One of the things that I noticed about the novel is the plot
repetition that occurs in each of the character’s different sections. This
initially puzzled me and I wondered why Diaz would choose to develop the plot
like this. After finishing the book, I believe Diaz included this repetition in
order to argue that Dominican culture, and fulfilling the standards that come a
long with it, suck people into a vicious cycle that will continue to repeat
generation after generation.
Throughout the novel it was often the expectations that Dominican
culture placed on the characters that caused them to go through the same
experiences as their predecessors. The
relationship between Beli and La Inca and Lola and Beli are eerily similar with
the daughter rebelling against her mother. This occurs, however, because they
don’t want to be the “perfect Dominican daughter[s]” (56) that they are
expected to be. The culture demands Lola clean the house and obey her mother
and La Inca pressures Beli into following in her parent’s footsteps. Both women
would rather find their own way and don’t want to fulfill the expectations of a
Dominican woman. Lola believes by following these cultural standards she
becomes the “perfect Dominican slave” (56). She becomes a slave to the cultural
expectations that have been passed down from generation to generation. This leads
to arguments with her mother and the repetition of the poor maternal
relationship that her mother had with La Inca before her.
Oscar has a hard time conforming to the culture as well as
he “had none of the High Powers of your typical Dominican male” (19). This
leads to Oscar’s depression because he is unable to get a girl like his culture
says that he should. His subsequent
obsession with women leads him to get involved with Ybon. Ybon, however, is
involved with the Captain who no longer wants her to see Oscar. This situation
mirrors Beli’s involvement with the Gangster who was married to “Trujillo’s… sister”
(138) who wanted him to have nothing to do with Beli. Beli’s
attraction to the gangster was partially driven by her desire to fulfill the
image of a Dominican housewife. This was how she believed she could gain power
and independence. Both Oscar and Beli’s love, fueled by their desire to fit
into Dominican culture, led them to brutal beatings. As long as Oscar was
pursuing Dominican ideals, just like Beli was, the cycle of brutality repeated
itself.
I believe, however, that the end of the novel brings hope
for future generations. Yunior is discussing the charm Lola made her daughter
and states “the circle will fail…as circles always do” (330). This conveys the idea that cyclical events can’t
go on forever and have to break at some point. He has hope that the cycle will
end and she can break free of the cultural standards placed on her, effectively
ending the cycle of bad events that have happened to her family.
Plot repetition is clearly apparent throughout “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.” Not only does the repetition emphasize the cyclical nature of Dominican culture, but it also underscores the recurring familial character traits that Dominican culture breads. In particular, the similarity of events in Beli’s life and Oscar’s life highlight their similarities; both fall in love wholeheartedly, causing physical and emotional turmoil in their lives.
ReplyDeleteOscar’s obsessive nature mimics his mother’s flirtatious youth; both characters devote themselves to the person they’re interested in. For Beli, she adamantly pursues Jack Pujols, regardless of his initial disinterest in her. As the narrator states,“When Belicia Cabral fell in love she stayed in love...she never had a thought for anyone but Jack Pujols” (109). Beli continuously bumps into Jack, flaunting her good looks, anxiously and persistently waiting for him to take interest. Although Oscar’s pursuits of love are less successful than his mother’s, he equally becomes obsessed with his interests. For example, the narrator describes Oscar’s immediate love for Ybon, saying, “When it came to girls, the brother had a mind like yogi. He latched on and stayed latched. By the time he left her house that night and walked home through the Island’s million attack mosquitoes he was lost” (282).
Alongside becoming obsessed with suitors, both characters endure tremendous amounts of pain because of their unyielding love for the wrong people, demonstrating their courage. For Beli, she is nearly beaten to death in the canefield for being involved with the Gangster, but her mere courage allows her to survive. As the narrator describes, “Just as our girl was set to disappear across that event horizon, just as the cold of obliteration was stealing up her legs, she found in herself one last reservoir of strength: her Cabral magis—and all she had to do was realize that once again she’d been tricked… to ignite it” (148). Oscar endures a similar situation, when he is beaten because of his love for Ybon. The narrator describes the repetition of the situation, saying,“And yet this world seemed strangely familiar to him; he had the overwhelming feeling that he’d been in this very place, a long time ago. It was worse than deja vu, but before he could focus on it the moment slipped away (298)”. Oscar, much like Beli, courageously faces his pain. In fact, Oscar even returns to the Dominican Republic for Ybon, ultimately resulting in his death.
I agree that repetition of themes and motifs throughout The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is one of the plot devices Diaz’s uses to show the connection between the characters of the de Leon family and Dominican culture. However, I also believe this repetition on much broader level depicts universal themes that conflict all humans regardless of background or familial history.
ReplyDeleteFor the main female characters of the novel, the yearn to escape is innate, spanning generations and geography. Diaz describes Belinda’s desire to escape life in Baní and writes, “If I had to put it to words I’d say what she wanted more than anything was what she’d always wanted throughout her Lost Childhood: to escape… I guess it wouldn’t have mattered if she’d been a princess in a high castle or if her dead parents’ former estate, the glorious Casa Hatüey, had been miraculously restored from Trujillo’s Omega Effect. She would have wanted out” (Diaz 79-80). Diaz implies that this escapism doesn’t stem from external environment or cultural upbringing, but rather some innate desire to escape. In this way, when Belinda’s daughter, Lola, dreams of escaping the toxic environment created by her mother, not only does Diaz use plot repetition to show not only the connection between the duo, but also that you can move to an entirely new continent, grow up in a completely new era, and still be afflicted with this desire. For this reason, I believe Diaz’s ability to cyclically connect broad internal conflicts across characters of vary backgrounds, genders, and generations establishes the novel’s ability to connect with diverse groups of people from a manifold of backgrounds.
I definitely agree to the themes of repetition throughout all of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I think that the comment that you have made referring to the circle and how it must one day break. This is a fantastic point to bring up due to the fact that the family believes that they are cursed with fuku and that they will continue on with this throughout the entirety of their lineage, when in fact this is not the case.
ReplyDeleteThe repetitions between the parents and their children are very popular throughout this novel and it helps demonstrate that not only characteristics and qualities can potentially be based down throughout the generations, but the fuku can as well along with unwanted situations. The resemblance between Beli and Lola’s attitudes and situations between men in their lives as they are living in the Dominican Republic are quite substantial, but it doesn’t end there. Both La Inca and Beli want what’s best for their daughters and they are pushing them to do things that they do not necessarily want to do. La Inca pushes Beli to do great in school and hopes for her to go into medicine as her mother and father once were. Whereas Beli is forcing Lola to do everything that she does not want to do which causes her to rebel even more.
The repetitions do not end there. The resemblances between Beli and Oscar are very pronounced within their love lives. They both fall extremely hard and easily for the people that they think they want to spend the rest of their lives with. This causes both of them to be beat up to the point where they are lucky to survive.
This leads to me believing that the fuku has been passed down throughout the generations in this family, but that they have the power to make it stop spreading and continuing in the circle if they do not give it the power to do so.
I really enjoyed reading your post on the usage of plot repetition that is used by Diaz in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I believe, however, that the plot repetition should not be viewed as a consequence of the Dominican culture, but rather viewed as symbolism that life goes on. Even at the end of the book when most of the main characters are dead, the reader is left with the hope that life will continue through Lola’s daughter. One question that is asked multiple times throughout the book is: “Zafa or Fuku? You tell me” (Diaz 242). My answer to this every time is neither, just life. The characters in the book are so superstitious that they are quick to blame everything on the fuku, especially Oscar. Although I do not buy into the fuku as much, I do appreciate the aspect of Dominican culture in the novel. This story is filled with Dominican history, their native language and other cultural references that add depth to every character in the book. For example, there are certain cultural expectations of Dominican men that Oscar spends his whole life pursuing. For women, there are also certain cultural expectations that Beli and Lola spend their whole lives trying to break away from. I really enjoyed this aspect of the novel because I know very little about Dominican culture and history. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and your outlook on The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.
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