The brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz is a book about a Dominican boy named Oscar, who weighs more than two hundred pounds, likes to write, cries all the time and cannot get a girl to go out with him. The author uses a number of literary techniques such as framing device, geographical, in medias res, and narrative hook to keep the reader’s attention and tell this unique immigrant story. When I finished reading this book, I realized this story was not about Oscar himself but speaks for people from many different cultures that immigrate to the Unites States to try to successfully fulfill their dreams, which includes both the author and me. Diaz’s use of various narrative techniques enriches the storytelling and invites the reader to confront the immigrant experience from several points of view.
Diaz uses a hiding narrator to describe the story as a framing device and he uses a story with in another story like scaffolding to build the whole book. Each chapter can be read as a small story on its own. When I started reading the book, I was not able to read the entire thing at one time. Frequently after reading a chapter I would need to put book aside to do my work. But when I came back to continue reading the next chapter, it was very easy to pick up the story again, sometimes within that chapter it would even refer back to something that happened in the last chapter to connect the story. Normally when I read other short stories or novels, if I stop and go back later to read it, it would be impossible for me to continue the story since I would be so lost, I would need to go back a chapter or several pages to pick up the story again. The hiding narrator “Yunior” is not introduced by Diaz until half way through book, he waits until everything becomes clear for the reader and then merges Yunior together with Oscar as his roommate and continues the story to the end. This type of story construction makes it very simple for a reader like me to follow even though English is not my first language.
Diaz uses in medias res and geographical technique to give the story very interesting layers of contrast, presenting the reader with a vivid picture while they are reading it. For the in medias res, it starts in the middle of Oscar and Lola’s life, then steps back to an earlier time to explain why their lives turn out the way they are now. Finally it moves forward to the present to continue the story and work toward the conclusion. For example, in the beginning of the story Oscar and Lola’s mom, Beli, makes me feel that she is very tough on her kids. As soon as I begin wondering about this, the following chapter tells about Beli’s early life and history. She was in love with a man named Gangster, got beat up so violently that she almost lost her life and caused her first baby to die, which explains why Beli became the way she is now.
Another example of media res takes us even further back to Oscar and Lola’s grandfather Abelard Luis Cabral and explains how they refer to the Fuku curse many times throughout the book. Many times in the story they seem to be aware of the curse, and it makes me feel strong that they try very hard to break the curse. But every relationship they had ended up falling victim to the curse, especially for Oscar who blamed the Fuku curse every time one of his relationships did not work out.
By using the geographical technique, Dias was able to easily change the setting from the Dominican Republic to New Jersey and from Washington Heights to Manhattan, so the reader is not just reading a boring story set in only one place from beginning to end. I like how he used Lola’s running away causing problems in her life, so Beli sent Oscar and Lola to the Dominican Republic. And then once this place is introduced, he starts another story of Beli’s life, clearing up some more questions that were in reader’s mind from earlier chapters. When the school vacation is over, the author again uses this as a jumping point to bring the story location back to New Jersey. Diaz uses this technique successfully so the reader would not be confused about the location changes.
Diaz’s most effective writing technique in the book is the story opening that “hooks” the reader’s attention so they will keep reading. It seems very clear that the plot of this story is about Oscar, because of book’s name is The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and yet we know Oscar’s roommate Yunior was the narrator by the time we get to the end of the book. But the biggest surprise when I finished the book is when I realized the narrative hook is actually Oscar himself.
When we read the book, we all know from the title that this story is about Oscar’s life and that he is going to die in the story. But why would author want to use this title that already reveals the end of story? While I was reading I had a question mark in the back of my mind. I wondered whether before Oscar died, did he lose weight and become handsome and finally find a girl to fall in love with him? I wondered did Oscar finally break the curse? Of course it did not happen this way.
Diaz used Oscar as a hook to tell the story, and it is very clear that he was around in each chapter, even if only mentioned as a secondary character. The author uses Oscar as a tool to lace through the story kind of like a guide line, so the reader is not lost. Diaz makes me feel like he is the driver who would tie a carrot on a string to a long stick and dangle it in front of the donkey, and I am that donkey.
So what if Oscar dies? Was that important? In my opinion, the most important part of this book is about the history of the Dominican Republic. Oscar is in a sense speaking for people who are immigrants from other countries, and to show how difficult their lives are in the United States. By showing a single mom’s family struggling though life and dealing with class discrimination, culture, and relationships, Diaz’s voice speaks for all.
In the story he mentioned how dark Beli’s skin is. Even though Beli’s dad was a doctor and her mom was a nurse, Beli should have belonged with the upper class. But, because of her skin color, La Inca tried very hard to help her back to the class to which she belonged. However, Beli was unable to fit in. Everybody stereotypes her. After that, Beli gave up going to school and decided to work at the restaurant.
It interests me to know why Junot Diaz wrote such a good story about immigrant experience. I began to search for some biographical information about him once I completed The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I found that he was born in the Dominican Republic and lived with his mother and grandparents during his early childhood. He moved to New Jersey in the United States when he was six. On his way up to college, he worked at many low end jobs and started writing about his experiences.
Dias said: I basically spent my first few months sitting in the classroom, in the back, being ignored by my teachers because there was no one who could speak Spanish. I remember getting into a lot of fights with the kids. Look, is there anyone crueler than children? But at the same time, we were really, really tough kids. And it was me, my older brother, my older sister, my litter sister; we were all in it together. We fought our way into a good social niche, but man those first six months were real dicey, I tell you. (Inskeep, “An interview with Junot Diaz.”)
We can clearly see Diaz’s shadow in this story.
The brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao touched my heart; the significance behind story in this book does not just speak for Diaz, but it also speaks for me. I was born in Taiwan. After my mom came to the United States first with my brother for three years, I was finally re-united with her. I struggled in school because of the language barrier and I only had a couple friends, so I was often lonely. I was raised by a single mom who was working in a Chinese restaurant and didn’t earn much money to support her three children. I worked at my aunt’s laundry mat, at Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream making cakes, at a bridal shop as a seamstress, and at the local community college as an assistant teacher for sewing. Today, I work as the Manager of the Technical department of a children’s clothing company, and I am also a student at Queens College. I struggled with my immigrant life for the longest time, and I am sure a lot of people have similar situations which make them feel that there is finally someone understands their hard life and difficult times. This, in addition to his use of clever narrative devices, is a key reason why Diaz was so successful writing this book and getting such a great response from many other readers.
Works Cited
Inskeep, Steve. “An interview with Junot Diaz.” American.gov. N.P. 09 Feb. 2009. Web. 12 June 2010.
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