Junot Diaz’s “Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” is a somber yet refreshing story of a young Dominican youth raised in Paterson, New Jersey. The story is told with an eclectic mix of folklore and Spanish influence, as well as its American cultural nuances. Mr. Diaz writes without pretense or apologies. He is poignant in his narration of events in Oscar’s (main character) life.
As appropriate for adolescence, he tries desperately to fit in and find his niche. He is fairly overweight and finds it difficult to be noticed in more than a platonic manner by the opposite sex. So, he dreams his days away and relies on wet dreams to console his miserable existence. He also depends on his lame friends and his sister Lola who tries to be empathetic at times, although busy with her own issues. Oscar is an atypical nerd who finds escape and solace in his books and his writing. He is also an avid comic book reader.
Oscar tries to lose weight in an effort to boost his self-esteem, however even with his sister and his college roommate’s help, he quits before any results are really evident. He is fed up and tells Yunior to leave him be. He finds comfort only in his writings and his sad reality. Yunior and Oscar think that Oscar is under some sort of curse referred to as a fukú. Therefore, Oscar is doomed to a life of gloom that he inherited from his mom Beli.
Beli is a determined and resilient Latina woman, who survived a tough upbringing. Her dad was incarcerated, under Trujillo’s regime, her mom killed by a tragic accident after her husband was imprisoned. She also lost two sisters to add yet more loss to her young life. Consequently, she whines up in an abusive relationship with a married man that almost costs her life. The man was a “pariente” of the dictator himself. Beli is forced to flee to United States to seek refuge from this dangerous man associated with the dictator.
Diaz uses Beli’s experience as one of his many references to Trujillo’s ruling of the Dominican Republic throughout the book. Trujillo ruled with an iron fist and was brutal in his tactics, thus he was feared by his constituency. Junot Diaz has no qualms about writing frankly and openly about the deplorable conditions of Trujillo’s ruling as well as the simple life of a Dominican family’s struggles assimilating in the United States while maintaining their Spanish roots.
This writer dares not give away the ending to this magnificent gem among both the urban and the island terrain. Diaz is undoubtedly a distinguished and alluring new voice in the contemporary literary canon.
