1) Language is a huge accessory to the book, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. In the previous chapters Yunior would write with mild cursing but in chapter four when he is speaking about his own experiences with Oscar he uses curses more frequently, why do you think that is?
2) Chapter four, openes up with Yunior being portrayed as the first-person narrator. What is the relationship between Yunior and Oscar? Can Yunior be seen as Oscar's ghostly twin?
3) a) The novel is implanted with a variety of supernatural elements. The most obvious is a fukú that provides the drift for the entire narrative, leading the reader to wonder if the events are all a result of fukú. Do you think that Oscar trying to kill himself, but ending up surviving was a part of the curse?
b)We learn that Oscar may or may not be cursed by the Fuku. Throughout his life, Oscar was warned of the family curse, and due to his Hispanic heritage, he believed it, lived by it, was ruled by it, and ultimately, it is was what brought him to his death. Do you think we are in control of our own destiny?
Chapter Five:
1) What is the symbolism of the Packard? Who was it used by, and what is it's significance?
2) Junot Diaz arranges the novel in reverse chronological order. What is he trying to show by doing so?
3) On page 243, Diaz writes,“So, which is it? you ask. An accident, conspiracy or fukú? The only answer I can give you is the least satisfying: you'll have to decide for yourself. What’s certain is that nothing is certain. We are trawling in silences here.” Why do you think he is speaking directly to the reader here?
Jessica G writes:
ReplyDeleteI think Yunior curses more when talking about Oscar for three reasons, 1) Oscar frustrates him. Yunior is very bothered by Oscar's lack of drive or initiative to care for his body and thereby increase his chances of getting involved with a woman, 2) Yunior is conscious of the parallels between them; he is aware of how similar they really are, mainly in terms of their hobbies/interests and connection to Lola, and 3) Yunior feels the need to compensate for Oscar's 'lack of masculinity' by acting very aggressive, hence the excessive usage of curse words.Perhaps Yunior feels his own sense of manhood and masculinity is threatened as a result of his involvement with Oscar.
3) a) It is clear that Oscar and the narrator himself believe in the family curse, which makes me wonder if the fuku merely exists due to their conviction that it does. To be sure, most of the characters in the book have terrible luck, and it’s easy to chalk it all up to the fuku. When Oscar tries to kill himself, there appears to be a brief moment in which he sees as something along the lines of a “golden mongoose.” It’s similar to the scene in which his mother, Beli sees one, but instead of it renewing his hope, he ignores it and takes the plunge anyway. The “golden mongoose,”—despite showing up suddenly like a bad omen—does seem to be somewhat benevolent (not just in the story, but in cultures throughout the world). The man without a face seems to be inherently a part of the “fuku destiny” while the mongoose seems to represent choice, since it appears several times when the characters are at a crossroads. It doesn’t appear to me that his surviving would be a part of the curse unless the fuku possessed a really twisted sense of humor. Also, not long before his death, Oscar briefly imagined his family getting on a bus. The Mongoose is the driver and the Man Without a Face (the real bad omen) is the cobrador or conductor. Although on the same bus, these two would otherwise appear to be opposing forces as they don’t usually appear at the same time. The cobra in cobrador may not be coincidental on Diaz’s part.
ReplyDeleteb) Even though it would seem as if Oscar’s death was a part of the family curse, he seemed to realize that going back to D.R was a death wish. In fact he seemed completely aware that his moment in the canefield could be his last. Although the fuku probably had a hand in the events that led to his death (the parallels to him and Beli's beating were too obvious to ignore), I think the choice was ultimately in Oscar's hands. His inevitable death, though tragic, was pretty easy to accept, probably because he accepted it himself. And all I could think about, was how he died...not utterly miserable.
1. Why do you thing Oscar fell inlove so deeply and quickly with every fem that showed alittle interest in him?
ReplyDelete2. Didn't Belicia know the reason for her near fatal, brutal assault was because of the relationship with the Gangster. And if she knew this, why did she again sleep with him afterwards?
3. On page 208, Lola said even up to the end, Belicia refused to show her any love, but on pg 210 when on the plane back to the U.S., Belicia defends Lola from a annoyed passenger on the plane. Belicia put her hand on Lola when she was crying? I would qualify that gesture as showing love.
I believe Dr. Abelard did the right thing by not allowing his wife and daughters to attend Trujillo's event for fear Trujillo would soil his daughter. Even though it cost him his life, any parent would have done the same thing to save his child.
2) Diaz writes the novel in reverse chronological order because it makes the story all the more interesting. By reading it from Oscar and Lola's perspectives first, we wonder why their mother Beli acts the way she does. Then we get to her chapter and we find out the history behind her, and we are able to feel more sympathetic. Also, as we go backwards in time and learn more about Abelard, we find out where the fuku started, if there is one. If Diaz had just written the novel in order from Abelard to Beli to the present, the reader would just be piled with information like in a historical manner, and would lose interest early on.
ReplyDelete3) I think Yunior is speaking directly to the reader now because the novel is ending, and Yunior himself isn't really sure if the fuku exists. He speaks directly to the reader in other parts of the novel too, especially when things get more serious. Yunior wants the reader to think more about what's happening, and I think he actually does believe in the curse because at one point he says he wasn't old school, and also in the end, he believes Lola's daughter will come to him to learn more about the family history.
I think Yunior's excess cursing while interacting with Oscar is the author's way of demonstrating that they really were close friends and developed a comfortable relationship with each other. I know that seems strange because cursing usually appears negative, but here it isn't as though Yunior is cursing directly at Oscar, but that his speech changes because he is at ease around his friend and therefore doesn't need to censor himself. We all know that we have different modes of discourse; we wouldn't speak the same way at work as we do at home, and we wouldn't always speak to our parents the way we speak to our friends. I believe Diaz effectively reinforces Yunior's friendship with Oscar by showing that he is comfortable speaking his mind around him and treats him as he would a true friend.
ReplyDelete1) Yunior curses more frequently in chapter four because he is more comfortable this way. In the previous chapters, he is narrating the lives of the other characters, so he must tell their stories the way he was told. When it concerned his own life, Yunior cursed more frequently because it made him feel more at ease when discussing his trials and tribulations in life. It was a form of therapy for him.
ReplyDelete3a) I believe that Oscar surviving his suicide attempt was a part of the curse. The curse had plans for Oscar, and they didn't end at that point. Oscar had to die for the one thing he fought for in his life: love. It was the only fitting way for him to go.
3b) I would like to believe we are in control of our own destiny, but we are not. There are plans for all of us, whether or not we know it. We might decide to take charge in our lives and change our current paths, but what if that was our destiny all along? I believe there's a story written for us all already; it's just our time to live it out.