Oscar Wao

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The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Díaz, is a novel that discusses the history of the Dominican Republic, traumatic high school experiences, obesity, and the “expectations” of a Dominican man. Díaz’s choice of voice for Yunior de Las Casas, one of the main narrators is both distinct and relatable making it very easy for readers to connect and feel empathy towards the protagonist, Oscar Wao. Yunior recounts Oscar’s life story in a very biased and opinionated manner, especially when describing what it means to be a Dominican man. On the first page, Yunior, introduces Oscar Wao as, “not a playboy with a million hots on his jock”.... “ [No] luck with the females (how very un-Dominican of him)” (11). The reader is quickly able to recognize that the expectations of a Dominican man is based on both sex appeal and masculinity. Yunior repeatedly talks about Oscar’s lack of sex appeal or “Dominicaness” and his inability to obtain the identity of being a true “Dominican man.” Junot Díaz uses the character, Yunior de Las Casas, as the human embodiment of the …show more content…
All of Yunior’s decisions are based on the effects that it will have on his masculinity and how it will perceived. Yunior overcompensates through his choice of words to appear to be masculine “pulling in the bitches with both hands”(24). Throughout the book, Yunior refers to women as bitches, pieces of ass, and slutties to dehumanize them and justify cheating on them. In viewing women as only a source of sex, Yunior feels that he is in control of the relationship and the woman that he is with is dependent upon him. In an essay entitled Dueling Masculinities: Oscar’s and Yunior’s Journey to Manhood, by Mackenzie VanBeest, she examines the gender roles of men and women in the Latin American culture, “This distinction relies on the acknowledgement that in Dominican and other Latin American cultures women are of a
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