Throughout Brief and
Wonderous Life Diaz makes many references to geek culture and alludes to
various famous fantasy and sci-fi stories. These allusions serve many purposes
in the novel, including humor, setting up characters, and offering the reader
key insights into Trujillo’s reign and life in the Dominican Republic.
Even from the very beginning Diaz uses comic book references
to set up the story and characters. The
first section of chapter one is called “The Golden age” (11), like the golden
age of comics, which tells us that we are starting at the high point in Oscar’s
life and that it will all be darker after this point. Many of the fantasies
Oscar enjoys give us insight into his personality. For example, when he is
younger, his number one hero is Shazam, a young boy who can say a magic word
and become a powerful superhuman. As he gets older he gets into role playing
games, where you can be anything you want. This reinforces to the reader that
Oscar is not happy in his body or life and desperately wishes to be something he’s
not (i.e. the ideal Dominican man).
Diaz also uses comic references to tell the reader about
Domincian life in America and the Dominican Republic. He uses comic references
when introducing us to Trujillo saying, “he was our Sauron, our Arawn, our
Darkseid, our Once and Future Dictator” (2). If you understand these references
they immediately tell you a lot about Trujillo and how he was perceived by the
Dominican people. By using fantasy and science fiction, Diaz is able to convey
Trujillo’s legendary status in an effective (and sometimes funny) way to people
not familiar with the Dominican Republic. It can be very difficult to
understand the mindset of people living under severe oppression for those who
haven’t, and the allusions to mythical dictators gives us some insight into
that way of life. Even away from Trujillo, people like the De Leons experience oppression.
Diaz gives a look into the immigrant life by saying “want to know what being an
X-Man feels like? Just be a smart, bookish, boy of color in a contemporary US
ghetto” (22). Oscar feels like a literal mutant, as though the intersection of
his browness, heritage, and otakuness is comparable to having horns or blue
skin. And we see this with a lot of the other people in his family who feel
they cannot go back for fear of the dictator and so must accept feeling other
in the United States.
I completely agree with your analysis – especially in the case of Trujillo being played up as a comic book villain. I think Diaz also sets up Trujillo as a fantastical villain through the many unrealistic situations he puts the De Leon family into. For example, both Beli and Oscar’s beatings are comically gruesome. Diaz describes Beli’s injuries as “167 points of damage in total,” a description which only serves to further the connection between the De Leon’s tragedies and geekery (147). The fact that Trujillo’s influence causes damage on such an extreme level that it can only be described in gaming language serves to play up his legendary status, as you mentioned. However, I also think Beli and Oscar’s eventual recovery from these terrible beatings are also meant to be connected to geekery. The mongoose in particular seems to be a sort of powerful symbol, saving the De Leons when they are at their worst. The story of being brought back from the brink by a magical force is incredibly fantastical. I think overall Diaz does this in order to explain the unbelievable cruelty and strength in the story of the De Leon family. No other motif would do their story justice but to play off of the fantasy.
ReplyDeleteYou state that " Oscar is not happy in his body or life and desperately wishes to be something he’s not (i.e. the ideal Dominican man)", but it seems to me that this is not exactly what Oscar desires. Conversely, I feel that Oscar wishes the whole status quo would complete a 180 into a more progressive agenda. Obviously, he realizes that his life would be much more "easier" if he were that machisimo model of a man, but is this really a life Oscar himself would enjoy? Personally, I enjoy the hobbies/interests that I currently have and would rather just prefer people were interested in me for those exact things. Oscar has not indicated any desire to give up his comic books, RPG's, and anime. These are all contributing aspects to his "nerdiness". Anytime Yunior suggested he changed his way, Oscar swiftly shot him down. Interestingly enough, his two most advanced and simultaneously soul crushing women chasing escapades (Jenni and Ybon) has a common factor in which neither of them judged him for his interests. Although he showed interest in the "common" Dominican females, he only truly became infatuated with those willing to entertain his true self. His inability to spark a connection with any other type of female is what ultimately led to his downfall, and it could be said if any number of women would have been more open minded, poor Oscar would still be alive today.
ReplyDeleteBy highlighting the underlying comic book references that Diaz includes in his work, your analysis has helped to expand the way in which I read and interpret the novel as a whole. Although I agree that the allusions deepen the humorous tone, character background, and base for understanding the Dominican culture, I believe that their most important role is driving the plot. To begin, the timing of events and their climaxes tend to line up like that of a comic strip. The most pertinent example of this is the night that both Beli is assaulted and Trujillo is murdered (p.152). Here, readers see a scene with the protagonist at her lowest, when all hope is lost, juxtaposed with the death of the villain, which restores hope yet again. Moreover, the violence described within these scenes – the 167 damage points (p.147) - adds comic-like action and hastens the novel’s rhythm in a way comparable to a comic book. However, the miraculous, magical aspect that rises from the events in this scene is what most emulates that of a comic book. Right when Beli thinks her life is about to leave her, she says, “there appeared at her side a creature that would have been an amiable mongoose if not for its golden lion eyes and the absolute pelt of its back” (p.149). This mongoose, similar to what Oscar calls the “Golden Mongoose” (p. 190) that saved him during his suicide attempt, connects the novel to its roots in comic culture.
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