‘ The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao’ is an excellent book that explores the culture of immigrants living in America. The book follows the life of Oscar Wao, a Dominican boy, living in New Jersey and the challenges encountered his efforts to find his position in society. Oscar Wao’s personality affects his relationship with family and friends and influences how others see him in the community.
Oscar Wao’s personality trait is introversion. An introvert refers to persons who are reserved and like to focus on their personal and internal experiences. Introverts find it difficult to establish social relationships with other persons and often seem to live in an isolated world. Although other Dominican young men have girlfriends, Oscar Wao is not so lucky in establishing a long-term romantic relationship with women. Oscar was once fortunate to have two girlfriends, Olga and Maritza, but he broke up with the former and was dumped by the latter. His broken relationship negatively affected his confidence, and he was unable to get a new girlfriend. As a result, Oscar withdraws into himself and continues to focus on his books and comics that permanently keep him isolated from his family. However, Oscar aspires to become a successful person who will be admired around his community in the future. He continuously fantasizes of a future where his sister’s friend will beg him to marry him, and he will be regarded as a hero in the neighborhood. From a personal perspective, Oscar will be more miserable later in life because he is unable to adapt to the societal expectations like losing weight to become healthy. As a result, there is a high probability that Oscar will not get a girlfriend and experience real love.Several themes emerge in the book. Foremost is depression among teenagers in society. Adolescence is a critical stage of development and teenagers place a lot of value on forming friendships with the opposite sex. Being dumped by Maritza had adverse effects on Oscar, and he slowly begins to sink into depression. Oscar starts to overeat and shuts himself from other people, thus he grows fatter. As a result, Oscar finds it even more challenging to approach girls and becomes lonely. Similarly, Oscar’s ex-girlfriend Olga also struggles with depression and weight problems. Attempts by Oscar’s sister to get him to lose weight are unsuccessful as any setbacks cause him to overeat even more. In the end, Oscar’s nerd friends get new girlfriends while he remains single.
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Sexuality and violence against women are two predominant themes in the story. From the book, it is evident that young men and women are interested in getting into relationships. Oscar decides to date two girls to prove his maleness. Females engage in conversation about their desires to get the perfect boyfriend, and definitely, do not consider Oscar to be a potential candidate. Even Oscar’s two nerd friends get themselves, girlfriends. Violence against women is also portrayed in the book. After breaking-up with Oscar, Maritza gets into a new relationship where her boyfriend physically assaults her. Although it is evident to everybody that Maritza has a troubled relationship, nobody comes to her aid.
The use of Spanish and English words has a positive impact on the story. Spanish words help the audience to establish a personal connection with Oscar’s cultural background, while English is essential in understanding the story. The Spanish words are used in dialogues between Oscar and his family and are used to admonish him for his behavior. Since the Spanish words are interpreted, they do not impede the audience's comprehension. Therefore, the author’s decision to infuse both languages in the book is an excellent literary skill.
Finally, the chapter reveals essential information about Dominican culture, American culture, and Dominican American culture. Foremost relationships are a priority for Dominicans, and men are allowed to have multiple partners. For example, when Oscar gets two girlfriends, he earns praises from his mom and other relatives. Secondly, racism defines the American culture as all the characters describe themselves in terms of their racial origins, and this affects their relationship. For example, many boys in Oscar’s school prefer to date white girls over Latinos. For Dominican men like Oscar, adapting to the American way of life is problematic as they are forced to shift from collective to individualistic culture. Oscar gets a lot of pressure to change from his overly protective extended family who support him through his troubles, but is isolated in school where people are concerned with their individual needs
‘ The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao’ is an enlightening book on culture and life challenges encountered by many people today. The book's themes of violence against women, depression, and sexual relationships show what goes on in many schools in America. Moreover, the book explains the factors influencing personality development and affect people’s lives. Lastly, discussion on the American and Dominican culture shows the values of the people.
