As Oscar himself might have quoted from The Lord of the Rings, “Moonlight drowns out all but the brightest stars” (Tolkien). These words written by J.R.R. Tolkien capture The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz. For Oscar, the moonlight represents living with an unstable family, receiving constant harassment, and aggressively pursuing romance. Luckily, Oscar possesses qualities of compassion, individuality, and courage to survive the moonlight. While others, such as La Inca or Abelard, showcase bold heroic acts, Oscar subtly becomes the primary hero “in his Oscar way” (Díaz 179).
With a terminally ill mother, an absent father, and a stressed sister, Oscar has every reason to hate his family. However, Oscar chooses to instead defend and protect them. When Lola calls Oscar after running away, she immediately notices that he is crying. Later, when Oscar and Lola embrace, he “[is] worried about [her]” and “[starts] crying” (Díaz 69) again. Here, Oscar demonstrates his unconditional and raw love for Lola by openly showing emotions. Despite living with an explosive family dynamic, Oscar manages to show compassion in his dark times, shadowing “the Darkness” (Díaz 82) his older family faced during the Trujillo era.
As Yunior initially explains, Oscar “wore his nerdiness like a Jedi wore his lightsaber” and “couldn’t have passed for Normal if he’d wanted to” (Díaz 21). Oscar, through all the bullying and taunting and self-regret, remains true to “his otakuness” (Díaz 21) much like a superhero retains their identity, if nothing else. Other characters attempt to make Oscar healthier or more popular with little effect. Oscar recognizes that these changes conflict with his character stating, “Nothing else has any efficacy, I might as well be myself” (Díaz 174). Even Yunior feels liberated by Oscar’s distinctive nerdiness; after Oscar’s death, Yunior “[writes] a lot,” claiming “from can’t see in the morning to can’t see at night” (Díaz 326). He “[learns] that from Oscar” and is “a new man” (Díaz 326) because of it. After death, Oscar manages to instill the American quality of being one’s self into those still living.
In a controversial authorial decision, Oscar transforms into his ideal comic book hero through having sex. From the novel’s beginning, Díaz tracks Oscar’s awkward and unfortunate encounters with women and the ugly backlash Oscar receives. One random night at Rutgers, Oscar even asks Yunior, “I have heard from a reliable source that no Dominican male has ever died a virgin….do you think this is true” (Díaz 174)? Yunior then replies, “It’s against the laws of nature for a Dominicano to die without fucking at least once” (Díaz 174). Finally, Oscar sighs and laments his nonexistent sex life. For almost his entire life, Oscar has attempted and failed to have a romantic or sexual relationship. Thus, having sex becomes Oscar’s unconventional heroic mission. When he finally has sex with Ybón, he exclaims, “....this is what everybody’s always talking about!....The beauty! The beauty” (Díaz 355)! By making this the last line, Díaz emphasizes how sex made Oscar a hero. Surprisingly, Oscar loses his virginity with integrity; normally, a mission of sex would prove revolting and misogynistic. However, Oscar bravely tells his murderers “that what they were doing was wrong,” (Díaz 321) and how much he loved Ybón with pure intentions. Finally, Oscar’s death also employs a staple comic book element: the ultimate sacrifice of dying for one’s heroic mission. As Oscar says, even “on the other side….he’d be a hero” (Díaz 322).
Tolkien, J. R. R. The Lord of the Rings. Allen & Unwin, 1954.
Mariah, I really appreciate your take on Oscar being a hero, because I do not think I would have viewed him this way on my own. But now, after reading your blog post, I am truly enlightened and see Oscar in a new way. Throughout the novel, I absolutely loved Oscar as a character, despite the fact that he could sometimes be whiny and self-focused. As you mentioned in your post, the way he loved and cared for his family made me like him even more. Specifically, I adored his relationship with Lola and the way those two always looked out for each other no matter what. Even though things could get rough with their mother, him and Lola constantly helped each other through the hard times, even when they would stray from one another. Further, I think the way Oscar never hesitated to be himself also makes him a hero, because many people succumb to peer pressure and some point in their life, but Oscar never did. Even when trying to pick up girls, Oscar always resorted to one of his dorky comments because he did not know any differently. I was surprised to see that as an adult Oscar acted in the same way, but it comforted me in a way knowing he never changed. I definitely think thats Oscar's biggest strength, is always being true to himself and to those he loves, and that definitely does make him a hero.
ReplyDeleteWhen reading The Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, I never considered him a hero. Oftentimes I found him to be a whiny, self-centered character who sometimes naïve and oblivious to his surroundings. However, after reading your post I decided to take another look at Oscar. After taking another look at Oscar, I began to admire his tenacity. While Oscar had difficulty with activities like exercising or talking to women, one hobby that he stuck with was his writing. Throughout the novel Oscar was always writing, no matter how much adversity he faced. Even after graduating college, and only getting a part time job as a substitute teacher, Oscar still sent out his stories despite getting no response: “He started sending out his stories and novels out, but no one seemed interested” (Diaz 263). Rejection can be incredibly tough for writers to go through, and I found it admirable that Oscar kept writing, even if he became discouraged. Also, as you mentioned, I found it impressive that Oscar loses his virginity with integrity. I thought that his relationship with Ybón, while ending with tragedy, was still pure. Even though he was desperate, Oscar eventually lost his virginity to someone he truly cared about, and had a connection with.
ReplyDeleteLike Hannah, I also did not see Oscar as a hero in my reflection of the novel, but your post has brought interesting points that do make me think again. I appreciate your literary parallels to comic books and heroic journeys. I see now how, in his own way, Oscar did indeed embark on a heroic journey. I do not, however, think I agree with the moral principle of it. While I see the point you make when you say Oscar lost his virginity with integrity, I believe that placing the entire worth of Oscar and his journey on the goal of having sex is, in itself, extremely problematic when it comes to gender stereotypes. In traditional senses, it turns women into objects, but I do not believe this novel does that. Rather, I think the problematic ideals fall on the toxic masculinity that binds Oscar. It takes away from his value as a complex character. So, perhaps this does not take away from his heroic journey or his integrity, but puts the journey itself inside a kind of bubble where Oscar is blind to the toxic ideals that bind him to this journey. But it is also worth saying that the novel serves the purpose of exposing these ideals. It does not openly criticize them, but it sparks discussion. Nonetheless, I agree that Oscar is the hero of his own journey with innocent intentions, whether or not that translates to being a hero of integrity.
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