...Professor Duarte Hispanic USA 04/13/15 Book Review The novel of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao was about a Dominican child who is addicted with pretend fictions, imaginary stories, romance and curses that have been hunting his family for many generations. The book is based upon the story-telling of identity, governmental oppression and being able to handle the masculinity pressure as a Dominican. The statement that Diaz made about “You can’t tell the history of the U.S without the history of the Dominican Republic” gives a sense of pride being a Dominican. The reason for this is based on the experiences of the crucial reality of being controlled by a dictator. In the early years of Trujillo, he was trained in the United States marine and was elevated to commander or general. I think Diaz sees it has a disgrace how the United States trained a monster such as Trujillo that it is considered a disgrace in his eyes. It looks like Diaz does follow the Americanization aspect however he doesn’t want to admit he is portrayed as a Dominican- American....
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...The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz is about a coming of age Dominican boy who often struggles with his own identity. Throughout the novel, he begins to realize what he needs in order to be happy with himself. This also goes with his sister who manages to escape the traditions and learn to live on her own. Yunior being the narrator of the novel, shows how much can be interpreted by knowing each and everyone's story, including his. His daily struggles increase more as he gets older and moves away from home. Culture hybridity and gender roles are shown within the characters of Oscar, Yunior, and Lola. This novel bounces back and forth from the Dominican Republic and New Jersey which establishes a Dominican American culture. It is shown within each character how being in a Dominican American culture affects them both mentally and physically. Oscar, an overweight nerd does not have the option to feel as Dominican as he wants, when he is at school, he constantly gets bullied for not fitting the stereotypical Dominican man, “The white kids looked at his black skin and his afro and treated him with inhuman cheeriness. The kids of color, upon hearing him speak and seeing him move his body, shook their heads. You’re not Dominican. And he said, over and over again, But I am. Soy dominicano. Dominicano soy.”(p. 49) When his...
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...Dear Bardes (aka the best teacher ever), Throughout my memoir, I reflect upon the meaning of a home to me, and how it’s definition to me changed over time. I also try to use innocence and ignorance highlight the misunderstandings of the real world through the mind and eyes of a child. My narrative includes stories of immigration from Israel, the struggles to fit in, and accepting myself for being one of a kind. This belongs to Unit 4 in particular because it easily relates to the idea of immigration, and transition, and feeling left out of the crowd, which is what Oscar felt and experiences in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I also tried to use humor to spice up my memoir with statements such as “And if your mother [...] case red rain boots.” which as silly as it may...
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... (Arthur Ashe). In Junot Díaz’s novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Oscar de León, the novel’s tragic hero and helpless romantic, trudges through life as an atypical Dominican—“he wasn’t no home-run hitter or a fly bachatero, not a playboy with a million hots on his jock” (Díaz 11)—until he, contentiously, is the first to beat Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina’s fukú americanus. Two distinctly different caricatures of the true hero have been drawn by society, each sanctified by Hollywood films in its own right: the “superhero” who retains esoteric powers and uses these for the...
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