Oscar Wao Allegory Analysis

Oscar Wao as an Allegory for Caribbean Identity Throughout even a cursory study of Caribbean history, it becomes quite easy to determine that it is a history of many people who are consistently affected by immigration, serving to jumble life and status on the small rocks of land that dot the sea. Whether the result of European colonization, political upheaval, or diaspora, thus coming together of cultures serves as perhaps the most lasting and presently visible theme of Caribbean history. In Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, the main protagonist serves as an allegory for this concept, using Oscar’s travails in-between two cultures, Dominican and American, to highlight the multiplicity of a lived experience derived from various identities. One of the most immediately noticeable characteristics about The Brief and Wondrous

In many ways, the only culture that Oscar feels a part of throughout the bulk of the group is the nerdish pop culture to which he ascribes. According to Diaz, “”Dude wore his nerdiness like a Jedi wore his light saber or a Lensman her lens. Couldn’t have passed for Normal if he’d wanted to” (21). This was a far cry from the expected Dominican characteristics of machismo, athleticism, and charisma, all of which Oscar clearly did not possess—and potentially not even endeavor to attain. Oscar is a person trapped between multiple cultures. As he would reflect, “You really want to know what being an X-Man feels like? Just be a smart bookish boy of color in a contemporary U.S. ghetto. Mamma mia! Like having bat wings or a pair of tentacles growing out of your chest.” This perhaps fully highlights Oscar’s difficulty in navigating his past. He is constantly trying to establish a new identity for himself; however, he is constantly brought back to face the identities of his