The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao Sparknotes
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao focuses less on its title character and more on the history and contemporary diaspora of the Dominican Republic. Oscar Wao is the midpoint that allows Junot Díaz to explore multiple themes of sexuality, hyper masculinity tangled with identity, and the effects of diaspora. Similarly, the Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, delves into the effects of post-colonialism in Africa; proving the novel is less about its main character, Kurtz, and more about the horrendous conditions Belgian rule has left on Africa. The parallel between each book and the characters’ last words, Wao’s last words, “The beauty! The beauty!” and Kurtz’s, “The horror! The horror!” serves as different perspectives on the same issues of white supremacy, disrespect, and the subservience of people of color under European control. Kurtz views such effects as disastrous,
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whereas Oscar Wao, a victim of post –colonialism is able to find beauty in what has made the Dominican Republic the Dominican Republic.
The question that both Joseph Conrad and Junot Diaz pose in their novels, “where did it all begin?” European Colonialism. A god. Wealth. The three factors that have pushed themselves into the New World and have snatched history, beliefs, and customs while destroying it along the way. The European dominance of Spain, England, and France has disrupted the natural progress of multiple countries within Latin America and Africa. The Dominican Republic has been pummeled first by European settlers and then occupied by the US for some time. “They say it came first from Africa, carried in the screams of the enslaved; that it was the death bane of the Taínos, uttered just as one world perished and another began; that it was a demon drawn into Creation through the nightmare door that was cracked open in the Antilles,” the Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao begins with the history of Fuku. (8) The evil curse of the island, the supernatural element that dooms many in the
Dominican Republic. The citizens of the DR blame Fuku for the reign of Trujillo, the deaths of their loved ones, and the horrendous genocide of natives. Although, the DR has maintained its customs along with mystical beliefs, their culture has been unfortunately whitewashed. Likewise, Africa, the main location in the Heart of Darkness, suffers due to years of white supremacy and subservience. European rule encroached itself upon territories, forcing boundaries among people where there was none, resulting in internalized racism within tribes, stunned technology, and a lack of industrialization. The hideous effects of post colonialism prove relevant in today’s issues of racism and the backward progress of multiple countries. Direct examples include the Hutis heinous slaughter of the Tutsies in Rwanda and recently abolished apartheid in South Africa. Both the Dominican Republic and several countries in Africa have an unrecognized or more of an overlooked history filled with mass genocide, rebellion, and dictatorship. Diaz details Trujillo’s rule, his victims, and what the DR has become, “For those of you who missed your mandatory two seconds of Dominican history: Trujillo, one of the twentieth century’s most infamous dictators, ruled the Dominican Republic between 1930 and 1961 with an implacable ruthless brutality.” (9) Charles Marlow, the narrator of The Heart of Darkness details the gruesome living conditions of the Belgian Congo while questioning the true purpose of imperialism, “They were no colonists; their administration was merely a squeeze, and nothing more, I suspect. They were conquerors, and for that you want only brute force—nothing to boast of, when you have it, since your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others. They grabbed what they could get for the sake of what was to be got. It was just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and men going at it blind—as is very proper for those who tackle a darkness. The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.” (13)
Diaz retells the history of the Dominican Republic in the footnotes as the novel moves from past to present and so on. Without Oscar, there is neither a reason nor source that ties the history of the Dominican Republic and its aftermath in one story. By Diaz providing a face to the children of diaspora, he allows readers to personify and identify with aspects of Oscar’s struggle. Yunior, the narrator, tells the story of Beli’s past, Lola’s issues with personality and identity, and without knowing it his own struggle against who he is and who he should be. Through Oscar Wao, Díaz is able to tell the history of the Dominican Republic and make it known. Yet, Yunior, the narrator, affected by the life of the De Leon’s, by Oscar’s inability to fit in, and ultimately the history that surrounds him, speaks not only about Oscar’s story, “But if these years have taught me anything it is this: you can never run away. Not ever. The only way out is in. And that's what I guess these stories are about.” (177) Oscar’s story is merely a façade that lightly blankets heavy themes and conflicted characters.
The genocide and wiping off all the indigenous people off of the Dominican Republic has left a strict guideline on how one must behave in order to survive. Trujillo described as “a portly, sadistic, pig-eyed mulato who bleached his skin, wore platform shoes, and had a fondness for Napoleon-era haberdashery, ” attempts to emulate European ideals of beauty and power. (8) Years after years of oppression have left the idea that the stereotypes of masculinity and sexualization must be fulfilled in order to survive. The women of the DR stay inside to maintain lighter skin and ridicule Beli. Even once they move to the US, Lola is ridiculed for being a “mulatta” that likes punk music and does amazing in school, “the puertorican kids on the block couldn’t stop laughing when they saw my hair, they called me Blacula, and the morenos, they didn’t know what to say: they just called me devil-bitch.” (45) The idea of fitting in, the pressure Hispanic and Latino families put on their children, has come from European oppression. This is seen through the cousins of Oscar’s offer to help him lose his virginity to prostitutes and the women of Dominican Republic staying inside during vacations to keep their skin light. Oscar doesn’t lose his virginity to Ybon until he becomes “likeable” and Yunior mentions how “thin” he has become. (168) Moreover, the diaspora of the families not only in the DR affects the first generation children deeply. Lola was able to break the cycle because of her strong character and Oscar’s sacrifice to provide zafa and end their fuku family curse. Beli moving to a new country is forced to teach her children all she knows while adapting to a new culture. Therefore, the diaspora and centuries of totalitarian rule have left the Dominican Republic and its people struggling with a forced identity fueled by sexualization and hyper masculinity created by centuries of European oppression and post colonialism. Similarly, Africa struggles with its own ideas of survival as many tribes refuse to acknowledge female sexuality and resent lighter skinned African Americans.
whereas Oscar Wao, a victim of post –colonialism is able to find beauty in what has made the Dominican Republic the Dominican Republic.
The question that both Joseph Conrad and Junot Diaz pose in their novels, “where did it all begin?” European Colonialism. A god. Wealth. The three factors that have pushed themselves into the New World and have snatched history, beliefs, and customs while destroying it along the way. The European dominance of Spain, England, and France has disrupted the natural progress of multiple countries within Latin America and Africa. The Dominican Republic has been pummeled first by European settlers and then occupied by the US for some time. “They say it came first from Africa, carried in the screams of the enslaved; that it was the death bane of the Taínos, uttered just as one world perished and another began; that it was a demon drawn into Creation through the nightmare door that was cracked open in the Antilles,” the Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao begins with the history of Fuku. (8) The evil curse of the island, the supernatural element that dooms many in the
Dominican Republic. The citizens of the DR blame Fuku for the reign of Trujillo, the deaths of their loved ones, and the horrendous genocide of natives. Although, the DR has maintained its customs along with mystical beliefs, their culture has been unfortunately whitewashed. Likewise, Africa, the main location in the Heart of Darkness, suffers due to years of white supremacy and subservience. European rule encroached itself upon territories, forcing boundaries among people where there was none, resulting in internalized racism within tribes, stunned technology, and a lack of industrialization. The hideous effects of post colonialism prove relevant in today’s issues of racism and the backward progress of multiple countries. Direct examples include the Hutis heinous slaughter of the Tutsies in Rwanda and recently abolished apartheid in South Africa. Both the Dominican Republic and several countries in Africa have an unrecognized or more of an overlooked history filled with mass genocide, rebellion, and dictatorship. Diaz details Trujillo’s rule, his victims, and what the DR has become, “For those of you who missed your mandatory two seconds of Dominican history: Trujillo, one of the twentieth century’s most infamous dictators, ruled the Dominican Republic between 1930 and 1961 with an implacable ruthless brutality.” (9) Charles Marlow, the narrator of The Heart of Darkness details the gruesome living conditions of the Belgian Congo while questioning the true purpose of imperialism, “They were no colonists; their administration was merely a squeeze, and nothing more, I suspect. They were conquerors, and for that you want only brute force—nothing to boast of, when you have it, since your strength is just an accident arising from the weakness of others. They grabbed what they could get for the sake of what was to be got. It was just robbery with violence, aggravated murder on a great scale, and men going at it blind—as is very proper for those who tackle a darkness. The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.” (13)
Diaz retells the history of the Dominican Republic in the footnotes as the novel moves from past to present and so on. Without Oscar, there is neither a reason nor source that ties the history of the Dominican Republic and its aftermath in one story. By Diaz providing a face to the children of diaspora, he allows readers to personify and identify with aspects of Oscar’s struggle. Yunior, the narrator, tells the story of Beli’s past, Lola’s issues with personality and identity, and without knowing it his own struggle against who he is and who he should be. Through Oscar Wao, Díaz is able to tell the history of the Dominican Republic and make it known. Yet, Yunior, the narrator, affected by the life of the De Leon’s, by Oscar’s inability to fit in, and ultimately the history that surrounds him, speaks not only about Oscar’s story, “But if these years have taught me anything it is this: you can never run away. Not ever. The only way out is in. And that's what I guess these stories are about.” (177) Oscar’s story is merely a façade that lightly blankets heavy themes and conflicted characters.
The genocide and wiping off all the indigenous people off of the Dominican Republic has left a strict guideline on how one must behave in order to survive. Trujillo described as “a portly, sadistic, pig-eyed mulato who bleached his skin, wore platform shoes, and had a fondness for Napoleon-era haberdashery, ” attempts to emulate European ideals of beauty and power. (8) Years after years of oppression have left the idea that the stereotypes of masculinity and sexualization must be fulfilled in order to survive. The women of the DR stay inside to maintain lighter skin and ridicule Beli. Even once they move to the US, Lola is ridiculed for being a “mulatta” that likes punk music and does amazing in school, “the puertorican kids on the block couldn’t stop laughing when they saw my hair, they called me Blacula, and the morenos, they didn’t know what to say: they just called me devil-bitch.” (45) The idea of fitting in, the pressure Hispanic and Latino families put on their children, has come from European oppression. This is seen through the cousins of Oscar’s offer to help him lose his virginity to prostitutes and the women of Dominican Republic staying inside during vacations to keep their skin light. Oscar doesn’t lose his virginity to Ybon until he becomes “likeable” and Yunior mentions how “thin” he has become. (168) Moreover, the diaspora of the families not only in the DR affects the first generation children deeply. Lola was able to break the cycle because of her strong character and Oscar’s sacrifice to provide zafa and end their fuku family curse. Beli moving to a new country is forced to teach her children all she knows while adapting to a new culture. Therefore, the diaspora and centuries of totalitarian rule have left the Dominican Republic and its people struggling with a forced identity fueled by sexualization and hyper masculinity created by centuries of European oppression and post colonialism. Similarly, Africa struggles with its own ideas of survival as many tribes refuse to acknowledge female sexuality and resent lighter skinned African Americans.