goes completely nuts and tears up her room. His roommate Yunior had to go stop him. This was Oscar’s tipping point, which lead him to trying to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge, but he survived (187-191). In all honest Oscar never does seem to get a break in any of the women that do give him the time of day. Jenni was defiantly the preverbal straw that broke the camel’s back. Maybe it would have been a kindness to him here if the Fukú just let him go, but it is possible that he did do some good later