Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
There is an obsession with obesity in the United States, and that obsession is also seen in a number of other countries (Pool, 24). One of the most significant works of fiction that deals with that issue is Junot Diaz's book The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. In the book, the main character -- Oscar -- is obese (Junot, 8). He lives in New Jersey and is obsessed with science fiction and fantasy. He also wants to find love, and believes his family is plagued by a curse with which they all struggle. Because he is Dominican, there is another problem with his weight. The hypermasculinity that is seen and appreciated in the Dominican culture is not something of which he can be a part, because he is so large (Junot, 27). If he were thin, popular, and not "nerdy," he would be much more likely to be accepted into his culture, and also into the American culture were obesity is very common but still looked down upon by the majority of people. Even those who are overweight or obese sometimes look down on others who are large than they are, and there is much "fat-shaming" taking place.
Oscar quickly becomes a victim of the obsession with obesity, since his life is severely hampered by it in many ways. In addition to not being culturally accepted, he is unsuccessful with girls in a culture that shows young boys his age should be able to accomplish getting a girlfriend or at least getting involved in a "hookup" with a girl. Instead, Oscar prefers science fiction, role playing games, reading, and cartoons -- none of which are pursuits that are typically accepted by his culture and none of which are going to be likely to bring him a girl with...
(Diaz) Clearly, Junot Diaz is using symbolism throughout the novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, to illustrate how a host of events would shape the kind of person that Oscar would become. This is accomplished by looking at: science fiction and how it helped Oscar to escape. Early on this was used to show the way he dealt with: the sense of isolationism and rejection he felt in
Ethan Frome The story of Ethan Frome is about a man in a small rural town at the turn of the twentieth century. At this time in American history, society was heavily structured and the things which were considered either morally acceptable or completely inappropriate were definite and there were serious repercussions for those who behaved in ways which were counter to society's order. Consequently, the pressure placed on people to
Sexual Fantasy: Coming of Age in Modern America Portnoy's Complaint and The Brief Wondrous life of Oscar Wao are two bildungsroman (coming of age stories) that suggest there are profound discrepancies between exterior and interior realities. Like The Bonfire of the Vanities, another classic chronicle of the tension between social personas and the dark underbelly of individual psychologies, these stories suggest that to be an American is to have a divided
However, this may not have been Diaz's intention at all. He may have simply been trying to emphasize the third person viewpoint and that the reader is merely witnessing the events. This opening statement requires the reader to place themselves in a position somewhere, hovering above the lives of the characters, viewing them from an unattached vantage point. This is much the way in which one views an ant hill.
Diaz's Examination Of Culture: Clashes And Identities Diaz's Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is a combination of cultural experiences and influences that are as rich and imaginative as the stories the book contains. Within the main character, Oscar, lies the power to both transcend definition of culture and become victim or prey of a specific culture's stereotypes and norms. Oscar is an obese, alienated person within his own culture, but he
Although the events and characters' reactions to them have their differences in the interest of plot variety, similarities between the cases far outweigh the differences. Not only are the events that Nel and Crowe experience and their reactions to them similar, but also both characters have striking revelations at the end of their stories that suggest the importance of the events. In Nel's case, the remembering "the death of chicken
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